Venture counsel for funds, studios, and startups

Services

Advisor to venture investors

  • Investment transactions (e.g. preferred stock, convertible note, SAFE financings) and due diligence

  • Sale transactions

Counsel to venture funds, studios and accelerators

  • Fund formation and structuring

  • Regulatory compliance and fund administration

  • Venture studio/accelerator operations

Outside general counsel to high-growth startups

  • Entity selection and formation‍; founder equity and capitalization

  • Financing transactions, term sheet negotiations and and cap table modeling

  • Corporate governance and general corporate counseling

  • Commercial and operational agreements

An image of Will Gillis.

About

Will Gillis

Managing Principal

Will is a venture-focused general counsel with deep experience launching startups, advising investors and venture studios, and structuring investment funds. As Managing Principal of Caritas Venture Advisors, he draws on both law firm and in-house experience providing strategic, business-oriented counsel to high-growth companies, venture funds, and studios. 

Before founding Caritas Venture Advisors, Will served as full time Associate General Counsel and Director of Business Affairs at Alloy Partners (formerly High Alpha Innovation), a leading venture studio and builder. There, he helped launch more than 15 new ventures, structured partnerships with major universities and Fortune 500s, and advised on the formation of venture capital funds—serving as a strategic partner to executive leadership on everything from internal restructurings to regulatory compliance.

Will began his legal career at Perkins Coie LLP in Seattle, where he advised emerging companies and venture investors on corporate governance, financing, and M&A activity. He has represented clients across the venture ecosystem, from early-stage startups to corporate VCs and institutional investors.

Will holds a J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law and an A.B summa cum laude in Politics from Princeton University. A member of the Idaho bar, Will lives in Boise with his wife and four children.