Pillsbury Adds to Its Market Leading Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice, Welcomes Prominent Startup Partners Glenn Luinenburg and Todd Rumberger

“Support of technology innovators and their investors has long been a cornerstone of Pillsbury’s practice, dating back to the incorporation of Intel,” said Firm Chair David Dekker. “Glenn and Todd further reinforce our longstanding commitment to all things tech, adding two exceptional Emerging Companies & Venture Capital practitioners with their own extensive track record of helping cutting-edge technology clients achieve their vision—in Northern California and beyond.”

Luinenburg is one of the country’s most active deal lawyers and among Silicon Valley’s most experienced and in-demand advisors, representing clients in the structuring, managing and negotiation of venture financings, strategic alliances, M&A transactions, public equity offerings, private placement equity and debt transactions, joint ventures, spin-outs, recapitalizations and other corporate reorganizations. His experience spans a wide variety of established and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, autonomous electric vehicles, big data, new energy technologies, cleantech, digital health, media and entertainment, fintech, semiconductors, software, SaaS, and many others.

Rumberger is ranked by Chambers USA as one of the nation’s foremost Startups & Emerging Companies lawyers. His practice focuses on the representation of emerging growth companies throughout their lifecycle, counseling founders on the initial organization and capitalization of their startup, and providing guidance on fundraising strategies, negotiations and structure with pre-seed, seed and larger institutional and strategic investors. He also advises early and late-stage venture capital firms, and strategic corporate investors on their investment in, and management of, their portfolio companies. He has also developed a deep expertise in assisting foreign startup and growth-stage companies establish a presence and obtain venture funding in the United States.

“Glenn and Todd are both extremely well-known within the Bay Area startup community, with each advising some of the market’s most closely followed startups,” said Christina Pearson, the Global Co-Head of Pillsbury’s Corporate & Securities practice. “Their extensive experience and vast networks add significant value for our clients, and we are looking forward to practicing alongside them here at Pillsbury.”

“Todd and I know Pillsbury well—it is among the founding law firms of the technology practice in the Valley and also one of the most active startup and venture capital advisers there today,” Luinenburg said. “The firm is home to some of the best Emerging Companies & Venture Capital lawyers in the world and has consistently demonstrated an unwavering commitment to meeting the evolving needs of those operating at the nexus of technology and capital. That dedication to clients couldn’t align any better with our own.”

Rumberger added: “I have known and been opposite many excellent Pillsbury attorneys in representing clients in my emerging company practice for years; it’s a household name in the venture ecosystem; a firm with strong roots in the VC community. The firm has a long history at the epicenter of the startup economy but also remains focused on expanding its offering to the companies and investors participating in it, and its offices outside the Valley, in both established startup ecosystems such as New York, San Diego and Los Angeles, but also growing startup communities such as Austin, Northern Virginia and even London, enables me to offer a local touch to many clients I have in these markets. It’s a perfect fit and I couldn’t imagine a better platform from which to serve my clients.”

The arrival of Luinenburg and Rumberger continues a steady momentum of growth at Pillsbury, which has welcomed a total of 40 lateral partners since January 2024. The pace of the firm’s lateral recruiting in Northern California has been especially high over the past 18 months, with other recent partner recruits there including venture capital fund formation partner Eunice Choi (San Francisco); intercontinental tech transactions practitioner Daphne Higgs (Silicon Valley); early-stage life sciences, biotechnology and digital health-focused Emerging Companies & Venture Capital partner Steven Green (Silicon Valley); Anne Voigts (Silicon Valley), an appellate lawyer who is also regularly engaged to handle high-stakes privacy and cybersecurity-related disputes; the data privacy and digital transformation team of Jeewon Serrato and Shruti Bhutani Arora (San Francisco); and veteran employment litigator JoAnna Brooks (San Francisco).

Within the broader Emerging Companies and Venture Capital practice, Pillsbury also recently welcomed highly-regarded venture capital and technology partner Sarah Melaney in London and VC Investment Funds partner David Holland in Washington, DC.

Ranked among the Top 6 most active law firms for venture capital financings in the world, Pillsbury’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital team counsels high-growth enterprises and venture capital investors domestically and abroad. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and emerging growth companies rely on Pillsbury for advice on everything from company formation to financings, corporate governance, technology transactions, acquisitions and public offerings.