DURHAM, NC and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 30, 2014) - Square 1 Financial, Inc. (
"We are pleased to announce this partnership with Industry Ventures, which has a highly respected and prolific track record as a leading investor in the venture capital space," said Doug Bowers, CEO of Square 1 Bank. "As a public company with our energies increasingly focused on growing our venture banking business, we are fortunate to partner with Industry Ventures to provide comprehensive options to service the liquidity needs of venture funds and venture-backed companies. We value Industry's significant experience in fund and direct investments, and appreciate having a trusted partner to refer to our valued banking clients with secondary liquidity needs as well as for new fund commitments. This partnership allows Square 1 Bank to focus on what we do best in venture banking, and it allows Industry Ventures to focus on what it does best in venture capital secondary and small fund investing, and fund-of-funds management."
"Square 1 has positioned itself as a premier venture capital banking platform, and we are delighted to refer our general partner and company relationships to Square 1," said Hans Swildens, Founder and Managing Director of Industry Ventures. "Square 1's twelve offices and 40 bankers around the country serve over 120 venture fund and 1,600 portfolio company banking clients, which we believe provides Industry Ventures with broad exposure to seek secondary opportunities, primary fund commitments and direct co-investments."
The strategic partnership with Square 1 complements Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings' unique hybrid strategy of investing in early-stage venture funds, acquiring secondary partnership interests and co-investing with venture funds in their fast growing portfolio companies. Partnership Holdings provides institutional investors with a focused and diversified opportunity to invest in capital-efficient, early stage companies.
"Square 1 and Industry Ventures are best in class in their respective fields and we have worked with both firms for many years in a number of situations. We are delighted to see a strong partnership between both firms," said Dan Levitan, Co-founder and Partner of Maveron.
"We are very happy with the transition of Square One's fund of funds to Industry Ventures as each firm has been an investor with us since our debut fund in 2007. We view this partnership as a great way to continue our trusted relationships with both firms," said Jason Mendelson, Co-founder and Managing Director of Foundry Group.
About Square 1 Financial
Square 1 Financial, Inc. is the holding company for Square 1 Bank, a full service commercial bank dedicated exclusively to serving the financial needs of the venture capital community and entrepreneurs in all stages of growth and expansion. Square 1's expertise and focus provide flexible resources, tailored solutions and high-touch support to meet our clients' needs. Square 1 Bank provides loans, deposits, treasury management services and investment advisory services. The Square 1 team consists of 240 employees in offices located in key innovation markets across the country. For more information, please visit www.square1financial.com.
About Industry Ventures
Industry Ventures is a leading investment firm that focuses on venture capital. The firm invests directly in venture backed companies through secondaries and co-investments as well as indirectly through LP interest secondaries and primary commitments to early stage venture funds. Founded in 2000, the firm manages over $1.75 billion of institutional capital and is headquartered in San Francisco with an office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.industryventures.com.
Contact Information:
Media Contacts:
Kim Hughes
The Blueshirt Group (for Industry Ventures)
415-516-6187
Dee McDougal
Square 1 Financial, Inc.
919-597-7479