Skip to Main Content.

Venture

Practicing at the intersection of business innovation and law.

Our venture capital team represents emerging technology, tech-enabled and life science companies from concept to exit. We assist founders with formation, capital raising, building the team, and commercializing and protecting intellectual property assets. We invest time to understand each client’s business in order to provide better legal solutions tailored to the company’s stage, strategy and environment. We also remain committed to staying abreast of current trends and future industry developments.

Our team is consistently recognized for delivering excellent client service, being uber-responsive, digging deep and finding answers quickly—not just during periods of stability, but in times of uncertainty and disruption as well. By leveraging the insights gleaned from our experience across a wide range of industries, we help ensure our clients close financings on competitive terms with clear sight of the implications of raising capital for the company and its stakeholders along the entire journey.

Key Contacts

A man is smiling while dressed in a blue suit and white shirt against a plain white background.
Vance V. VanDrake III

Partner

Cincinnati, OH

A man wearing glasses, a navy suit, a white shirt, and a striped tie is smiling against a plain white background.
Zachary D. Bahorik

Partner

Cincinnati, OH

How We Help Clients

Emerging Company Representation

As trusted advisors, our venture capital attorneys act as liaisons between company leadership and Frost Brown Todd’s broader team of attorneys focusing in distinct areas of the law. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, we offer the full range of services integral to a successful business operation, with a focus on empowering innovative, high-growth companies. Our team has notable depth in the following areas:

  • Formation
  • Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation
  • Intellectual Property, Licensing and Joint Development
  • Privacy and Data Security
  • Due Diligence Preparation
  • Capitalization Table Management
  • Seed, Venture and Growth Capital Financings
  • Corporate Governance
  • Tax
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Real Estate

In addition to our legal services, our programs allow us to extend discounts to firm clients for key services required for venture-backed companies, such as 409A valuations, equity management, and Directors & Officers and Errors & Omissions insurance.

Investor Deal Representation

Investing in seed to late stage companies is a high-risk journey. It helps to work with a team that knows the industry, applicable rules and what to look for. We have experience representing angel groups, venture capital and private equity funds. Our work representing investors on new investments includes an assessment of the capitalization structure, formation documents and ensuring the company’s intellectual property is protected. We are also experienced in a variety of divestiture transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts and private equity sales. We strive to be trusted team members to our venture capital clients.

International Investor Representation

Through our International Services Team, we counsel foreign businesses on a wide range of issues as they enter into and grow in the U.S. Our venture capital attorneys help foreign institutional investors close equity and debt finance transactions involving U.S. based startups and emerging companies. We are cognizant that our international work crosses jurisdictional lines, languages, and cultural norms. Our Foreign Desks and membership to Multilaw, a global network of local counsel firms in over 150 markets worldwide, enable us to provide international clients with seamless, thoughtful representation in cross-border business transactions and other investment opportunities.

Related Insights

conference room
Is Delaware’s Reign Over? Why Texas Is Challenging the Status Quo for Private Equity Funds

August 20, 2025 | Publications

With increasing competition among states to create the most business-friendly corporate legal ecosys...

Real estate growth graph. 3d illustration
Retirement Dollars Could Fuel the Next Retail and Real Estate Investment Boom

August 15, 2025 | Publications

More than 90 million Americans participate in employer-sponsored defined contribution plans like 401...

Staying focused on the task
Hip Hip Hooray, Bonus Depreciation Lives to See Another Day

August 8, 2025 | Presidential Administration Impacts

Depreciation plays a crucial role in real estate investing, directly impacting how much income inves...

Bank symbol with with coins stack. Concepts of the banking system, rising interest rates, inflation, deflation, and savings.
Section 1202 and QSBS: A Survey of States That Don’t Conform to the Federal Treatment

August 8, 2025 | Presidential Administration Impacts

Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code provides a capital gains exclusion for certain qualified s...

The man find and turn on the lightbulb in the maze-shaped brain on the wall, symbolizing big ideas, innovation concepts. (3d render)
Advanced Section 1202 (QSBS) Planning for S Corporations

July 22, 2025 | Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)

*This article was updated on July 22, 2025.  Section 1202 provides for a substantial exclusion of g...

Substantiating the Right to Claim QSBS Tax Benefits | Part 2

July 18, 2025 | Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS)

Section 1202 provides an exclusion from capital gains when a stockholder sells qualified small busin...

Business professionals reviewing documents during a merger and acquisition meeting involving sale-leaseback transactions
Integrating Sale-Leaseback Transactions with Mergers and Acquisitions: A Value-Maximization Strategy

June 25, 2025 | Publications

When business owners contemplate transitioning to their next venture or life phase, strategically co...

Frost Brown Todd Strengthens Private Equity & Venture Practice with Addition of Partner Ryan Tharp in Denver

June 10, 2025 | Press Releases

Frost Brown Todd (FBT) has added Ryan Tharp as Partner in its Private Equity & Venture practice ...

Hand checking off steps on a due diligence checklist, representing stages in a sale-leaseback transaction for real estate investors
Sale-Leaseback Due Diligence Considerations

May 29, 2025 | Publications

This is the fourth installment in our series on sale-leaseback transactions, a real estate financing...

Modern commercial retail building ideal for sale-leaseback transactions and real estate investment strategies
Breaking Down Sale-Leaseback Transactions

May 26, 2025 | Publications

Welcome to part one of our series on sale-leaseback transactions, which have fueled the growth of ma...

Stay ahead of the law.

Subscribe to receive email updates and choose your topics.