News
August 20, 2018Phillips Lytle LLP to Take Part in Startup Week Across America 2018 Celebrating the Albany-Area Startup Ecosystem
Phillips Lytle LLP is proud to celebrate Startup Week Across America 2018, taking place August 20-24. Phillips Lytle attorneys consistently engage with a number of successful business leaders, local founders, innovators, educators, and investors who are involved in the Albany startup community.
“Phillips Lytle is thrilled to participate in Startup Week,” said Phillips Lytle Partner and Albany Office Leader Richard E. Honen. “We are excited to showcase the work we do as a firm, as well as some of the great companies which have been born out of this dynamic ecosystem in the Capital Region.”
Mr. Honen focuses his practice in corporate, finance, and venture capital law, as well as complex commercial litigation. He is the firm’s Venture Capital Team Leader and provides corporate counsel to a broad spectrum of companies from startup to Fortune 50 and has lectured extensively, particularly on the topics of corporate law, venture capital, and angel investing. He was recently recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Corporate Law in the 2019 edition of The Best Lawyers In America©.
Throughout the week, Phillips Lytle will be featuring several of its startup clients on its Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
Over the past decade, Phillips Lytle has worked with hundreds of startups, as well as numerous organizations committed to the startup ecosystem in the Capital Region.
“A significant number of the companies which we advised during their startup phase are now pillars of the Capital Region business community,” said Mr. Honen. “We are proud to be able to guide these businesses from their beginning stages, to the time when they are sold.”
Vikash and Vikram Agrawal successfully grew and exited their startup Etransmedia in 2017. They have now launched a new firm Levrx as well as an investment group Vik Brothers NY, LLC. They’ve worked alongside Mr. Honen since their first firm’s earliest days.
“Rich helped us incorporate our first business, was very instrumental in our first round of funding, and helped us through our sale,” Vikram Agrawal said. “We’ve been a part of the ecosystem for more than 15 years, and over the last five years, there have been significant exits in the Capital Region. That’s a major change. Upstate New York is now on the map.”
“If I’m talking to an investor,” Vikash Agrawal added, “they are now willing to fly to the Albany area to meet with you, have a conversation, and ultimately do business with you.”
Vikash emphasized the importance of finding experienced mentors, such as the team at Phillips Lytle, and highlighted the growing pool of local resources that are available to startup founders.
“As the entrepreneur, you bring the energy, enthusiasm and the idea, but you rarely know anything about how to run a business. Mentors are the only way you can bridge that critical gap because early on, you don’t have the resources to access the expertise,” he said. “People in the Capital region are encouraging and supportive. A young company can survive and grow here.”
