Hogan Dowling McNamara Solicitors are skilled at representing start-up and early stage companies. We guide clients through the start-up phase, advise them on the steps involved in setting up and running a business, and represent their interests to secure the business’ future.
The services we provide to start-up and early-stage companies include:
- Incorporation.
- Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).
- Intellectual property undertakings/protection.
- Advising on terms and conditions of employment and drafting contracts.
- Appraising heads of terms/letter of intent from investors (VC’s, state agency, private equity and venture debt).
- Reviewing subscription and shareholders agreements with investors and completing fundraising rounds.
- Registering trademark applications and advices in respect of cease and desist letters.
- Reviewing know-how and/or patent licence agreements for spin-outs from third-level educational institutions.
- Facilitating Enterprise Ireland (EI) investments.
Experience
We act for a variety of start-up and early stage companies.
We advised a start-up business in the food industry on a broad range of issues, including:
- Negotiating a research and development agreement and a manufacturing agreement. This included advising on the protection of trade secrets/ know-how and copyright issues.
- Applications for community trademarks.
- Advice in respect of website use and content, terms and conditions for third-party use and comparative advertising issues.
- Drafting a share subscription and shareholders agreement with private investors and Enterprise Ireland and dealing with follow-on investments.
- Drafting employment policies and procedures and employment contracts.
Hogan Dowling McNamara represented an early stage medtech company by:
- Advising on a series of fundraising rounds from a number of private investors, a VC and Enterprise Ireland. We dealt with term sheets and various subscription and shareholders agreements.
- Advising on all issues relating to the various investment rounds including all company law issues on a restructuring of the shareholder base that involved the exit of a VC.
- Drafting employment policies and procedures, employment contracts, consultancy contracts, service contracts with directors and advised in respect of shares option schemes and other incentive arrangements.
- Reviewing and amending international distribution contracts and key supplier contracts.
