Silicon Valley Investor & Technology Leader Humphrey Polanen to Drive Strategic Initiatives in Region for Equity Crowdfunding Platform I-Bankers Direct for Accredited Investors.
Humphrey Polanen has joined I-Bankers Direct as a managing director. Based in Palo Alto, CA, Mr. Polanen is recognized for his years of experience as a technology executive, entrepreneur, venture investor and international corporate attorney. He currently will focus on building the company’s ecosystem, identifying and evaluating fundraising opportunities for placement on the I-Bankers Direct equity crowdfunding platform. Polanen will also work to establish relationships with associations of high net worth investors and the venture / angel investor community
“We view Silicon Valley as a key region for I-Bankers Direct, both from the standpoint of sourcing investment opportunities for our platform as well as sourcing high-net-worth investors for the transactions,” said Mr. Polanen. “Companies in Silicon Valley received 41% of all U.S. venture investment in 2011 and, on a per capita basis, the area is home to the country’s greatest concentration of wealth and of savvy technology investors. The I-Bankers Direct platform aims to provide access to capital for emerging growth-stage businesses. I am excited that our platform will enable promising entrepreneurial companies led by great teams to build great companies.”
Mr. Polanen currently serves as a director of two public companies, Edgewave Software, which he took public as CEO, and Heritage Commerce Corp., a bank holding company of which he was a co-founder. He is also on the board of several private companies, including uCirrus Corp., a venture-stage company focused on real-time data management, and Punchlime, an accelerator for early-stage companies. Previously, Mr. Polanen founded and was Managing General Partner of Internet Venture Partners, a European venture capital management firm for technology companies. Prior to that, he was General Manager of two divisions of Sun Microsystems, where he led the Internet Commerce Group and the Network Security Division. He also held executive positions at Tandem Computers, where he oversaw corporate ventures and emerging market development. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he started his career as an international corporate lawyer.