Startups & Emerging Enterprises

Expertise

We know the key players in the accelerator and funding spaces and understand what they each of them will be looking for when investing in your startup. Most importantly, we can help you by bringing to each of your new negotiations or business decisions our valuable experience and insight. 

Experience

• advising in connection with company establishment and structuring, including group structure advice, company incorporation services, provision of constitutions, trust establishment, provision of trust deeds, initial share and security issues and preparation of shareholders and security holders agreements
• acting on funding requirements, from angel investors, through series A, B & C rounds, onto IPOs, backdoor listings, trade sales and roll ups, including due diligence processes, negotiation of Subscription Agreements and Shareholder Agreements with venture capital funders, restructuring of capital structures, and related corporate law compliance issues
• advising on employee and contractor arrangements, including contract templates, regulatory compliance advice, and creation of staff incentive programs, such as Employee Share Option Plans and Employee Share Schemes
• protecting and managing the business’ intellectual property assets, including identifying sources of IP, contracting to ensure ownership by an entity quarantined from trading risk, and licensing to allow for safe exploitation
• developing and protecting brands, including advising in connection with copyright, trademarks, domain names and consumer law issues
• managing liability and intellectual property ownership issues in contract negotiations, with both customers and suppliers
• assisting with general regulatory compliance, including corporations law, copyright, privacy and competition law
• minimising legal exposure in workplace change, including compliance with consultation and dispute resolution requirements, redundancy, retrenchment and redeployment, transfer of business and outsourcing/insourcing
• advising in connection with project financing, leveraged finance for buyouts, acquisitions and recapitalisations, including syndicated bank loans, bridge financing and mezzanine debt
• managing disputes, from initial demands, through mediation and other alternative dispute resolution processes, to full scale litigation in any Australian court, and arbitrations across national borders.