Lowenstein Sandler Strengthens Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Leadership with Two New Vice Chairs

Lowenstein Sandler LLP has announced that Meredith Beuchaw and Eric Weiner have been named Vice Chairs of the firm's Emerging Companies & Venture Capital (ECVC) Group, expanding the leadership team of one of the firm's signature practices as it continues to grow its national platform for startups, venture-backed and growth companies, founders, and investors.

"This title elevation for Meredith and Eric reflects not a transition, but a formal recognition by the firm of the leadership they have already demonstrated," says Ed Zimmerman, Lowenstein ECVC Chair and Co-founder. "Both have been pivotal leaders in driving the continued growth of our ECVC platform, clients, and team."

As Vice Chairs, Meredith and Eric will help guide Lowenstein's ECVC Group's strategic direction, deepen relationships across the startup and investor ecosystem, and advance the group's continued growth.

The appointments reflect Lowenstein's continued commitment to an ECVC platform that counsels founders, startups, emerging and growth companies, venture funds, growth equity investors, and strategic acquirers through the entire lifecycle of a company's business, from ideation/founding to liquidity (M&A, or otherwise), and everything in between. With their more than 20 years of experience each, Meredith and Eric bring complementary expertise spanning every stage of that startup/venture lifecycle.

Meredith focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). She advises startups, venture and growth-equity backed companies, founders, investors, and acquirers on M&A and related corporate governance, with a focus on exit transactions (ranging from acqui-hires to multi-billion dollar deals) and platform and add-on acquisitions. She is a strategic partner to her clients both prior to and throughout the deal cycle, including successfully navigating M&A exits in the face of challenges such as ongoing lawsuits. Recent clients include FractionalAI (now Ode) (acquired by a consortium led by Anthropic, Blackstone, and Hellman & Friedman), Portkey (acquired by Palo Alto Networks), and Parsed (acquired by Baseten). She also co-leads Lowenstein's VentureCrush events and network series and is a co-founder of and co-leads the firm's Women in VC series.

"Every exit has complexity-whether it's a founder selling their life's work or a growth equity fund optimizing returns," says Meredith. "Our job is to protect value at every stage of that process, from the letter of intent (LOI) through post-closing. Clients come to us because we've done this thousands of times, and they know that in M&A, we'll fight for every dollar that should be in their pocket when the deal is done."

Eric advises founders, startups, and investors at all stages, providing strategic guidance on founder matters, corporate governance, and seed, venture, and growth equity financings, as well as private tender offers, secondaries, and strategic transactions, from SAFEs to all rounds of equity financings, both early and late, to exits. He also advises founders, startups, investors, and Boards as outside general corporate counsel. His recent clients include Brooklinen, Starface, Vacation, Graza, MangoBoost, LayerZero Labs, Comet ML, and Hyde Park Venture Partners. He also co-created and co-hosts The Founder's Hour podcast with Lowenstein ECVC partner Laura Cicirelli.

"We help founders, their companies and the investors who fund them navigate their most critical and challenging matters. Doing so is incredibly rewarding. People come to us because we remain deeply committed to early-stage startups and our proven ability to guide them as they evolve into leading growth companies," says Eric. "We've seen many of our competitors deprioritize or even move away from this work, but we thrive on partnering with clients early and supporting them through growth and exit. Our commitment to our clients is steadfast and long term-which is fitting for a group where many of us have built our careers at Lowenstein over 20 or even 30 years, a level of continuity that has become increasingly rare in our market."

Meredith and Eric step into the Vice Chair roles alongside the ECVC Group's Co-founder and Vice Chair, Anthony Pergola, who commented: "When our ECVC Group is representing a venture-backed startup in M&A, whether that company has been with us since its formation or engaged us just prior to receiving their acquisition offer, our clients know they are partnering with a hands on group that knows the space and is focused on getting them over the finish line on the deal they want, at the pace they want, with the deal proceeds they're expecting." Lowenstein's ECVC Group achieved top 10 rankings globally in venture capital deals and venture exits (M&A deals) according to PitchBook, earlier this year.

Over the past two years, Lowenstein's ECVC Group alone has added six lateral partners (each of whom brought a roster of startup and venture clients) in San Francisco (Josh Cook and Matteo Daste), Palo Alto (Armando Castro), and New York (Leia Galasso, Abe Kwon, and Sara Werner), reflecting the firm's ability to attract well-established senior talent in the nation's leading venture markets. Lowenstein has served venture clients out of our Bay Area offices since 2008, and continues to build out our team in our Palo Alto and - more recently - San Francisco offices.

Anthony Raymundo, Managing Partner of Lowenstein's Palo Alto Office and a partner in the ECVC Group, explained: "Eric and Meredith have been instrumental in shaping our practice. We're thrilled to recognize the top-level work and team leadership they've been achieving for years now."

This growth, along with ongoing programming such as VentureCrush, Women in VC and The Founder's Hour podcast, reflects a firm investing in the next generation of venture capital leadership while building on nearly 30 years of experience advising startups and the investors who back them.

About Lowenstein Sandler's ECVC Group
Founded more than 25 years ago by Ed Zimmerman and Anthony Pergola, Lowenstein Sandler's Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Group is one of the most active venture capital practices in the country, advising startups, growth companies, and the venture, growth equity, and private equity funds that invest in them, from formation through exit. The Group maintains deep relationships with U.S. and international investors, including leading funds and founders across Europe, Israel, and Africa.

About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler LLP is a national law firm with more than 400 lawyers based in New York, Palo Alto, Roseland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington. The firm represents clients ranging from startups to multinational corporations, with a particular focus on the technology and life sciences industries and venture capital more broadly.