Silicon Valley Bank’s Santa Monica Team Continues Expansion to Support Growth of Region’s Tech Sector
Company news | October 18, 2017
LOS ANGELES, Calif. ––October 18, 2017 —Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the bank of the world’s most innovative companies and their investors, today announced the addition of three new bankers to its growing team: Alejandro (Al) Guerrero, managing director, DeMarcus Williams, director, and Kirk Stafford, director. The team’s expansion supports the region’s growing number of software, hardware, life science, healthcare, and energy companies, as well as their investors. Silicon Valley Bank is the bank to private and public tech companies of all sizes, including more than 50 percent of all venture capital-backed companies in the US.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the LA innovation ecosystem in recent years,” said Rob Freelen, Silicon Valley Bank’s Market Manager for Los Angeles. “We see this in the quality, quantity and diversity of companies being formed and funded. SVB has supported the LA market for more than 20 years, and we’re committed to supporting its growth.”
Silicon Valley Bank opened its first office in Los Angeles in 1993, and has since grown to 75 professionals providing commercial banking, specialty lending, global treasury, valuation services, asset management, fund banking, research and private banking. SVB’s Santa Monica location opened in May 2015 as a further expansion of SVB’s presence in the area, which includes offices in Sherman Oaks, Irvine and San Diego.
As managing director, Al Guerrero works with high-growth innovation companies and their management teams to offer the right financing, services and connections. Prior to SVB, Al managed business development, sales and operations for URWelcome, a VC-backed startup, and co-founded an early-stage VC fund called Technicolor Ventures, where he was a general partner.
DeMarcus Williams is the director of SVB’s early stage practice in LA. He focuses on helping entrepreneurs from incorporation through seed financing and fostering community within LA’s early stage technology ecosystem. He previously worked at Zealot Networks, a VC-backed digital media startup, where he served as vice president of business strategy and chief of staff to the founder. Prior to Zealot Networks, he worked as a financial advisor in Merrill Lynch’s private bank and investment group, where he advised founders and c-suite technology executives on their personal wealth strategies.
Kirk Stafford joins SVB as a director in the private bank. In this role, he provides private banking and wealth management services designed for the specialized financial needs of entrepreneurs, executives and investors behind the world’s most innovative companies in Southern California. Prior to SVB, he worked at Deutsche Bank for 10 years in the private bank, Citigroup in the corporate investment bank, and M&T Bank in the middle market lending group.
About Silicon Valley Bank
For more than 30 years, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has helped innovative companies and their investors move bold ideas forward, fast. SVB provides targeted financial services and expertise through its offices in innovation centers around the world. With commercial, international and private banking services, SVB helps address the unique needs of innovators. Learn more at svb.com.
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