Venture Capital Communications
Most Venture Capital firms add value to their investments through their contacts and business strategy and experience. We work with leading VCs and corporate investors across a range of announcements, from early-round investments and board membership news to Series C rounds and going public. Our strategy and execution for announcing a Series B round for Q1 Labs, a start-up security company, successfully generated coverage in nearly 30 articles in top-tier media, including The New York Times' Deal Book, The Wall Street Journal, Venture Reporter, Venture Wire, MarketWatch, and The Daily Deal.

There are specific benefits to announcing the closing of an investment round, including:

• Reassures customers and potential customers that the company is a stable organization and has a strong future – and is, therefore, a good business partner. (As opposed to companies who are burning through their funds, and could disappear.)
• Demonstrates the company’s viability to employees and potential employees – which is important, particularly if the company needs to staff up.
• Proves to the media that company is a strong organization and has a strong future. Many reporters ask about start-up's funding to determine whether they should even pay attention to the company.
• Validates the company's offerings and business model because of the follow-on investment – especially if the investors have a high profile. (If the start-up’s technology and business model did not work, the company would not be able to secure another round.)
• Communicates key messages about the company, its technology, and prospects for future growth.

Our VC Announcement Scorecard™ service is based on a typical checklist that VC's use before investing, and leverages the same variables – i.e., the product or service, the business model and market potential, the entrepreneur's track record, and milestone-oriented operating plan – by translating them into elements besides the dollar figure that will interest reporters. The VC Announcement Scorecard also enables us to quickly and efficiently develop a strategic plan that maximizes the impact of your announcement, validates your company and positions it for the future, whether that's raising a follow-on round, going public, acquiring other companies, etc.

We have advised corporate venture entities on numerous strategic investments and communicated key messages to important audiences, including shareholders, about the value of these investments and how they support the corporations' overall business goals. We have also communicated strategic messages when divesting part of a VC's investment in a company. When a client sold part of its stake in Digital Domain, a visual effects company founded by Titanic director James Cameron and four-time special-effects and make-up Oscar winner Stan Winston, we developed and executed the strategy that gave our client significant positive play in the deal – including three articles in The New York Times. We also executed visibility programs for corporate venture funds. Our work across a VC's portfolio can provide significant economies to the fund and bring the VC's perspective to the range of portfolio companies seamlessly.