Industry Ventures Promotes Robert May to Chief Operating Officer
June 4, 2012 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA– Industry Ventures LLC, a leading investment firm for venture capital, today announced the promotion of Robert May to Chief Operating Officer. May most recently served as the firm’s Chief Financial and Compliance Officer, a position he held for the previous three years.
The firm also announced it has hired Ira Simkhovitch as a Senior Associate supporting the secondary team to help venture investors and founders with liquidity alternatives for their existing investments. Additionally, May will continue in his role as Chief Compliance Officer.
“We are very pleased to promote Robert to COO, which fully reflects the breadth of responsibilities he has taken on and the value he brings to the firm. As the scope of the firm has evolved to include a wide variety of flexible liquidity options for venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and limited partners, the complexities and compliance issues of our business have grown extensively,” said Hans Swildens, CEO and Founder of Industry Ventures. “Robert’s competence and acumen have helped shepherd our firm to over $1.75 billion of capital under management and establish the firm as the largest dedicated liquidity provider for venture capital investments.”
Simkhovitch brings extensive experience in private equity, where he led fund investment processes and strategic research initiatives with firms such as Lazard, The Carlyle Group, Clinton Group and ZM Capital. He earned his MBA with distinction from Columbia Business School and a BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“We are excited to welcome Ira to the firm and are confident he will be a valuable contributor whose experience complements the other members of our hard-working investment team,” Swildens added.