Lowenstein client Avid Ventures announced the launch of its $68 million-plus debut venture capital fund founded by Addie Lerner, decade-long investor at General Catalyst, General Atlantic, and Goldman Sachs. Soon after the fund’s launch, Tali Vogelstein, previously a venture capital investor at Bessemer Venture Partners, also joined Avid as a founding investor.
Anchored by Schusterman Family Investments and the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Avid Ventures Fund I invests in early-stage technology companies transforming the fintech, consumer internet, and software industries in North America, Europe, and Israel. Raised in 10 months during the 2020 pandemic, the fund includes institutional investors such as Foundry Group, General Catalyst, 14W, Slow Ventures, and LocalGlobe/Latitude, as well as 50 highly strategic founders, entrepreneurs, and investors as LPs, 40 percent of whom are female.
TechCrunch’s coverage reports:
Ed Zimmerman, chair of Lowenstein Sandler LLP’s Tech Group in New York and adjunct professor of VC at Columbia Business School, is an Avid investor.
He told TechCrunch that because of his role in the venture community, he is often counsel to a company or fund and will run into former students in deals. Feedback from numerous people in his network point to Lerner being “extraordinarily thoughtful about deals,” with one entrepreneur describing her as “one of the smartest people she has met in a decade-plus in venture.”
“I’ve seen it myself in deals and then I’ve seen founders turn down very well branded funds to work with Addie,” Zimmerman added, noting they are impressed both by her intellect and integrity. “… Addie will find and win and be invited into great deals because she makes an indelible impression on the people who’ve worked with her and the data is remarkably consistent.”
The Lowenstein deal team included Ed Zimmerman, Marie T. DeFalco, Max Karpel, Robert J. Menendez, Joseph F. Hendricks, and Bettina C. Elstroth.
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler is a national law firm with over 350 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.
