Matthew W. Bower

Business Law Attorney

Matt serves as outside general counsel to a wide range of emerging and middle market companies across a variety of industries, as well as private equity, venture capital, family offices, real estate syndications, entrepreneurs and investors. Matt represents clients with respect to:

• Corporate formation, organization, and governance, including shareholder agreements and operating agreements, restricted stock agreements, and equity incentive plans;
• Corporate conversions, mergers, and reorganizations;
• Securities offerings, including debt and equity offerings;
• Mergers and acquisitions;
• Complex commercial transactions, including joint ventures, joint development agreements, and corporate structuring and succession planning;
• Intellectual property development, ownership, licensing, and commercialization;
• General contract matters, including contract negotiations with vendors, suppliers, customers, and licensors; and
• Outside general counsel representation.

Matt advises emerging companies on capital fundraising, including SAFE financing, convertible debt, preferred equity financing, as well as securities law compliance. He works closely with companies from cradle (formation and organization) to liquidity (sale or merger) and all stages of development in between. Matt’s experience in the early-stage capital markets includes fund representation, fund formation and investments.

Representative industries include software, SaaS, information technology, IoT, data analytics and other technology-based companies, as well as manufacturing, automotive, advanced materials, pharma, medical devices, publishing, digital advertising and media, retail, and food and beverage.

Matt also has a specialty in real estate development syndications, including fund formation and structure, and state and federal securities law compliance and related issues. Matt creates investment vehicles for syndication sponsors for their specific investment goals, whether the fund is for a single asset or multi-asset transaction.

He is a member of Varnum’s Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Taskforce, which specializes in CTA compliance, guidance and analysis. Visit our CTA Resource Center for more information.

Matt is a member of the Business and Corporate Practice Team, and participates in the Intellectual Property, the Data Privacy and Cybersecurity, and the Venture Capital and Emerging Companies practice teams. He is also the lead partner of the firm’s Ann Arbor office.

Experience

Emerging Companies

$7 million Series A financing for SE Michigan pharmaceutical company.

$8 million Series A financing for SE Michigan enterprise XR company.

$2 million Series Seed financing for Detroit SaaS company.

$2 Series A financing for West Michigan SaaS company.

$1 million Series Seed financing for Ann Arbor-based Y Combinator company.

$2.5 million convertible debt financing and $2 million equity financing for Detroit-based customer relationship management (CRM) company.

Formation of $30 million Michigan-based, seed-stage investment fund.

$2 million convertible debt financing for Detroit-based, minority-owned and woman-owned cosmetics company.

$1 million financing for S.E. Michigan cannabis business (Class C Grower).

$1 million SAFE financing for SE Michigan, women-owned fintech company.

Real Estate Syndications

$15M investment fund for multiple boutique hotel properties in California.

$5.5M fund for retail center purchase and development in southern California.

$250k+ pooled investment in multiple fractional vacation properties in Mexican resort.

Multiple real estate funds for properties in the Midwest, including multi-family complexes, single-family residential complex, and self-storage facilities.

Honors and Recognitions

Arts, Communications, Entertainment, and Arts Section of the State Bar of Michigan: Hensel Award Recipient, 2020

Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Leaders in the Law, 2020

Professional Affiliations

State Bar of Michigan: Arts, Communications, Entertainment and Sports (ACES) Section (past chair); Business Section; Intellectual Property Section

New York State Bar Association

Copyright Society of the U.S.A.

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Arts and Entertainment Law Clinic, Adjunct Professor and Co-Director (2022-2024)

Community Involvement

TechTown Detroit, Board of Directors

Ann Arbor Art Center, Board of Directors, Chairman

Detroit Regional Chamber, Leadership Detroit, Class XXXVIII

The Ronald McDonald House of Ann Arbor, The Red Shoe Affair Host Committee

Presentations

Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), “Help a Start-up Prepare for Seed Funding,” 34th Annual Business Law Institute (2023)