Staffing up in LA: Square 1, Mission Ventures, Wilson Sonsini, Prism, etc.
December 11th, 2007 by Benjamin KuoSquare 1 Bank, a banking firm which primarily serves the entrepreneurial and venture capital market, announced Monday that it has expanded into the Los Angeles area with a new office. The move is the latest by a number of service providers to staff up in Los Angeles. In the last few months, I’ve run across a number of venture firms — including Mission Ventures and Prism Ventures — scouting out office space in L.A., and even Silicon Valley’s storied law firm to the technology industry Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati has been eyeing an office in Los Angeles. Square 1 and Wilson Sonsini have all maintained offices in San Diego for some time (Mission is based and was started in San Diego); Prism Ventures is out of Boston.
Square 1’s office will be staffed by Chris Erro and Peter Drees. Drees was previously at Comerica, Erro was formerly at Agility Capital and VenCore. Square 1 joins Silicon Valley Bank (disclosure: SVB is a sponsor of socalTECH) in the market with a specific focus on venture backed firms.
