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MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music - Day 2

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The second day of Morrison Foerster’s MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music focused on emerging startup companies shaping...

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The second day of Morrison Foerster’s MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music focused on emerging startup companies shaping the future of music and technology. (Explore <a href="/resources/events/260519-moforum-technology-music" target="_self">highlights from Day 1</a>.)Presented in collaboration with Rock Paper Scissors, Inc., we highlighted innovative founders and early-stage companies developing cutting-edge solutions across AI-driven creation tools, distribution, live experiences, and fan engagement. Attendees gained insight into the current funding environment and the startup exit picture through panels led by MoFo partners Thomas Chou and Joe Sulzbach, respectively.Attendees heard insights from leaders representing Mindset Ventures MusicTech, Yamaha Music Innovations, Sony Ventures, BeatStars, LANDR, and Agadir Partners, who shared perspectives on investing in, building, and scaling music technology businesses.A highlight of the day was the startup pitch session, which gave emerging companies an opportunity to showcase their technologies and ideas, connect with investors and industry leaders, and receive feedback from investors in attendance.The program concluded with networking and lunch, providing attendees an opportunity to continue conversations and build new connections across the music technology community.See the <a href="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/assets/blt5775cc69c999c255/blt69f231621b477728/260520-moforum-technology-music-agenda.pdf" target="_blank">full May 20 program</a> and stay tuned for future events, thought leadership, and developments from MoFo in the music and technology spaces. <hr>

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Spencer Klein is Chair of the firm's global Mergers & Acquisitions Group.Spencer focuses his practice on M+A transactions and related matters such as proxy contests and takeover defense counseling. He has advised on more than 200 successfully closed mergers, tender and exchange offers, stock and asset acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. He is also a veteran of numerous contested matters and regularly counsels corporate boards and committees in transactional and high-profile corporate governance matters.Spencer frequently advises leading U.S. and multinational companies across multiple industries. His engagements include multi-billion dollar deals in health care and life sciences, financial services, technology, consumer products, manufacturing, retail, energy, and entertainment, media and sports. In addition to prominent corporate clients and private equity funds, he has represented some of the world's leading bulge bracket and boutique investment banks.Spencer also co-chairs the firm’s Interactive and Digital Media group, an interdisciplinary team that operates at the convergence of technology with media and entertainment.Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Spencer was a partner at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, McDermott Will & Emery LLP and Shearman & Sterling LLP. Spencer received his B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University in 1986, and his J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law in 1989, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Hofstra Law RevieSpencer has been recognized regularly as one of the world's leading M+A lawyers by International Financial Law Review, Super Lawyers, Legal 500 United States, and The World's Leading Lawyers for Mergers and Acquisitions: U.S. Expert Guide (Legal Media Group). He has been named a "New York Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics in each of the last fifteen editions. Legal 500 US has referred to Spencer as "one of the best deal lawyers in the country."Spencer serves as a Special Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law, a member of the Alumni Board of Visitors of the Department of Political Science at The Pennsylvania State University, and the founding Chair of the Hofstra Law Review Alumni Advisory Board. In 2022, Spencer was an inaugural inductee into the Hofstra Law School Hall of Fame.

Spencer Klein

Global Chair of M&A Practice

Jesse Nevarez is a partner in the New York office and is a member of the Emerging Companies + Venture Capital practice group.Jesse advises startups, growth-stage, and later-stage companies primarily in the technology, healthcare, and life sciences industries, including those in the artificial intelligence, fintech, ad-tech, clean energy, digital media, software, consumer, digital health, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics spaces, and related fields. As part of his practice, he counsels companies on a range of matters, such as entity formation, seed and venture capital financings, growth equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, SEC compliance, IPOs, and other capital markets transactions. Additionally, he regularly represents venture capital firms and investment banks on a variety of investor-side deals.Jesse has been named to the Lawyers of Color “Hot List” and named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer “Rising Star.”He has previously served as a member of the Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association and the Boston College Law School Black Alumni Network, while also serving as a mentor for the MIT $100K Launch Competition.<h4>Selected Venture Financings</h4><ul><li>Scope3, PBC in its Series A and Series B financings</li><li>Firsthand Labs, Inc. in its Series Seed financing</li><li>Cockroach Labs, Inc. in its Series F financing and secondary transactions</li><li>Freshly Inc. in its Series B, Series C, and Series C-1 financings</li><li>CMDTY Inc. in its Series A financing</li><li>Podium Data, Inc. in its Series Seed and Series A financings</li><li>Yumanity Therapeutics in its Series A, Series B, and Series C financings</li><li>Enspire DBS Therapy in its Series A financing</li></ul><h4>Selected Mergers + Acquisitions</h4><ul><li>Open Lending, LLC in its business combination with Nebula Acquisition Corporation, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company</li><li>TripAdvisor in its acquisition of Viator</li><li>TAG Manufacturing in its acquisition by Center Rock Capital Partners</li><li>Neon Therapeutics, Inc. in its acquisition by BioNTech</li><li>Lysosomal Therapeutics, Inc. in its exclusive option agreement with Allergan plc</li></ul><h4>Selected Public Offerings</h4><ul><li>Sage Therapeutics, Inc. in its $103.5 million initial public offering and several follow-on public offerings raising an aggregate of $2.07 billion</li><li>Neon Therapeutics, Inc. in its $100 million initial public offering</li><li>Magenta Therapeutics, Inc. in its $100 million initial public offering</li><li>Ascentage Pharma Group International in its $61 million initial public offering</li><li>TPI Composites, Inc. in its $79 million initial public offering</li><li>Plug Power Inc. in follow-on offerings raising an aggregate of $146.8 million</li></ul>

