Blake Ilstrup, a Partner in the Seattle office, is a member of the Technology Companies group. His practice focuses on advising high-growth technology and life sciences companies and their founders, advisors and investors.

Blake brings a unique and invaluable mix of in-house, operational and law firm experience, having served as General Counsel and senior executive of a software company and two biotech companies (having co-founded one of them), as well as outside corporate counsel in elite AmLaw Global 100 law firms.

Blake’s experience spans multiple industries, including life sciences, software, hardware, mobile, digital media, manufacturing and retail. He has counseled high-growth companies on more than 200 venture capital and debt financings, more than 100 M&A transactions, and numerous public offerings, as well as service as a trusted advisor to management teams and Boards on both strategic and day-to-day matters.

Blake is proud to have worked with a variety of technology and life science companies, venture capital firms and investment banks, including A Place for Mom (acquired by Warburg Pincus), Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN), Cloudhopper (acquired by Twitter; NYSE: TWTR), Crosstrees Medical, Deutsche Bank, fatfoogoo (sold to Digital River; Nasdaq: DRIV), Ground Truth, Hubspan, Ikaria, IronPort Systems (acquired by Cisco; Nasdaq: CSCO), Kineta, KPI Therapeutics, OVP Venture Partners, Qpass (acquired by Amdocs; NYSE: DOX), Rosa & Co., SeaPoint Ventures, Square Enix, Targeted Growth, TIBCO Software (Nasdaq: TIBX), U.S. Venture Partners, Xcyte Therapies, Zumobi, and Zipwhip.

Prior to his legal career, Blake served with distinction in the U.S. Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer, including two combat deployments to the Persian Gulf, where he was decorated for his performance during Operations Southern Watch and Desert Strike.