Illuminate Ventures Expands Cloud Computing-Focused Investing Team

OAKLAND, Calif., June 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Illuminate Ventures, a venture capital firm at the forefront of early-stage enterprise cloud investing, today announced that Rebecca Norlander has become a Venture Partner and Sarah Brown joined the firm as a Venture Associate.

About Rebecca Norlander

Rebecca Norlander has been named Illuminate Ventures' newest Venture Partner. Since joining Illuminate Ventures as an Executive-in-Residence in 2010, Norlander has helped identify investment opportunities, participated in due diligence efforts and has been actively involved with Illuminate's portfolio companies. She has also played a key role in structuring and implementing the firm's successful internship programs with Stanford and UC Berkeley graduate students.

Norlander first joined Illuminate Ventures' Business Advisory Council in 2009 when she was a General Manager at Microsoft where she had a 20-year career as one of the company's top women technologists. She was previously the Technical Strategist for Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, General Manager of the online advertising platform and held numerous high-impact product development roles.

"Rebecca has a keen ability to spot startups that have the unique blend of technology and business model differentiation that it takes to set a company apart from the rest of the pack," said Cindy Padnos, the Founder and Managing Partner at Illuminate Ventures. "Rebecca's background and network are tremendous assets that she generously applies—all while adding a spark of energy that makes her just plain fun to work with."

"At Illuminate Ventures, I've learned a lot about the technical startup community, met stellar entrepreneurs, expanded my personal network via access to our amazing advisory council and enjoyed working with and learning from Cindy Padnos," Norlander said. "I look forward to continued work with the Illuminate team at the epicenter of the growth in cloud computing."

Rebecca is an advisor to Seattle-based start-ups and a member of the Seattle Angel Conference. She is active with non-profit organizations, including the Anita Borg Institute and the Technology Access Foundation. Norlander earned her bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Boston University, where she was the first person to be granted the Distinguished Alumni Award. She is also an AASI level II snowboard instructor.

About Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown is Illuminate Ventures' first Associate. She will draw on her experience in high tech start-up companies to source and evaluate investment opportunities in the B2B cloud computing space.

"It's great to be a part of an entrepreneur-centric firm like Illuminate that is investing in areas I am passionate about," Brown said. Cindy Padnos added, "Sarah's blend of experience at start-ups and in large, brand name high-tech companies makes her a perfect fit. She is an experienced early stage investor, is familiar with the sectors we target and understands the markets that our portfolio companies are selling into."

Previously, Brown was the founder and CEO of a social news start-up. Prior to that, she was a consultant at CTI, where she focused on optimizing R&D functions of large corporations to better leverage the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Brown also worked in Public Policy at Google, as an Analyst at Omidyar Network, as a Policy Advisor at Public Knowledge and at the law firm Fenwick & West. Sarah began her career in high tech as an early employee of Amazon.com.

Brown earned her J.D. from U.C. Berkeley Law School and her bachelor's degree from the Evergreen State College. She is an active angel investor and an emerging science fiction author.

About Illuminate Ventures

Founded in 2009, Illuminate Ventures (www.illuminate.com) is a micro VC firm led by a team with significant operating and investment track records. Illuminate provides seed and early stage capital to talented entrepreneurs who leverage the innate capital efficiencies of cloud-based computing technologies. Illuminate is typically the first institutional investor in a startup – frequently at a point where the initial product has been developed, but "polishing" is still required prior to scaling. Illuminate's investing team and its more than 40 member world-class Business Advisory Council thrive on working closely with founding teams to help accelerate their growth. Investments include award-winning companies such as BrightEdge Technologies, CalmSea, Hoopla Software, Red Aril (acquired by Hearst Corporation), WildPockets (acquired by Autodesk) and Xactly Corporation. Follow us @IlluminateVC

Media Contact:

Cindy Padnos Illuminate Ventures, 5102064428, cindy@illuminate.com

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SOURCE Illuminate Ventures

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