[NEWS] Early-stage investment firm Defy hires Eventbrite exec Brian Rothenberg as partner – Loganspace

Quickly after closing its 2d project fund on$262 million, Defy Partners has hired Brian Rothenberg from Eventbrite to spend money on Sequence A startups.

Defy became launched in 2017 by conventionalKleiner Perkinslong-established accomplice Trae Vassallo and Neil Sequeira,amanaging director at Regular Catalyst for additional than a decade. Rothenberg represents the pair’s first inaugurate air addition to the long-established partnership.

Rothenberg joins fromEventbrite,where he’s spent the final 6.5 years in different a bunch of roles, most as of late as the ticketing and event platform’s vice chairman of boost. Right here’s his first corpulent-time investing characteristic, though Rothenberg tells TechCrunch he’s had diverse note thru investing his non-public capital and scouting for project funds loveSequoia Capital,First Round Capital and Y Combinator.

“I’ve talked to nearly every agency in the valley and thru that, I purchased to deem what became in actuality predominant to me,” Rothenberg mentioned. “Defy has ample capital to assemble targeted and predominant investments nevertheless now not so mighty capital they feel they must shove cash into deals.”

Nearly about a decade ago, Rothenberg interned atCanaan Partnersbefore co-founding a native companies market called SkillSlate. The swap raised $1.5 million in equity funding before selling toTaskRabbitin 2011.

“Having been a founder myself, on the Sequence A is in case you inaugurate as a lot as deem the expansion levers emerging,” he mentioned. “Nevertheless what a Sequence A became 10 years ago is now not what it looks love on the present time. I’ve seen a bunch of companies which might per chance per chance be overfunded on the Sequence A, which on the bottom looks mountainous because they’ve a bunch of runway nevertheless it would per chance also furthermore be very unfavorable.”

Focusing on the “Sequence A hole,” Defy affords between $3 million and $10 million in Sequence A companies across industries. Defy’s founders Vassallo and Sequeira are known for prime-profile investments earlier of their careers, together with Bustle, The Upright Firm,Dropcamand Nest. Thru Defy they’ve backedOwl, which sells security cameras for vehicles; cloud security compliance platform Shujinko;Securly, a instrument meant to abet children dangle safe on their gadgets, among others

With its 2d fund, Defy looks to be scaling its note. Moreover to elevating extra capital and hiring its first non-founding accomplice, the agency launcheda fresh scout programto abet with deal sourcing. Dubbed the “Sage” program, Defy has tapped Brian Lee and Sujal Patel to abet with investing and to mentor its portfolio companies.

“Our aim is to fabricate a upright-sized agency, which procedure we can’t bring on a bunch of of us or we turn out in the the same slope of everyone else where extra of us equals bigger fund which in a roundabout procedure results in higher checks,” the Defy founders wrote in a blog put up asserting the program.