Derek Colla

Partner
Full contact info

I solve legal and business problems for high-growth companies, from founders with an idea to publicly traded companies.

Passions

I'm a long-suffering Philly sports fan who married into the charmed life of an Alabama Crimson Tide supporter.

Experience

Forward Industries Announces $1.65 Billion PIPE Offering

September 11, 2025

Cooley advised Jump Crypto as a sponsor in connection with $1.65 billion in cash and stablecoin commitments for a private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering by Forward Industries, a global design company serving top-tier medical and technology companies, to initiate a Solana-focused digital asset treasury strategy, aligning Forward Industries with the fast-growing Solana ecosystem.

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Related contacts

Yvan-Claude Pierre
Partner, New York
Daniel I. Goldberg
Partner, New York
Derek Colla
Partner, Miami
Stephanie Gentile
Partner, New York
Minkyu Park
Special Counsel, New York
David Peinsipp
Partner, San Francisco
Samuel Paullin
Associate, Chicago
Leah Duncan
Associate, Chicago
Benjamin Shulman
Associate, New York
Todd Gluth
Partner, San Diego

Related Practices & Industries

Meanwhile Closes $40 Million Series A

April 10, 2025

Cooley advised Meanwhile, an insurtech company that leverages cryptocurrency, on its $40 million Series A financing round. Lawyers Derek Colla and Barry Kuang led the Cooley team advising Meanwhile.

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Derek Colla
Partner, Miami
Barry Kuang
Associate, Boston
Megan Boss
Senior Paralegal , Boston
Jeffrey J. Tolin
Partner, New York
Erica Russell
Associate, San Francisco

Related Practices & Industries

Yurts Raises $40 Million Series B

December 3, 2024

Cooley advised Yurts, an artificial intelligence integration platform that can be deployed within high-security businesses, including the US Department of Defense, on its $40 million Series B.

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Related contacts

Derek Colla
Partner, Miami
Katherine King
Associate, Washington, DC
Jim Fulton
Partner, New York
Christian Plaza
Partner, Reston
Grant Schweikert
Special Counsel, Washington, DC
Bomin Kim
Associate, New York
James Taylor
Patent Technical Advisor, London
Brandon Lefebvre
Quantitative Analyst, Boston

Related Practices & Industries

Halcyon Closes $100 Million Series C

November 25, 2024

Cooley advised Halcyon on its $100 million Series C funding. Partner Derek Colla led the Cooley team advising Halcyon, an organization devoted to defeating ransomware through prevention and resilience by way of a proprietary technology that captures encryption keys, enabling organizations to recover from attacks in minutes without paying ransom.

Related contacts

Derek Colla
Partner, Miami
Leo Metz
Associate
Sela Dougherty
Associate, Miami
Wesley Dietrich
Associate, Washington, DC
Jon Gavenman
Partner, Palo Alto
Christian Plaza
Partner, Reston
Jeffrey J. Tolin
Partner, New York
David Walsh
Senior Counsel, Reston
Shelby Saunders
Associate, New York
Brandon Lefebvre
Quantitative Analyst, Boston

Related Practices & Industries

Lightning AI Closes $50 Million Equity Investment

November 21, 2024

Cooley advised Lightning AI on its $50 million equity investment. Partner Derek Colla led the Cooley team advising Lightning AI, a company that simplifies and accelerates artificial intelligence development by providing a unified platform for training, deploying and scaling it.

Related contacts

Derek Colla
Partner, Miami
Asheley Walker
Associate, Washington, DC
Leo Metz
Associate
Delina Mesfin
Associate

Related Practices & Industries

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Admissions and credentials

District of Columbia

Florida

Rankings and accolades

The Legal 500 US: Leading Lawyer in Venture Capital and Emerging Companies (2024 – 2025)

Chambers USA: Startups & Emerging Companies – Nationwide (2021 – 2025)