Former Atrium Leaders Start GrowthStudio - a Resource for Emerging Companies Powered by Crowell & Moring

Provides Insights and Tools to Benefit Early Stage Companies

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Jul 20, 2021, 11:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Atrium founding lawyers and members of its senior leadership are launching GrowthStudio, powered by Crowell & Moring, to share insights and tools with other startup founders and venture capitalists to advance their ideas and strengthen business strategies. The lawyers, who are partners in Crowell & Moring's Emerging Companies & Venture Capital practice, have created this one-stop shop experience for founders and investors to access legal tools and resources, to successfully navigate a new company through formation, capital raising, regulatory compliance, team hiring, and the evolving stages of commercialization.

The GrowthStudio microsite will provide free legal and business content for founders at every stage including guides, industry alerts, market trends, and document generation tools. In addition, in light of funding challenges that have faced women and diverse entrepreneurs, GrowthStudio has also created partnerships with Founders Institute, VC Labs, Zane Access, The Suites, and other diversity-focused fund managers and innovation accelerators to ensure access to funding for communities that have been bypassed in the past.

"As former entrepreneurs who have been on the ground floor of a tech company, we understand the emerging company lifecycle—from concept to exit—and the challenges startups face," said Michel Narganes, one of the founders of Crowell & Moring's GrowthStudio and former co-managing partner of Atrium. "The COVID-19 pandemic has been an incubator for innovation, an accelerator for digital adoption, and a catalyst for VC and investment activity. The world is now experiencing its greatest appetite for doing things differently, which is why we created a portal with easy access resources for founders who are looking for more efficient ways of pursuing financing and growth."

As a part of its launch, GrowthStudio is unveiling a free open-source platform called Simple Series A, which is intended to streamline the process and decrease the overall cost and time it takes entrepreneurs and investors to close a startup company's first equity financing transaction.

Jon O'Connell, a founder of Crowell & Moring's GrowthStudio, noted that over the past several years his team has closed more than 200 priced, equity financing transactions for startup clients for companies such as Alto, GetAccept, Kea Cloud, Kountable, FightCamp, and Makersplace.

"Building on the group's experience and commitment working with early-stage companies and venture capital investors, we have developed Simple Series A, which we believe can be an excellent process for the emerging companies and venture capital community to negotiate and document a startup's first equity-financing," said O'Connell. "While these documents do not eliminate the need for hiring experienced outside counsel, it is intended to reduce costs associated with drafting a suite of financing documents and negotiating terms with investors."

The closing of Series A financing can also take approximately three to six weeks. Simple Series A is an easy-to-use, customizable set of forms intended to streamline the drafting process, thereby reducing the time and cost associated to close a company's first venture capital equity financing. The forms are based on the Y Combinator Standard Series A Term Sheet and the industry standard National Venture Capital Association model Series A financing documents.

"GrowthStudio aims to deliver cutting edge services, experiences, and tools, like Simple Series A, to founders and investors in the emerging companies and venture capital community," said Matthew Melville, a partner in Crowell & Moring's GrowthStudio and former co-managing partner of Atrium. "We want to help startups manage a business with less cost, greater efficiency, and more transparency."

Entrepreneurs can now download the Simple Series A documents, along with a wide range of valuable legal and business content, here.*

About Crowell & Moring's GrowthStudio

GrowthStudio offers full-service general corporate counseling to support rapid growth and agile decision making. The founders have represented hundreds of emerging companies on matters ranging from formation and incorporations, to venture capital investments and commercial agreements, to acquisitions and exits. Representing both emerging companies and venture investors – yielding deep experience from both sides of the deal – the team provides clients with effective legal and business insight into the various issues that come to bear in financing transactions and strategic growth.

*The resource materials provided by GrowthStudio, including Simple Series A, have been prepared for informational purposes and are not intended to (a) constitute legal, tax, or other professional advice, (b) create an attorney-client relationship, or (c) be advertising or a solicitation of any type. Companies should always work with outside counsel, whether using these documents or a separate set of forms, to prepare final versions of financing documents and assist with the closing of any financing transaction.

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SOURCE Crowell & Moring LLP