Signature Bank launches business to serve venture capital firms

Signature Bank in New York has formed a group to serve venture capital firms and their investments.

The $47 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that it had hired a 24-person team led by Ken Fugate, who co-founded Square 1 Bank in 2005. The entire team comes from Square 1, which was sold in 2015 to PacWest Bancorp.

Joseph DePaolo, CEO of Signature Bank.

After Square 1's sale, Fugate's team largely focused on technology and life sciences firms.

"Technology and life sciences are both vibrant business sectors within today’s economy and areas we want to serve,” Joseph DePaolo, Signature's president and CEO, said in the release.

Fugate will be based in Denver. The group also has offices in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Durham, N.C.; San Francisco; and Washington. Mara Huntington, a member of the team, will lead the technology and life sciences banking teams.

Signature "has an innovative platform where we can bring our industry expertise, entrepreneurial roots and banking approach to continue our success within the venture capital domain," Fugate said in the release.

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