Inventus Law: Counsel to Global Startup Companies and Founders

Anil Advani, Founder & Managing Partner

Inventus Law is a Global Technology Law Firm, headquartered in Palo Alto with high growth technology company clients based in 35 cities across the world. The Firm was founded in 2009 by Anil Advani who has over 20 years of experience advising the quintessential “two guys in the garage” from starting up through the lifecycle of their venture. Lawyers at Inventus Law have extensive experience having advised over 3,000 startup companies on various corporate and commercial matters, including more than 500 financing and M&A transactions valued at over $3.5 Billion in the aggregate.

As a full-service global startup law firm, Inventus Law provides a full suite of legal services that cover the entire gamut of a startup’s life, from advice and strategy on general corporate, financing and stock matters; negotiating with investors; patent and trademark filing and strategy; drafting and negotiating licensing, SaaS, reseller and other commercial agreements with customers and vendors; compliance with U.S., GDPR and other international regimes on privacy and data security issues; and mergers and acquisition transactions for the eventual exit of the business.

Anil Advani, founder and managing partner of Inventus Law, has encouraged many startups, both small and large, to grow right from initial funding to the rise of the venture in the competitive enterprise arena. “We are one of the few boutique law firms in Silicon Valley that has deep expertise across corporate, financing, commercial, intellectual property and M&A transactions for startups,” comments Advani. Lawyers at Inventus Law have worked with companies in a wide variety of industry spectrums, and have helped build organizations ranging from self-funded, seed funded to fast-growing $100M+ companies.
Inventus Law also has a niche in representing international founders, investors and other stakeholders based in startup ecosystems around the world from India, Singapore and Turkey to Canada, Brazil, Iceland, Columbia, Mexico and across Europe. The firm’s expertise in identifying, structuring and executing on complex international issues that apply to global companies with founders, investors and teams located across the world makes it the go-to-firm for foreign founders, investors and other professionals looking to set up their ventures in the U.S. Inventus’ lawyers have a keen understanding of the various regulatory, tax and structuring issues faced by foreign founders and startups as they start or expand operations in the U.S. which helps simplify for the founders the otherwise complex world of international technology, law and finance. Lawyers at Inventus Law are fluent in Hindi, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Telugu, Kannada, Sindhi and Malayalam. “There is an easy model in Silicon Valley that has worked very well for growing startups into becoming large global companies. I would like to see it adapted to the advantage of founders sitting in other parts of the world. The method will benefit global startup societies, create the right ecosystems and make the entire process more nurturing for startups,” comments Advani.

We combine the experience and expertise of large law firms, and approach clients in the startup realm with the feel of a small boutique law firm that works very closely with clients and founders

The team at Inventus Law focuses on developing a close relationship with the clients which is not limited to legal counseling but evolves into strategic business advice. Lawyers at Inventus Law use their vast knowledge and experience of being an integral part of the culture and fast pace growth in Silicon Valley to advise clients on best legal, business, financing and hiring models to adapt to their businesses while also helping identify business risks and opportunities for the founders as they set out to conquer the world.
“We combine the experience and expertise of large law firms, and approach clients in the startup realm with the feel of a small boutique law firm that works very closely with clients and founders across legal, business and regulatory regimes,” explains Advani. At Inventus Law, maintaining relationships with their customers’ plays a vital role which is evidenced by the fact that almost all of the firm’s new clients come in through referrals from former or current clients.

At the core of the practice at Inventus Law is startup financing, and the firm has continued to represent 100’s of companies every year in raising over $1 Billion in financing from some of the largest venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road and other investment hubs. Lawyers at Inventus Law work closely with the founders in understanding the investment opportunities, negotiating the most favored terms and quickly executing on financing opportunities as they emerge.

Most recently, Advani has become a Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley, and he is looking forward to engaging with the very strong TiE Charter Member community to help founders connect with the right investors and mentors. Heading into the future, Inventus Law has ambitious plans to expand its network in fast-emerging startup ecosystems like Canada, Europe, and Asia, along with emerging local opportunities in Austin, Utah, Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta. “I plan on spending more time during the next 12-24 months increasing the knowledge and reach of our clients that are coming from outside the U.S. and enabling them to grow their businesses within the US, while continuing to grow our Silicon Valley practice by servicing existing clients and advising new sets of founders that are starting up their ventures everyday,” concludes Advani.

Globally, Inventus Law sees India as the next hub of emerging global startups, and lawyers at Inventus Law spend a good amount of quality time advising Indian founders on the methods of operating a business in the U.S. while building a bridge between Silicon Valley on the one hand and Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Cochin and Mumbai on the other hand.