Crowell & Moring launches resource platform for startups

Crowell & Moring launches resource platform for startups

The startup platform called GrowthStudio is founded and led by former Atrium trio Michel Narganes, Jon O'Connell and Matthew Melville

Crowell & Moring, the Washington DC-based international law firm, has announced the launching of a free online resource platform for startups and emerging companies.

The resource platform has been named GrowthStudio, which will be led by a trio of former Atrium lawyers Michel Narganes, Jon O'Connell and Matthew Melville. They had joined Crowell & Moring last year following Atrium's closure.

The firm has said that GrowthStudio project will provide free legal and business content for entrepreneurs at every stage of the startup process, featuring guides, industry alerts, market trends and document generation tools.

Several startup support services like the Founders Institute, VC Labs, Zane Access and other diversity-focused fund managers and innovation accelerators are also partnering with Crowell & Morning to help the underrepresented groups access early-stage funding.

"As former entrepreneurs who have been on the ground floor of a tech company, we understand the emerging company lifecycle – from concept to exit – and the challenges start-ups face," Michel Narganes, a partner in Crowell & Moring's emerging companies and venture capital practice and former Atrium co-managing partner, said.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has been an incubator for innovation, an accelerator for digital adoption and a catalyst for VC and investment activity. The world is now experiencing its greatest appetite for doing things differently, which is why we created a portal with easy access resources for founders who are looking for more efficient ways of pursuing financing and growth," Narganes added.

One of those resources being offered is a collection of downloadable documents called Simple Series A. This will help startups prepare for their first capital raising. Series A is based on the team's experience of closing more than 200 deals for such companies over the past several years.

Jon O'Connell, another former Atrium partner and a founder of Crowell & Moring's GrowthStudio alongside Narganes, said: "Building on the group's experience and commitment working with early-stage companies and venture capital investors, we have developed Simple Series A, which we believe can be an excellent process for the emerging companies and venture capital community to negotiate and document a start-up's first equity-financing."

According to O'Connell, the documents do not eliminate the need for hiring outside counsel, but they can reduce the costs associated with drafting financing documents. While Series A financing rounds can typically take three to six weeks to close, GrowthStudio's suite of customisable financing documents can help save time by streamlining the drafting process.

Matthew Melville, who also joined Crowell & Moring last year from Atrium where he was co-managing partner, said: "We want to help start-ups manage a business with less cost, greater efficiency and more transparency."