HOWARD LUBERT, AREA PRESIDENT – KEIRETSU FORUM SOUTH-EAST REGION
Mr. Lubert co-founded the Mid-Atlantic Region in 2010. After 25 years in the private equity space he recognized the unique features of the Keiretsu Forum process and model and sought out Randy Williams to explore opening chapters on the East Coast. Randy introduced him to Vince Leusner and they decided to form the first Mid-Atlantic Chapter in Philadelphia. After executing 5 winter meetings on Fisher Island he was invited to form a permanent chapter in Miami. The South Florida Chapter held its first official meeting in July, 2014 and has now relocated to the West Palm Beach Area.
In September of 2017 K4-SE opened a new chapter in the financial district of Atlanta. The chapter has grown to become a significant angel group in the Atlanta ecosystem and meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month, holidays excepted. The South-East Region is expanding into Jacksonville, FL (North Florida Chapter) and New Orleans in 2024.
He is the Founder and Managing Partner/Senior Analyst at SafeHatch LLC, a business acceleration and corporate advisory services consultancy that supports startup and early stage technology companies. Mr. Lubert spun SafeHatch out of Safeguard Scientifics in 2000 after the dot.com implosion. The Company typically takes senior management role(s) in the portfolio companies it supports and works with them until they are prepared to complete their management teams with full-time employees. Business Acceleration services are provided for companies in many disciplines, but are usually focused in the Internet, e-business, security, SaaS, infrastructure, software, e-learning, mobile or wireless spheres.
Mr. Lubert recently became the Managing Director of the Rowan University Innovation Venture Fund (RIVF), an Evergreen Fund designed to support the entrepreneurial and innovation initiatives on the Rowan University campuses as well as the South Jersey area. The Fund has invested $1m in each of its first two years of operations and syndicates deals too large for the Fund first with Keiretsu Forum and then other area angel groups.
Mr. Lubert brings 37 years of formalizing and optimizing the due diligence and deal flow processes for various venture capital funds including Safeguard Scientifics and its family of private equity funds, as well as other angel investment groups to Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic. Lubert was also senior manager at Deloitte & Touche, where he played a principal role in the development of the firm's e-business consulting practice. He is a renowned Term Sheet creator and negotiator and takes on this role in every due diligence project in the Mid-Atlantic and South-East Regions.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
- Due Diligence
- Business Acceleration
- Business Remediation/Turnaround
- Term Sheet Development & Funding