Lowenstein Sandler is pleased to announce that Matteo Daste has joined the firm as a partner in its Emerging Companies & Venture Capital (ECVC) group. Daste has spent the past 25 years as a Silicon Valley/San Francisco-based lawyer advising startups, growth companies, and venture capital funds in the United States and Europe and will continue this work with Lowenstein’s ECVC team. Daste will also continue splitting his time between Lowenstein’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices. Lowenstein continues to strengthen the firm’s San Francisco and Palo Alto team, deepening its ties to both the Bay Area and international startup/venture ecosystems.
With Daste, Lowenstein’s ECVC group continues its strategic series of impactful lateral partner hires. Recent additions to Lowenstein’s ECVC group include San Francisco-based partner Josh Cook and Palo Alto/San Francisco partner Armando Castro, alongside New York-based lateral partners Sara R. Werner, Abe J. Kwon, and Leia K. Galasso.
Daste, who grew up in Italy and speaks fluent Italian, has a significant roster of clients, many of whom are based in Europe or co-located in Europe and the States. For instance, Daste serves as outside counsel to the Italian General Consulate in San Francisco.
Having earned both his undergraduate and law degrees in California, Daste represents domestic and foreign startups, emerging growth companies and the investors in those companies in venture and growth equity transactions, private tender offers and other secondary transactions, mergers and acquisitions, ‘flips’ into U.S. entities, joint ventures, as well as in corporate governance matters. He frequently counsels businesses and investors on cross-border transactions between Europe and the United States, primarily in the tech sector, as well as in the digital asset/cryptocurrency and fintech sectors. For the decade prior to joining Lowenstein, Daste was a partner at two AMLaw 50 law firms, Mayer Brown and, before that, Orrick.
Daste’s experience includes representing issuers, including financial institutions, in U.S. capital markets transactions. A frequent speaker on securities regulation and emerging markets, he has addressed audiences across the U.S. and Italy, from Stanford University to the Italian Parliament. He is a fellow of the Intentac International Entrepreneurship Academy of the Jönköping University in Sweden. He is also a founder of the Business Association Italy America (BAIA) and a member of the board of directors of Italian Community Services.
Ed Zimmerman, who chairs Lowenstein’s ECVC group, says: “We’re excited about Matteo’s reach into the founder and investor communities in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Europe, which deepens our own startup and venture connectivity in both regions. We continue to believe that, in addition to the Bay Area’s dominance in venture and tech, the influx of European founders and investors into both San Francisco and New York remains a key pillar of our client base and relationship set. Our firm and group have been very focused on the Bay Area, as Matteo becomes the third partner we have added in just over a year to the ECVC Group in our San Francisco and Palo Alto offices. As with Josh and Armando, Matteo has also been practicing in California for over two decades, as we deepen our bench with firmly entrenched senior local talent.”
Daste says: “Lowenstein’s strength in Emerging Companies and Venture Capital, as well as their dedication to representing startups and venture funds over the last 25+ years (from when Ed Zimmerman and Anthony Pergola cofounded Lowenstein’s ECVC Group in the late 1990s), make this a great home for me and for my client base. I also really value Lowenstein’s work with European (and other overseas) venture funds and growth companies, as that is core to my practice. Lowenstein’s work with French, UK, German, Nordic, other EU, and African venture funds, founders, and startups really aligns with many of my relationships in the States and abroad. Finally, having worked opposite long-term Bay Area-based Lowenstein partners Anthony W. Raymundo and Chandra Shih, I am very excited to be on the same team as such experienced and committed practitioners, as well as joining Armando Castro, who moved to Lowenstein about a year ago.”
Raymundo, Managing Partner of Lowenstein’s Palo Alto office, adds: “Matteo is the seventh lateral partner to join our ECVC team in the last 18 months. Matteo’s blend of pragmatism and innovative thinking, as well as his expansive network throughout the international founder and VC community, make him a perfect fit for Lowenstein’s entrepreneurial culture and dedication to our startup and growth company clients as we continue to expand our San Francisco Bay Area footprint.”
About Lowenstein Sandler LLP
Lowenstein Sandler is a national law firm with over 400 lawyers based in New York, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Salt Lake City, Roseland, and Washington, D.C. The firm represents leaders in virtually every sector of the global economy, with particular emphasis on investment funds, life sciences, and technology. Recognized for its entrepreneurial spirit and high standard of client service, the firm is committed to the interests of its clients, colleagues, and communities.
