Kirsty Harshaw

Associate London

T +44 20 8734 2897

F +44 20 8734 2820

[email protected]

Biography

Kirsty Harshaw is an associate in the Investment Management Practice Group in Haynes Boone's London office.

On the investment funds side, Kirsty's practice focuses on advising established and emerging managers on structuring and launching venture capital and venture debt funds (onshore and offshore), including advising on fund closings, carry scheme establishment and ongoing fund operations. She also advises LPs, including institutional investors and family offices, on fund investments.

On the transactional side, Kirsty advises venture capital funds on the deployment of their capital, including lead investments and co-investments at portfolio company level. She also supports early-stage companies and founders on funding rounds, ongoing corporate matters, due diligence exercises and the preparation of relevant ancillary documents.

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Selected Client Representations

Investment fund GP-side work

- Launch of NordicNinja VC's €200m EU Article 8 SFDR Luxembourg-domiciled fund comprising a Japanese-Baltic joint venture. The fund is cornerstoned by Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC).
- Advising Bootstrap Europe, a prominent female-led European venture debt firm, on the structuring and formation of their fourth institutional fund, Bootstrap Europe IV.
- Advising Bootstrap 4F on the launch of Bootstrap 4F SCSp, a first-of-its-kind fund of funds designed to increase investment in female-led venture capital in the UK. Drawing commitments from leading institutional investors, including M&G, British Business Bank, Nationwide Building Society and Barclays.
- Advising on the establishment of Saras Capital II, and providing ongoing advice in relation to management incentivisation, LP introducer and management company staking arrangements.
- Advising a London-based multi-service venture capital firm dedicated to providing high-performance scientists with career resources, funding and laboratory spaces, on the launch of their first institutional fund, a Delaware-domiciled limited partnership with a target size of $22m, focusing on high-potential early-stage science-led start-ups within the life science, material science and engineering sectors.
- Advising Octopus Ventures on the structuring and launch of a deal-by-deal Jersey protected cell structure (PCC) and the launch of its first cell. The cell raised in the region of £30m from a broad base of investors, including quasi-governmental institutional investor British Patient Capital as anchor and certain high-net-worth participants.

Investment fund LP-side work

- Advising Axa Venture Partners, a global venture capital firm with a focus on the technology sector and with more than €2 billion of assets under management, on their fund investments into LocalGlobe XIII LP and Latitude IV LP.

Corporate / downstream fund deployment deal experience

- Advising NordicNinja VC, the largest Japanese VC in Europe, on the deployment of its fund, including in its capacity as lead investor in a $23m Series B fundraising round for Lightyear Financial Ltd, with support from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mosaic Ventures, Superangel, Specialist VC, Metaplanet and others.
- Advising Monq Ltd, a London-based start-up building the first artificial intelligence platform designed specifically for strategic procurement negotiation, on its $3m pre-seed financing round.

Qualifications