Sorenson Ventures Adds Tony Spinelli, Four-time Global Enterprise CISO, as a Venture Partner

Palo Alto, CA – November 23, 2020 – Sorenson Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based, early-stage investor in security and enterprise software companies, is pleased to announce that Tony Spinelli, the CIO of Urban One and former Chief Information Security Officer at Capital One, Tyco, Equifax, and First Data, has joined the firm as a Venture Partner. In his role at Sorenson Ventures, Tony will focus early-stage cybersecurity and technology opportunities.

“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Tony Spinelli to the Sorenson Ventures team. We’ve been very impressed by how Tony actively collaborates with founders and early-stage startups to help them shape their products for Global 2000 customers,” said Ken Elefant, Managing Partner, Sorenson Ventures. “Tony is well known around the world as a cybersecurity and digital transformation expert who will help our portfolio companies identify target customers, define product/market fit, and develop efficient go-to-market strategies that will accelerate revenue growth.”

Tony brings more than 25 years of experience in pioneering and advancing cybersecurity technology, digital transformation, and cloud innovations at multi-national large enterprises. While working at Sorenson Ventures, Tony will continue to serve as the CIO of Urban One, a publicly traded media, entertainment, and urban content company with significant assets throughout the US.

“As an enterprise customer and active angel investor myself, I’ve been very impressed with the Sorenson Ventures portfolio startups. As I got to know Ken Elefant, Rob Rueckert, and the rest of the Sorenson team, I quickly came to appreciate the way they work closely with their founders to grow their businesses,” said Tony Spinelli. “I believe my experience as a long-time enterprise CIO and CISO will help me work with Sorenson’s startups to shape products, define go-to-market strategies, and rapidly expand sales with large customers.”

In his roles as Chief Information Security Officer for large, publicly traded companies, such as Capital One, Tyco International, Equifax, and First Data, Tony developed deep cybersecurity expertise about the changing nature of security for large organizations which increasingly rely on data, digital assets, and e-commerce. Tony has served as a United States Department of Defense Cybersecurity Advisor for more than a decade and is an avid angel investor in successful startups, including BlueCoat Systems, FireEye, Cylance, Cobalt.io, Cloudknox, and Bridgecrew, among many others.

Tony is also recognized for his work in the diversity and inclusion area. He is a leader in the Diverse by Design movement, a board member for diversity and inclusion non-profit Per Scholas, and an ongoing champion of technology and cybersecurity educational opportunities for bright minds in underserved communities.

Tony received his MBA at Washington University with residency at Fudan University in Shanghai and Imperial College of London. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from St. Louis University.

About Sorenson Ventures
Sorenson Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based, early-stage investor in security and enterprise software companies with more than $110 million of capital under management. Sorenson Ventures invests in product-oriented businesses at the seed or pre-Series A stage and focuses on helping portfolio companies establish a strong foundation to accelerate revenue growth with Global 2000 customers. Find out more about Sorenson Ventures at https://www.sorensoncapital.com/ and on twitter at https://twitter.com/sorensoncap.