Lori S. Smith

Chair, Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Funds

lsmith@stradley.com

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Lori Smith

Overview

Lori Smith is chair of the emerging companies & venture capital practice and is an active participant in the firm’s health law and mergers and acquisitions groups. Lori has been a trusted adviser to foreign and domestic companies for over 30 years, ranging from startups to large corporations, including entrepreneurs and angel, venture capital, and private equity investors. She represents public and private companies in the negotiation of mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, equity and debt financings, private placements, strategic alliances, partnerships and joint ventures.


Business Vantage Point BlogLori is the editor of and a contributor to Stradley Ronon’s corporate & securities blog, Business Vantage Point. Read the blog here, which provides timely industry updates and tips from leading practitioners.


Lori combines her transactional experience with her traditional health care, technology and financial services industry knowledge and a deep understanding of the nuances of the digital age. She has extensive experience representing companies from formation and growth stage through exit in a wide range of industries, including technology, media and communications, fashion and textiles, financial services, food and beverage, sports, gaming, specialty chemicals, insurance, healthcare and digital health.

Lori earned her J.D., with high honors, from Duke University School of Law and her B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Rochester.

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Results

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Representative Matters

Lori’s experience includes the representation of:*

  • Team Epiphany, a consumer marketing agency, in its acquisition by Stagwell, a digital-first global marketing network
  • Crusoe Energy Systems, a Denver, CO-based company that harnesses wasted and natural gas flares to power crypto, cloud computing and data center operations, with its acquisition of Easter-Owens, a manufacturer of modular data centers and specialized electrical systems
  • Loris.ai in connection with a $12 million Series A Preferred Stock financing led by Bow Capital with participation from ServiceNow Ventures and existing investors Floodgate and Vertex Ventures
  • Covetrus, a global leader in animal health technology and services, in connection with its acquisition of Metamorphosis Partners, LLC, dba Great Pets
  • True Global Ventures 4 Plus, a global venture capital firm, in their Series A Preferred Stock investment into Pinktada, a technology company using NFTs to bring greater flexibility and confidence to travelers
  • Fora, a modern travel agency startup, in connection with its $5 million seed funding round
  • StreamWeaver, a software company offering enterprises end-to-end observability, AI operations and cloud migration, in connection with its sale to BMC, a global leader in software solutions for Autonomous  Digital Enterprises
  • Risk Focus Inc, a leading consulting and advisory firm specializing in digital transformation for financial services, in its sale to Ness Engineering, a global provider of Digital Transformation solutions and a portfolio company of The Rohatyn Group
  • Sport Systems, an event accreditation and corporate guest management company, in its sale to TicketManager 
  • a global distributor of medical and dental supplies in its acquisition of dental office technology businesses
  • Covetrus, Inc. (NASDAQ:CVET), a global leader in animal health technology and services, in connection with its:
    • strategic investment in Veterinary Study Groups, Inc., a leading provider of peer-to-peer learning experiences for veterinary practice leaders
    • acquisition of VCP, a market-leading platform in veterinary wellness plan administration
  • True Global Ventures in connection with the sale of its interest in SharesPost as part of the May 2020 SharesPost/Forge Global merger
  • a regional health insurer in its joint venture with two major hospital systems to form a Medicare Advantage insurance company
  • a public distributor of dental and healthcare products in the creation of a new entity with a national dental supplies provider in order to better serve state dental association members with an online-only option for purchasing dental supplies
  • the strategic investment arm of a health insurance company with respect to its participation in a $33 million Series B financing round by Pager, Inc.
  • a regional, nationally-affiliated health insurance company with respect  to its participation, along with other health insurers, in a joint venture with a non-profit generic pharmaceutical company, helping to reduce  the costs of certain generic drugs for participating plan members and other consumers
  • Petabyte Technology, a veterinary practice management software company, in connection with:
    • its $15 million Series B Funding Round
    • securing $8M in Series A Financing
    • a $43.4 million acquisition by Chewy, Inc.
  • iNovia Capital in connection with its:
    • multimillion-dollar Series B investment in Boosted, Inc.
    • multimillion-dollar Series A and seed investments in ROSS Intelligence
  • Stadium Goods, a streetwear and sneaker resale store and e-commerce site, in its:
    • sale to Farfetch Limited, a publicly-traded global technology platform for the luxury fashion industry
    • in its backing from LVMH Luxury Ventures
  • a data analytics company that provides proprietary consumer intelligence to major luxury brands in its sale to a global communications agency
  • the strategic investment arm of a life and disability insurer in connection with its investment in a healthcare IT company that leverages clinical diagnostic data and AI to develop advanced analytics solutions for the healthcare, pharmaceutical and life science markets
  • the strategic investment arm of a life and disability insurer in connection with an investment in a special purpose acquisition vehicle which acquired a controlling interest in a provider of trade credit risk management technology solutions
  • J9 Technologies, Inc., an IT product and services company specializing in Business Service Management and Application Performance Management, in its sale to Axxiome Group
  • the strategic investment arm of a life and disability insurer through a Series C preferred equity round for a co-working space company
  • a client in providing a secured, tranched bridge loan to a SaaS-based technology company delivering online and mobile interactive health management platforms
  • Vidible, a video syndication startup, in its sale to AOL, Inc.
  • Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. in connection with its:
    • strategic investment in Pager, a company that provides a mobile-based application for connecting patients with healthcare to address their urgent care needs
    • investment in COTA, Inc., an oncology management technology company
    • participation in a joint venture to acquire Navinet, Inc., a healthcare communications network
  • a multibillion-dollar investment management firm in the sale of insurance fixed income investment business
  • a transportation logistics company in negotiation of two rounds of mezzanine financing to finance multiple acquisitions
  • an IT services company primarily focused on the financial services industry in the sale of majority interest to private equity firm
  • an online platform for the alternative investment industry in connection with multiple rounds of equity financing
  • an international angel investment fund in connection with investments in U.S.-based early-stage ventures
  • a lead investor in Series B Preferred Stock Investment for Masten Space Systems, Inc
  • a food manufacturer and distributor in various transactions, including acquisition and financing of manufacturing facilities, acquisition and licensing of significant brands, distribution rights for various products and sale of a major yogurt brand to a private equity fund
  • a lead investor in an $8 million Series A investment for Lenddo
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Credentials

Bar Admissions
  • New Jersey
  • New York
Education
  • J.D., with high honors, Duke University School of Law
  • B.A., magna cum laude, University of Rochester
Memberships

  • Angel Capital Association; Public Policy Committee Advisory Council 
  • Astia; New York Advisory Board 
  • Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network 
  • ELabNYC Mentor 
  • MIT Enterprise Forum; Board Member, New York Chapter (2002-2017); Member, Global Board

Publications

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Speaking Engagements

  • Presenter, “Unpacking the Corporate Transparency Act,” Stradley Ronon CLE
  • Presenter, "Mitigation, Optimization & Maximization: Examining successful business transitions," Stradley Ronon
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Recognitions

  • The New York Enterprise Report, The Best Accountants and Attorneys for Growing Businesses
  • Chambers USA, New York Leading Lawyer in the Technology Industry
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