Flywheel Ventures Announces Addition of Three Team Members
SANTA FE, NM (February 7, 2008) – Flywheel Ventures today announced three new additions to their venture capital firm. Lawrence Chavez joins the team as an Associate, Cassie Marez joins as the Operations Manager and Yasine Mogharreban joins as the Communication Manager.
“We are thrilled to have these three talented people on the growing Flywheel team. They allow us to strengthen our focus on helping entrepreneurs to grow globally-competitive businesses from innovations in information technology and the physical sciences” said Trevor Loy, managing partner of Flywheel Ventures. “Their skills and talents round out the overall company and we look forward to their contributions to the firm.”
As an Associate, Lawrence Chavez is responsible for managing Flywheel’s New Mexico “Gap” Fund, which provides seed funding of up to $100,000 to entrepreneurs at the most nascent stages of building their ventures. In addition, he supports the Flywheel partners on sourcing, screening and structuring new investment opportunities; conducting due diligence and market research for prospective and current investments; and providing financial and operational assistance to existing portfolio companies in Flywheel’s larger funds. Lawrence joined Flywheel full-time in late 2007 after serving as a “Flywheel Fellow,” a unique summer program designed to expose talented mid-career executives and MBA students to the technology venture capital business.
Prior to Flywheel, Lawrence was an active angel investor and entrepreneur in a variety of successful New Mexico companies. He was a Founder and Principal of Infinity Business Development, a start-up consulting firm, and a Founder/CEO of Infinity Music, Inc. which he built and sold in 2006. Prior to that he spent six years as Purchasing/Operations Manager for Our Secret Ltd., a growth consumer products company where he oversaw production, manufacturing and global supply chain logistics. Lawrence is an active member of the New Mexico Angels investment group and serves on its Screening Committee. He holds a Masters in Marketing from Texas A&M University and a Bachelors of Accountancy from New Mexico State University.
Cassie Marez joined Flywheel Ventures in late 2007 as the Operations Manager responsible for the Firm’s day-to-day operations.
Prior to joining Flywheel, Cassie worked for two venture capital-backed start-up biotechnology companies, Exagen Diagnostics and TCI Medical, where she was responsible for investor relations, database management, office management and quality systems. She has a Bachelors degree in Biology from the New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology and is a member of VCOMA (Venture Capital Office Managers Association).
Yasine Mogharreban joined Flywheel in early 2008 and manages the firm’s public relations, communications, marketing and events. She has particular strengths in message development and fundraising. She most recently served as a Deputy National Finance Director for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s Presidential campaign, where she was responsible for planning and implementing national fundraising events across the country. She was also the Special Assistant to Communication for Governor Bill Richardson where she served as a spokesperson for the Governor and First Lady, researched and composed talking points on a variety of state and local issues, and helped manage all communications related to state business.
Yasine has a Masters in Political Communication from the University of New Mexico and a Bachelors degree in Communication from Truman State University.
ABOUT FLYWHEEL VENTURES
Flywheel Ventures is a venture capital firm that empowers entrepreneurs to build globally-competitive businesses based on innovations in information technology and the physical sciences. Flywheel typically makes the first institutional investments in companies with origins in the Mountain West region of the United States. The firm matches talented entrepreneurs and market opportunities with Flywheel’s capital, entrepreneurial experience, and industry relationships to accelerate innovations into profitable companies. Flywheel is based in Santa Fe and also has offices in Albuquerque and San Francisco. For more information on Flywheel, please visit www.flywheelventures.com.
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