Karen Kassouf

Bio

s. Kassouf, Managing Member and founder of Cedar Ventures, has 25 years of experience in the health care, insurance and financial service sectors, serving in different capacities including that of securities lawyer, investment banker, business development officer at an operating company and investor. She founded Cedar Ventures in 2000 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1993 to 2001, Ms. Kassouf initiated and ran Cedar Equities, the venture capital subsidiary of Western Indemnity Insurance Company, an insurance entity in Texas. Prior to that, she initiated and spearheaded the health care investment banking unit in the Southwest for Chemical Banking Corporation (now Banc One and JP Morgan Chase), building up the unit to where it ranked third in the state of Texas for hospital debt financings (1989-1990), generating $4-$5 million in fee income with 20+ new accounts. Ms. Kassouf was a significant deal team member on two health care leveraged buyouts while at Chemical Banking Corporation, including the 1989 AMI buyout using $1.6 billion of financing. Prior to joining Chemical Banking Corporation and Texas Commerce Bank, she served as a securities lawyer for Mudge Rose Guthrie Alexander & Ferdon, New York, New York, where she worked on financings for electrical utilities, public power and power cooperatives, water districts and hospitals. Ms. Kassouf is a member of the New York and Texas Bar Associations, Atlanta Venture Forum, National Venture Capital Association, and a founding advisory board member of Women Business Leaders and a member of the US Healthcare Industry Foundation, a Washington, D.C. group of senior health care executives across the country and overseas. She is a member of the boards of the ATFL in Washington, D.C. and of Create Your Dreams in Atlanta, Georgia, an after school youth development and enrichment program.

Career

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Cedar Ventures LLC - founder Managing Member Email: [email protected]