DURHAM – Bull City Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focusing on startups and emerging entrepreneurial companies accross the Mid-Atlantic and southeast, is expanding its team by hiring Sarah Leners, an investment banker from Chicago.
“She is a Senior Associate with BCVP and joins us in our office downtown Durham,” says Jason Caplain, who along with David Jones launched and run BCVP.
“We did a national search. Interest exceeded our expectations. Very humbling for us. Reviewed almost 300 resumes from candidates all throughout the country. Many very qualified candidates.”
Sara Leners
While new to venture capital, she is very experienced in finance, having worked most recently for Lazard and before that Deutsche Bank.
In an exclusive interview with WRAL TechWire, Leners says she connected with BCVP through Stephen Flynn, a recruiter at Phoenix Group International.
“I remember being incredibly excited about the role because I wanted to get into venture capital and I knew BCVP had an excellent reputation based on the work Jason and David were doing in the region,” she explains.
Caplain and Jones are both long-time veterans in the Triangle startup and venture community. The firm focuses on software, internet, mobile, health information technology and ecommerce with investments ranging from $250,000 to $2 million. And she acknowledges their reputations as factoring into her decision to leave banking for a stab at learning the VC business.
John Somorjai, left, talks with Jason Caplain. (WRAL TechWire photo)
“Jason and David are the leaders in venture capital investing in the southeast and Mid-Atlantic region,” she points out.
“One of the missions of BCVP is to put ‘founders first’ and I see this every day. I continue to be impressed with the behind the scenes work the team does on behalf of the founders we are invested in.”
Caplain and Jones says the Leners hire reflects their desire to grow BCVP, which means expanding its geographical focus for deals.
“Over the years, we have expanded our geographic footprint and today we are covering most of the east coast and being opportunistic about other regions too. Hiring Sarah helps us with our increased coverage,” Caplain says.
“Also, our strategy is to work closely with our companies. We put a lot of effort into helping our companies with recruiting talent, introducing them to customers, partners, potential acquirers and other financing partners. Hiring Sarah helps us continue to support our companies with the highest level of service for years to come.”
Adds Jones: “The additions have helped us scale. We have seen a material increase to our deal flow, we can respond to entrepreneurs that reach out to us faster, our marketing programs have strengthened but most importantly we’re able to make more of an impact with the companies we serve.”
In their view, Leners’ experience offsets lack of first-hand VC knowledge.
“We think she brings an impressive network, she is thoughtful, analytical, has been incredibly well liked by her peers and clients,” Jones explains.
Why expand now?
Asked why they are expanding now in the midst of COVID-19, the partners say they couldn’t let pandemic limit their view about what was best for the firm in terms of future growth.
From left: Ronnie Eubanks., Dr. Jared Pelo and David Jones.
“Mirroring the behavior of our companies, this is not a time to stick our head in the sand,” Jones says.
“We have delivered on exceptional results over the last two decades and we are very long term thinkers. We haven’t skipped a beat reviewing companies and helping our companies.
“Hiring Sarah is the right move. If we look back on the 2008 financial crisis as an example, the best innovation is born from hard times. This is a great time to continue investing and supporting American innovation. We are proud of what our portfolio companies are doing right now and believe we’ll see a growth period coming out of this pandemic.”
