Laurence Hayward

Founder | Independence Equity

Laurence Hayward is a founding partner of Independence Equity, an early-stage venture fund focused on resource efficiency. Hayward is co-founder of Cornerstone Angels, which has invested in more than 60 companies since 2006, and founder/CEO of VentureLab. Previously, Hayward was President of Vcapital.com, an early version of equity crowdfunding. Vcapital was acquired in 2002 by a NY-based investment bank. Hayward led global marketing for the Emerging Company Services practice of Arthur Andersen. He was appointed to represent the firm at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 1996. Hayward serves on the Boards of several portfolio companies. He is a graduate of the Joint MBA/BS program at the University of Illinois and holds Series 7 and 63 licenses.