Overview

Gender

female

Investor Type

Investment Partner

Laura Sachar is a Founder and Managing Partner of StarVest Partners, a New York City based venture capital firm founded in 1998. StarVest invests in technology-enabled business services companies. StarVest was an early investor in the software-as-a-service trend: in 2000, it invested as the only venture firm in NetSuite -NYSE-listed and subsequently acquired by Oracle for $10 Billion. Laura is an experienced entrepreneur and private equity investor. She was an early identifier of the growth in digital media and has invested for nearly two decades in technology-enabled business services companies. As a founding partner of StarVest, she has been active with StarVest’s investments in Veracode (acq. CA Technologies), MessageOne (acq. by Dell Computer), Connected (acq. by Iron Mountain), iCrossing (acq. by Hearst) and Newgistics (acq. by Littlejohn and subsequently Pitney-Bowes) among others. Laura currently serves on the boards of RetailNext, Vyze, Persado, Transactis and Ceros.

Prior to founding StarVest, Laura was responsible for direct private equity investments at Gabelli Securities where she sourced digital media investments including the first institutional round of Digital River (NASDAQ:DRIV). In the early 1990’s, Laura identified digital media as a growth area and founded Sachar Capital, which sourced Redgate Software, founded by Ted Leonsis, (merged into AOL in 1994) as an investment opportunity for its Advisory Counsel. Laura was the Founding Chairman of the New York New Media Association Angels Investors Program (now NY Angels), where she assisted hundreds of early-stage New York area companies in accessing initial capital.

Laura has a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University, and an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Laura is a former member of the Young President’s Organization and a current member of the World President’s Organization. She is a Private Women’s Investor Network (PEWIN) Steering Committee Member. She has a Professional Director Certification with the American College of Corporate Directors.