Aaref Hilaly Joins Bain Capital Ventures As Its Newest Partner

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bain Capital Ventures today announced the addition of its newest partner Aaref Hilaly who will focus on seed and Series A investments in infrastructure and application software. With Hilaly's hiring, BCV now has six investing partners across its San Francisco and Palo Alto offices, bolstering the firm's early-stage investing practice on the West Coast and expanding its long lineage of partnering with emerging enterprise software leaders.

A proven software veteran, Hilaly brings over 20 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur and early-stage investor, most recently serving as a partner at Sequoia Capital for seven years and then at Wing Ventures. Prior to venture capital, Hilaly founded two software companies, which he led to successful exits. As president and CEO of SaaS analytics company Clearwell, Hilaly was a member of the founding team and scaled the company to $100 million in recurring annual revenue and an eventual $410 million acquisition by Symantec. Previously, he was founder and CEO of data center automation company CenterRun, which was acquired by Sun Microsystems.

"As a founder, operator, and investor, Aaref has steered some of the world's most category-defining software companies from their earliest days through to successful IPOs or acquisitions," said Ajay Agarwal, partner at BCV. "We have known Aaref for many years, and his unparalleled experience in the software industry, expansive networks, and strategic growth mindset will be assets to BCV as we double-down on our commitment to engage and empower the best young technology founders here in Silicon Valley."

Leveraging deep domain knowledge and hands-on operating experience, Hilaly has worked with dozens of early-stage technology entrepreneurs to help them build their companies from idea to acquisition or IPO. He has served on the boards of over a dozen companies, including Clari, Guardant Health, Lightstep, MobileIron, Skyhigh Networks (acquired by McAfee), and ThousandEyes (acquired by Cisco).

"Building enterprise software companies is part of my DNA. No team is as well positioned as BCV to find and fund the next billion-dollar software companies and bring the power of a vast global network to bear in driving the most talented technology founders forward," said Hilaly. "Great software can be created anywhere, but the most revolutionary ideas leveraging open source, AI, and cloud infrastructure are being born in Silicon Valley, and I look forward to working with my BCV colleagues to continue a rich history of partnering with visionary entrepreneurs."

Hilaly joins BCV at a time of continued expansion for the firm. With more than $5.3 billion under management, BCV is a national venture capital firm that invests from seed to growth in a range of enterprise technology sectors, including cloud infrastructure, SaaS, security, commerce, fintech, and healthcare, as well as data-driven consumer companies. Recent investments include Airbase, Cameo, Clockwise, Finix, Kalderos, Material Bank, Netdata, Nightfall, SmartRent, Verana Health, and VoiceOps.

The firm's Bay Area team, established in 2011, primarily invests in seed and early-stage startups in enterprise software, many of which have achieved scale. West Coast portfolio companies include Acorns, Armis, Bloomreach, Cameo, Clari, DocuSign, Finix, Gainsight, Lime, LinkedIn, Moveworks, Netdata, Redis Labs, SendGrid, SurveyMonkey, and Sysdig. The West Coast market represents more than half of the firm's annual investments.

"I've worked closely with both Aaref and BCV as investors in Clari and members of my board," said Andy Byrne, CEO of Clari. "Since Clari's inception Aaref has been a critical part of our journey, and I couldn't be more thrilled that he's now joining a world-class firm like BCV that has also demonstrated invaluable leadership throughout Clari's history of growth. When it comes to fostering emerging technology companies, it's clear Aaref and the BCV team share a deep passion for rolling up their sleeves to help founders reach their fullest potential." 

About Bain Capital Ventures
Bain Capital Ventures partners with disruptive founders to accelerate their ideas to market. The firm invests from seed to growth in startups driving transformation across industries, from SaaS, infrastructure software and security to fintech and healthcare to commerce and consumer tech. The firm has helped launch and commercialize more than 240 companies, including DocuSign, Jet.com, Kiva Systems, Lime, LinkedIn, Rapid7, Redis Labs, Rent the Runway, SendGrid and SurveyMonkey. Bain Capital Ventures has $5.3 billion in assets under management with offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, and Boston. Follow the firm via LinkedIn and Twitter. 

SOURCE Bain Capital Ventures

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