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Chicago-based venture firm M25 has named local entrepreneur Brian Powers as a venture partner in the firm’s Indianapolis office.
M25 invests in early-stage Midwest-based tech startups. Since its 2015 launch, the firm has invested in 147 companies—16 of them Indiana-based. M25’s Indiana portfolio currently includes Indianapolis-based software firms Authenticx, Elate and Trava, among others.
Powers will join two other M25 staffers at the firm’s Indianapolis office, which opened in 2020. In his new role, he will help the firm find and evaluate potential investment opportunities in Indianapolis and elsewhere. He’ll also act as a mentor to founders of M25’s portfolio companies.
“This is just a continued affirmation that we think that there’s great opportunities [in Indianapolis], and we want to be active participants in the tech community there,” said M25 Founding Partner Mike Asem.
Powers joined M25 in mid-January but the firm did not announce his arrival until this week.
“I’m excited to help expand M25’s presence to accelerate the growth of Indy’s incredible tech ecosystem,” Powers said in that announcement.
Powers is no stranger to M25. He was the founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based PactSafe Inc., which was among M25’s earliest investments.
PactSafe launched in 2012 and became a leader in clickwrap—the digital prompts that individuals click to either accept or decline things like online privacy policies, terms of service and other user policies.
Broad Ripple-based PactSafe had grown to 65 employees by 2021, when San Francisco-based contract management software company Ironclad Inc. acquired the company for an undisclosed amount. Powers remained with Ironclad for two years post-acquisition, leaving the company in March 2023.
Powers has a background that includes entrepreneurship and technology, engineering and law. He earned an engineering degree from Syracuse University and worked as an engineer for two years before founding an online recruiting company called DashJobs.com Inc. He earned a law degree from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law in 2005, working as an attorney for several years before launching PactSafe.
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