SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Jun 1, 2011) - Industry Ventures LLC, a leading investment firm for venture capital, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Robert May as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer. May has successfully led and managed financial reporting, limited partner relations and operations across a number of venture capital firms, most notably serving as CFO and COO with leading Silicon Valley firms including Founders Fund and Thomas Weisel Venture Partners. Additionally, the firm announced that Jay Ganatra has joined as an associate working on secondary direct investment transactions, as well as limited partnership interests.
"Our firm has experienced accelerated growth as the secondary market overall continues to expand and liquidity needs for pre-IPO businesses has increased sharply. We are seeing a larger number of financial institutions needing to sell their venture portfolios as well as GPs looking to wind down 2000-vintage venture funds. Adding Robert to our team is an enormous strategic win for our firm as he is highly regarded in the Valley and brings substantial insight as well as transactional and fund management experience to our firm," said Industry Ventures Founder and Managing Director Hans Swildens. "Robert will drive the firm's risk management approach and proactively prepare the firm for the upcoming SEC registered investment advisor requirements. In addition, Robert will oversee financial management of Partnership Holdings, the firm's fund of funds focused on small venture funds with less than $250 million, a segment that is outperforming the market."
During his 20-year career encompassing both operating companies and private equity investment firms, May has directed large and diverse operating teams, ensured adherence to compliance requirements, and managed quarterly and annual closing processes. Most recently as a Venture Partner at Standish Management, May oversaw multiple fund accounting and finance teams. While at Standish, Robert was the Engagement Director for Lowercase Capital, a family of funds currently being invested by successful entrepreneur and venture investor Chris Sacca. Industry Ventures was the first institutional investor in Lowercase Capital.
In his roles as CFO at Founders Fund and Thomas Weisel Venture Partners, May was responsible for oversight of financial and compliance processes, investor communications, operational issues and selected investment due diligence. While at Founders Fund, May worked directly with the SpaceX and Halcyon Molecular Operations and Finance teams. He also assisted in the diligence process with a variety of investments, including Spotify, SpaceX and Palantir. Previous to that, May was Controller of Mohr, Davidow Ventures, where he managed the financial reporting and accounting audit process for multiple funds totaling over $1B under management and created predictive models to optimize overall investor returns. May began his finance career as Finance and Control Analyst with Hewlett-Packard/Agilent Technologies specializing in semiconductor-based product lines. May received his B.S. in Business Finance from San Jose State University, where he was a Cum Laude graduate.
"Robert has spent many years working in the venture capital industry and has seen it all. He was a critical member of the team at Thomas Weisel Venture Partners and he will certainly be a great fit for Industry Ventures," said Andy Sessions, co-founder and managing director of Intercept Ventures.
The firm also welcomes Jay Ganatra as an associate who will focus on supporting secondary direct investments and special purpose vehicles. Prior to joining Industry Ventures, Ganatra worked for Sabre Holdings' corporate development team, leading the company's M&A activity. Ganatra was instrumental in the acquisitions of Calidris and f:wz, which helped Sabre expand its rapidly growing Airline Solutions SaaS business. In addition to M&A activities, Ganatra worked on Sabre's capital markets transactions and helped develop corporate strategy. Prior to joining Sabre, Ganatra was an analyst for investment banking firm Cogent Partners where he worked on valuing and executing the sale of private equity limited partnership interests. Ganatra earned a B.S. in Economics and A.B. in Public Policy Studies at Duke University.
About Industry Ventures LLC
Industry Ventures is a leading investment firm that capitalizes on inefficiencies within venture capital and technology growth equity. The firm invests in secondary and primary opportunities, including purchasing direct portfolios, founders' interests, tail-end funds, limited partnership interests and other special situations. Founded in 2000, the firm manages over $700 million of institutional capital. Headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Washington, D.C., the firm owns interests in over 100 growth stage companies and more than 100 venture capital limited partnerships. The Industry Ventures' Secondary team works with investors seeking near-term liquidity from existing direct and partnership investments. The Industry Partnership Holdings team focuses on secondary purchases of unfunded limited partnership interests and primary commitments to smaller venture capital and technology growth equity funds. The firm has invested directly or via partnerships in some of the most successful venture-backed businesses, such as Ancestry.com (IPO), Broadsoft (IPO), Cambridge Display (acquired by Sumitomo), Facebook, Isilon (IPO), JaJah (acquired by Telefonica), Pure Digital (acquired by Cisco), Sourcefire (IPO), Speedera Networks (acquired by Akamai) and Twitter. For more information, please visit www.industryventures.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contact:
Kim Hughes
The Blueshirt Group (for Industry Ventures)
415-516-6187