Lin

Kevin Lin

Partner
Co-Chair, Technology Industry Group
Boston

I advise founders and investors across the technology industry so they can focus on building.

Kevin Lin is a partner at Foley Hoag and co-chair of the firm’s Technology Industry Group. He advises early-stage founders and venture investors building companies in artificial intelligence, robotics, and deep tech, guiding them from incorporation through growth rounds and strategic exits. With nearly a decade of experience and more than $1 billion in closed transactions across over 100 startups, Kevin brings partner-level attention and a practical, business-first approach to the founders and investors who are building the next generation of technology companies.

Kevin is a startup lawyer focused on the full range of corporate and transactional matters that technology companies encounter as they grow. This includes company formation and founder equity structuring, pre-seed and seed stage financings including SAFEs and convertible notes, priced venture rounds, SaaS and technology agreements, IP licensing and assignments, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance for VC-backed companies. He also serves as outside counsel to venture funds and angel investors on deal structuring, term sheet negotiation, and portfolio company matters.

His clients work across artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, autonomous systems, quantum computing, semiconductors, cybersecurity, enterprise software, vertical SaaS, bioinformatics, and ClimateTech.

Kevin is based in Boston and is deeply connected to the local technology and venture ecosystem, including the city’s growing concentration of AI, robotics, and tough tech companies emerging from MIT, Harvard, and the broader New England research community.

Kevin has been recognized in Massachusetts Super Lawyers: Rising Stars and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. He serves on Foley Hoag’s Hiring Committee. He speaks English and Mandarin Chinese.
 

Related Industries

Related Practices

Education

  • Boston University School of Law, J.D., 2016
  • Cornell University, B.A., 2013

Bar and Court Admissions

BAR ADMISSIONS
  • Massachusetts
  • New York

Experience

VENTURE CAPITAL FINANCINGS
  • Alloy Therapeutics as an investor in a number of transactions, including:
    • $42 million Series D Preferred Stock financing led by its existing investors 8VC and Mubadala Capital
    • $75.0 million Series C Preferred Stock financing led by 8VC, Presight Capital and Peter Thiel
    • $21 million Series A Preferred Stock financing of Vernal Biosciences, a manufacturer of high purity mRNA for research and clinical use
  • Zapata Computing, a quantum software company empowering enterprise teams to accelerate quantum solutions and capabilities, in closing its $38 million Series B Preferred Stock financing, led by Comcast Ventures, Pitango and Prelude Ventures
  • Vergent Bioscience, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing tumor-targeted imaging agents, in closing its $21.5 million Series B Preferred Stock financing
  • RedShift BioAnalytics Inc., a company providing next-generation platform technology enabling measurement of previously undetectable structure changes in biomolecules, in closing its $20 million Series E Preferred Stock financing
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
  • The Cannabist Company Holdings (f/k/a Columbia Care), an experienced cultivator, manufacturer and provider of cannabis products and related services, in a $105 million transaction with Verano Holdings Corp. 
  • Toposware, a developer of an interoperable blockchain ecosystem designed to tamper resistance and data privacy, in its sale to Turntable Merger Sub, Inc., a subsidiary of Polygon Labs Holdings (Cayman) Ltd.
  • Cartesian Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering RNA cell therapies for autoimmune diseases, in its merger with Selecta Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNAC)
  • Global cannabis operator Columbia Care Inc. (NEO: CCHW) (CSE: CCHW) (OTCQX: CCHWF) (FSE: 3LP) in signing a definitive agreement to acquire Green Leaf Medical, LLC, a privately held, fully integrated cannabis multi-state operator based in the mid-Atlantic region, for approximately $240 million with the potential for additional performance-based milestone payments
  • Skillsoft in its acquisition of Pluma, a digital professional development and executive-quality coaching platform, for approximately $22 million
  • Ethos Cannabis, a multi-state cannabis operator, in connection with its acquisition of dispensaries in Pennsylvania and Maryland from 4Front Ventures Corp
  • NASDAQ-listed software company in its acquisition of a micro-app platform company for approximately $200 million*
STRATEGIC TRANSACTIONS
  • Biotechnology ecosystem company Alloy Therapeutics, Inc. with the formation of Broadwing Bio LLC, a joint venture with Maze Therapeutics, Inc., to develop targeted antibody therapies for the treatment of ophthalmic diseases
* - Handled prior to joining Foley Hoag

Publications

Other Publications

  • “Understanding the Chain of Liability Under HIPAA and How Business Associate Agreements Allocate Risk,” New Hampshire Bar News (January 2018)
  • Lead author, “Solo and Small Firm Cybersecurity Guide: Ethics and Data Security: What Are the Attorney’s Obligations,” New Hampshire Bar News (September 2017)
  • “Know the Law: Protect your company from cyber attacks,” New Hampshire Union Leader (March 2017)
  • Co-author, “Professional service companies face significant cyber risk,” New England In-House (February 2017); also published in New Hampshire Business Review (February 2017)
  • “Know the Law: Some data collecting requires disclosures,” New Hampshire Union Leader (December 2016)
  • Co-author, “Trends in M&A Provisions: Exclusion of Consequential Damages,” Mergers & Acquisitions Law Report, Bloomberg BNA (March 2014)
  • Lead author, “Basketball,” encyclopedia entry for Encyclopedia of Lying and Deception, SAGE Reference (March 2014)

Honors & Involvement

HONORS
  • Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch - Corporate Law (2024-2027) and Venture Capital Law (2024-2027)
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers: 'Rising Star' in Business & Corporate Law (2023-2026)
  • Boston University Journal of Science and Technology Law, Note Editor
INVOLVEMENT
  • Boston Bar Association
  • Massachusetts Bar Association
  • New Hampshire Bar Association

Events

Speaking Engagements

  • "Corporate Practice," MCLE BasicsPlus Seminar (October 2025)
  • “Legal Hurdles of Launching in the US,” MassChallenge (October 2024) 
  • "Corporate Practice," MCLE BasicsPlus Seminar (October 2024)
  • “Startups and the Law,” MIT Sloan School of Management (May 2023 and May 2024)
  • "Venture Capital and Other Forms of Equity Financing," MCLE-Corporate Practice: BasicPlus Webcase (October 2023)
  • "Exit Strategies for Venture Capital Backed Companies," Angel Capital Association: New England Regional Meeting (2021)

Contact Info

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