Jesse Nevarez

Partner

Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster.Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues.His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information.Anthony has extensive experience working on matters involving disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. He has helped fintech clients with general intellectual property issues in connection with terms of service for online financial products and services.Anthony is an integral part of the outside pro bono legal team for nonprofit organizations based in New York, including advising clients on legal issues regarding entertainment, social media, privacy rights, and the negotiation of outsourcing and service agreements. Anthony received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 2009. He received his B.S. from Cornell University in 2004.

Anthony Ramirez

Kyle Mooney is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group, focusing on patent litigation and other intellectual property disputes, including trade secret, copyright, and trademark disputes.Kyle represents clients in a wide variety of fields, including communications and networking, audio/video content streaming and recording, network security, electronic trading, fiber optics, semiconductors, LEDs, optical storage and scanning, display technologies, digital cameras, software, automotive components, and medical devices. He has litigated significant IP disputes between direct competitors, as well as patent infringement actions brought by non-practicing entities. Kyle’s IP practice has included jury trials, bench trials, ITC proceedings, PTAB proceedings, and mediations.Kyle also has substantial pro bono experience, including arguments before the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and New York Appellate Division in habeas and criminal appeals, and a bench trial in the Southern District of New York in a case involving the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.Kyle received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was a staff editor of the Environmental Law Journal.

Kyle Mooney

Thomas Chou is the Managing Partner of Morrison Foerster’s Los Angeles office, where he advises on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and private equity and venture capital financings, with a focus on the U.S. and Asia. With more than 25 years of experience, Thomas brings deep cross-border expertise, having practiced in MoFo’s Palo Alto, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and now Los Angeles offices. During his time in Asia, he served as head and co-head of the firm’s Asia Private Equity practice for 15 years.Thomas’ clients include industry-leading emerging growth companies and a broad range of investors who fund them (traditional private equity and venture capital funds, prominent Asian family offices, the corporate/strategic investment arms of large corporates, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds). His broad industry coverage includes media, entertainment and gaming; CPG/food and beverage; hard tech; Fintech; biopharma, MedTech, health and wellness.Clients and outside ranking organizations routinely cite Thomas’ accomplishments:<ul><li>Thomas is “a strong advocate for his client, offering strategic and actionable advice, evaluating and clearly prioritizing the key issues in complex situations and proactively anticipating concerns from counterparties in negotiations."</li><li>“Thomas Chou is excellent in understanding the industry and leads the team in working on the same. He is very responsive and works 24 hours responding to the clients.”</li><li>“Thomas has significant experience handling complex cross–border transactions across the Asia–Pacific region. His counsel is frequently sought by global technology corporations to advise on their investments in the region. He also commands considerable respect from private equity clients.”</li><li>His clients pinpoint his “decades of venture capital experience both in the United States and in Asia,” with one noting: “He is patient, attentive to details and someone who has clearly conquered many battlefields.”</li><li>Thomas is particularly praised for his communications skills, with clients saying, “Any issues we had he would always provide a solution. He is not only interpreting regulations, but he is also commercially savvy.”</li></ul>Thomas is on the Board of the Morrison Foerster Foundation and a member of the board of directors of the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

