General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Phil Lodato serves as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Office at Elevate Ventures. In this role, he has overseen the closing of 400+ financings of Indiana-based startup and early-stage high-potential, high-growth companies across Elevate’s numerous investment programs under management.
Before his time at Elevate, Phil served as Legal Counsel to the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund (a program of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation), in addition to multiple roles in private practice as a corporate and securities attorney representing companies and investors alike. He has been a key contributor to the conception, formation, and growth of Elevate Ventures, one of the most active venture capital firms in the Great Lakes region.
- What motivates you? I feel a great sense of pride and ownership in Elevate Ventures, having been involved with the organization from its earliest days through the present. That fact motivates me to make Elevate the most impactful organization it can be for the benefit of Indiana’s statewide entrepreneurial and innovation community, whether that be through the generation of benchmark-beating investment returns for ourselves and our co-investment partners or through the delivery of value-adding services, networks and other resources that contribute to the acceleration of startup company formations and growth rates in our state.
- What is your core competency and how do you think it impacts your work at Elevate? Getting deals done as a key component of our organizational mission to support Indiana entrepreneurs through venture investment. Our record speaks for itself – we are regularly recognized for our high-volume investment activity at the seed and early stages. Through that high-volume activity, we have developed an understanding of the venture dynamics in our market. We now have a proven system that leads to the successful – as well as informed and responsible – completion of investments, positioning current Indiana entrepreneurs to grow their companies with the necessary resources and positioning our firm to reap returns that will serve future Indiana entrepreneurs.
- What from your past experience directly impacts your work today? Having spent a number of years in the law firm environment, I developed an appreciation for the value of client service. At Elevate, we serve many different stakeholders. My approach has been to try to treat them as if they are our clients. To me, that means being professional by providing quality and timely communications and services and working purposefully to achieve our mutual objectives in our work together as partners.
