Gretchen Knoell

Gretchen J. Knoell co-founded San Francisco–based Lake Street Capital LLC in 2003, where she serves as Founder and Partner. The firm was established to acquire portfolios of venture-capital investments from large technology corporations and is described as a leader in the secondary-direct market — acquiring venture capital, buyout, and other private-equity positions from existing investors. Over its history, Lake Street Capital has invested in more than 60 companies nationally.

Before founding Lake Street Capital, Knoell built a career in technology-focused investment banking and corporate finance. She was Vice President of Business Development at Digital Island Corp., Senior Managing Director of corporate finance for the West Coast Technology Group at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., and Head of Corporate Finance at Punk, Ziegel & Knoell, an investment-banking firm. This background made her a recognized national figure in the financing of technology companies.

Knoell holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University. In 2010 she relocated to the Detroit area to be closer to family and became active on the local investment scene, joining the screening committee of the Michigan Angel Fund in 2012 (she has also served on the screening committee for the Michigan Pre-Seed Fund). She currently advises and invests in early-stage companies.

Beyond investing, Knoell is engaged in education and civic roles. She serves Cornell University as a member of the University Council and the Engineering College Advisory Council, and is a Trustee at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

• Invests at the seed / early stage as an individual angel, while her firm, Lake Street Capital, specializes in secondary-direct acquisitions of existing VC, buyout, and private-equity positions.
• Deep orientation toward technology companies, reflecting her banking career financing tech firms; through the Michigan Angel Fund the sector emphasis includes information technology, clean technology, advanced manufacturing, and life sciences.
• Brings an operator/financier lens — extensive corporate-finance and business-development experience — to evaluating early-stage teams and their paths to financing and exit.
• Nationally minded (Lake Street Capital has backed 60+ companies across the U.S.) but personally focused on the Michigan startup ecosystem since relocating to Detroit.