周至恒（Thomas Chou）律师在公司业务领域非常活跃，重点处理跨境并购（中国境内外）、合资、私募股权和风险资本融资业务。他的客户包括新兴成长型公司，传统以及非传统投资者（私募股权和风险投资基金，家族办公室，公司/公司的战略投资部门，金融机构以及主权财富基金）。他的执业领域主要是技术、媒体和电信、医疗和生命科学以及消费和零售业。客户和外部评级机构都经常称赞周律师的成就：<ul><li>“周律师在处理亚太地区复杂跨境交易方面经验丰富，全球科技公司常因在该地区的投资而寻求其意见，他也广受私募股权客户推崇。”</li><li>“（周律师）资历深厚，精于各种风险投资及私募股权事宜，包括前期与后期的投资及并购，他在科技领域的经验尤其丰富。”</li><li>客户赞赏他“在美国及亚洲均有数十年风险投资经验”，并称其“非常耐心，注重细节，实战经验丰富”。</li><li>周律师的沟通技巧尤其为人所称道，他的客户指出：“不管我们出现任何问题，周律师都能提出解决方案。他不仅能准确把握法律条文，同时极具商业头脑。”</li></ul>周律师是美富亚洲私募股权业务的联席主管，也是新兴公司 + 风险投资业务组和并购业务组的活跃成员。他在上述业务领域均持续受到独立的法律行业排行榜和律师评级机构的高度认可。周律师还是星光儿童基金会的董事会成员。

Thomas Chou

Managing Partner, Los Angeles

Joe Sulzbach is a partner in the Transactions Department, focusing on mergers and acquisitions and private equity. He is also co-chair of the Semiconductors Industry Group. Joe has represented numerous public and private entities in a variety of transactions, including domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, private equity transactions, joint ventures, and corporate governance matters. He has advised a broad range of clients across industries, including technology, media, and telecom (TMT), life sciences, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, industrial, chemicals, consumer goods and retail, energy, and real estate.Joe has also represented a number of companies in engagements with activist stockholders, including in responding to Starboard Value, Carl Icahn, Elliott Management, JANA Partners, Farallon Capital Management, and VIEX Capital.In addition, Joe has represented investment banking firms and financial advisors in a variety of significant transactions, including representation of Qatalyst Partners, Morgan Stanley, Evercore Partners, Greenhill, Ducera Securities, and Solomon Partners.Select examples of Joe’s experience include the following representations:<ul><li>Sachem Capital Corp. on its $3.4 billion strategic combination with Industrial Realty Group.</li></ul><ul><li>Modiv Industrial on its $535 million all-stock sale to Global Net Lease.</li><li>RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. on its $880 million stock and cash sale to The Real Brokerage Inc.</li></ul><ul><li>Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd. in its $4.5 billion acquisition of Tri Pointe Homes, Inc.</li></ul><ul><li>SoftBank Group Corp. on its $4 billion acquisition of DigitalBridge Group, Inc., a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure.</li></ul><ul><li>CPE on its strategic partnership with Restaurant Brands International Inc., under which CPE will invest $350 million in Burger King China.</li><li>Plymouth Industrial REIT, Inc. in its $2.1 billion sale to an affiliate of Makarora Management LP and Ares Alternative Credit funds.</li></ul><ul><li>Veeco Instruments Inc. in its $5.2 billion merger with Axcelis Technologies, Inc.</li><li>BearingPoint, an independent management and technology consultancy firm, on its joint venture with ABeam Consulting.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp. on its $2 Billion investment Intel Corporation. </li><li>Hooter’s Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants, L.L.C. in the acquisition of over 100 restaurants from Hooters of America LLC, the iconic casual dining and sports entertainment chain.</li><li>Shaklee Corporation in its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Modere.</li></ul><ul><li>Infineon Technologies AG in its $2.5 billion acquisition of Marvell Technology’s automotive ethernet business.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp. in its proposed up to $40 billion investment in OpenAI, America’s premier artificial intelligence (AI) company and developer of the transformational large language models that are driving the AI revolution.</li><li>Infineon Technologies AG in the sale of its Austin, TX foundry to SkyWater Technology.</li><li>NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc. in its $900 million sale to an affiliate of Welltower Inc.</li><li>Cartica Acquisition Corp in its $2.75 billion business combination with Nidar Infrastructure Limited, India’s leading data center provider for artificial intelligence and high-performance compute services.</li><li>Centuri Holdings and parent company Southwest Gas Holdings in Centuri’s $353 million IPO and concurrent private placement.</li><li>U.S. Silica Holdings, Inc. in its $1.85 billion sale to entities affiliated with Apollo Global Management.</li><li>The rock band KISS and its co-founders Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley in the sale of substantially all rights related to KISS to Pophouse Entertainment.</li></ul><ul><li>Sekisui House, Ltd. in its $4.9 billion acquisition of M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.</li><li>Astellas Pharma Inc. in its $175 million acquisition of Propella Therapeutics, Inc.</li></ul><ul><li dir="ltr">Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. in its adoption of a Tax-Free Spin Protection Plan.</li><li dir="ltr">Kyowa Kirin Co., Ltd. in its up to $477 million acquisition of Orchard Therapeutics plc, including CVR payment.</li><li dir="ltr">Sugar Foods Corporation in its sale to Pritzker Private Capital.</li></ul><ul><li>The News Lens Co., Ltd. in its $275 million business combination with Blue Ocean Acquisition Corporation.</li></ul><ul><li>Upland Software, Inc. in its adoption of a Tax Benefit Preservation Plan.</li></ul><ul><li>The Board of Directors and Special Committee of Toshiba in the $15.2 billion takeover of Toshiba by a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners.</li><li>Infineon Technologies AG in the sale of its HiRel DC-DC converter business to Micross Components, Inc.</li></ul><ul><li>AgroFresh Solutions, Inc. in its $545 million going-private acquisition by Paine Schwartz Partners.</li><li>Unity Software Inc. in multiple transactions, including its all-stock $4.4 billion acquisition of ironSource and Unity’s concurrent $1 billion PIPE investment by Silver Lake and Sequoia, and in response to the related $13.6 billion unsolicited acquisition proposal from AppLovin Corporation.</li><li>Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. in its defense against a hostile tender offer and proxy contest for board control by Carl Icahn, including adoption of a shareholder rights plan, and negotiated resolution.</li><li>Marrone Bio Innovations in its $244 million acquisition by Bioceres Crop Solutions Corp. in a stock-for-stock merger.</li><li>Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, in its new platform investment in Registrar Corp., a leading provider of supply chain compliance software and services to domestic and foreign food and beverage, medical device, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic customers.</li><li>Silver Crest Acquisition Corporation in its $1.7 billion business combination with TH International Limited (Tims China), a master franchisee and operator of Tim Hortons coffee shops in China.</li><li>Sky Harbour LLC in its $777 million business combination with Yellowstone Acquisition Company.</li><li>SoftBank Group Corp., as the largest investor in WeWork, in WeWork’s $9 billion business combination with BowX Acquisition Corp.</li><li>Leading provider of patient access and engagement platform in its sale to a publicly listed company.</li><li>ON Semiconductor Corporation in its adoption of a shareholder rights plan.</li><li>Whitestone REIT in its adoption of a shareholder rights plan.</li><li>Exantas Capital Corp. in the acquisition of its external management contract by ACRES Capital Corp. from C-III Capital Partners LLC, and $375 million financing from MassMutual and Oaktree Capital Management.</li><li>NTT Communications Corporation and Secure-24 in the acquisition of SymSoft Holding Inc. and Symmetry Holding Inc. from Symmetry Holdings, LLC, a portfolio company of Great Hill Equity Partners.</li><li>Kirin Holdings Company, Limited in its acquisition of approximately 40% of the capital stock of Thorne Holding Corp.</li><li>Rao’s Specialty Foods, Inc. in its sale to Sovos Brands, an affiliate of funds managed by Advent International.</li><li>JERA in its sale of a minority interest in Cricket Valley Energy Center to Development Bank of Japan.</li><li>JERA in the acquisition of a 43% stake in Cricket Valley Energy Center, the developer of a 1,000 MW natural gas-fired power plant located in Dover, New York.</li><li>Renesas Electronics in its $3.2 billion acquisition of Intersil Corporation.</li><li>DaVita HealthCare Partners in its acquisition of Renal Ventures Limited.</li><li>Inovalon Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of Creehan Holding Co., Inc.</li><li>Inovalon Holdings, Inc. in its acquisition of Avalere Health, Inc.</li><li>GLP Pte. Ltd. in the acquisition of a $4.55 billion U.S. logistics portfolio from Industrial Income Trust.</li><li>JLB Group, LLC in its acquisition of Sneakz, LLC.</li><li>Futamura Chemical Co., Ltd. in its acquisition of the cellulose business of Innovia Films.</li><li>Kirin Holdings Company, Limited in its acquisition of approximately 24.5% of the capital stock of The Brooklyn Brewery Corporation.</li></ul>

MoForum – Technology and the Future of Music - Day 2

20 May 2026