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Key people at LinkSV.
Link Silicon Valley (LinkSV) provides a specialized intelligence platform and database dedicated to the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. The company offers a meticulously curated repository of data, encompassing over two decades of company formations, funding rounds, mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, and executive transitions. This detailed information, alongside contact data for founders and investors, empowers users to construct targeted marketing campaigns and enhance their networking efforts within the region.
The company was founded in 1998 by Bob Karr. With a distinguished 30-year career as a corporate liability insurance broker, Karr recognized a critical need for a centralized, comprehensive resource to navigate the intricate web of connections between people, capital, and burgeoning companies in Silicon Valley. This foundational insight drove the development of LinkSV, establishing it as a key resource for market intelligence.
LinkSV serves professionals in sales, business development, and investment roles who require deep, actionable insights into the Silicon Valley landscape. The company’s long-term vision centers on being the authoritative source for connecting key players and facilitating informed decision-making across the startup community. It strives to remain the essential intelligence hub for participants within this dynamic ecosystem.
LinkSV is an online business intelligence platform that curates detailed data on Silicon Valley companies, including senior teams, board members, key partners, customers, funding from angels, institutions, and VCs, as well as formations, fundings, M&A, IPOs, and executive moves over 20+ years.[2][3][7] It serves startups, investors, and professionals by providing actionable insights via a searchable database, daily "Pulse of the Valley" emails on new events, and fundraising services from free access to paid support matching companies with investors.[1][7] LinkSV operates at the intersection of business intelligence and social networking, helping users build targeted marketing campaigns and navigate the ecosystem with monthly trend analyses on technology, talent, and investments in partnership with groups like WITI.[1][3][4]
Founded by serial entrepreneur Bob Karr, LinkSV empowers higher-quality funding decisions in a tougher market, tracking investor-friendly term sheets, ratchets, and big deals while highlighting trends like AI (32% of February 2025 funding) and clean tech.[1][4]
LinkSV was founded by Robert M. Karr, its CEO, who brings over 30 years as an active angel investor, advisor to emerging internet companies, and co-founder of influential Silicon Valley networking groups like the Angels Breakfast Club.[2][3] Before LinkSV, Karr had a 30-year career in corporate liability insurance, spending 15 years as a Partner at Dinner Levison Company and 15 years as SVP at Sedgwick Group, managing business development for pre-IPO Silicon Valley firms, many of which achieved successful IPOs.[3] The idea for LinkSV emerged from Karr's deep networking expertise, creating a platform to "connect the dots" on people, capital, and companies in the Valley.[3]
Dawn DeBruyn Novarina serves as COO and cofounder, a three-time entrepreneur with 20+ years in marketing, sales, and business development; she started by selling software to Fortune 5000 firms, built a nationwide VAR network that doubled sales three years running, and now leads LinkSV's operations, marketing, and development while advising companies on traffic, revenue, and results.[3] Early traction built on Karr's established reputation, evolving into a comprehensive database with fundraising tools amid shifting VC dynamics post-2021.[1][2]
LinkSV rides the wave of maturing VC cycles post-2021 downturn, tracking "dry powder" drops to ~$280B, investor-friendly terms (ratchets, liquidation preferences), and quality-over-quantity funding amid fewer but larger deals (e.g., $6B+ in June, AI-heavy in 2025).[1][4][5] Timing aligns with AI dominance (32% of Feb 2025 investments), clean tech surges, and secondary markets enabling up-rounds without IPOs, as firms extend beyond 10-year horizons via secondaries and funds-of-funds.[4][5][6]
It influences the ecosystem by democratizing data for startups struggling to raise (e.g., post-2021 zombies facing acquisition or shutdown), spotlighting top investors like Y Combinator, and fostering transparency in a market favoring protected LPs over frothy valuations.[1][2][5] This positions LinkSV as a vital navigator amid consolidation, with market forces like enterprise AI agents ($20K/month pricing) and biotech pivots amplifying its trend-analysis value.[4]
LinkSV is poised to expand as AI, clean tech, and secondary strategies dominate 2025+ funding, with its database scaling to capture rising M&A and late-stage privates avoiding dead IPO windows.[4][5] Trends like investor protections and quality filters will boost demand for its intel, potentially growing revenue (est. $0-10M) via premium fundraising and global Valley outreach.[5][8] Influence may evolve toward AI-enhanced search or LP tools, solidifying its role as the go-to connector in a data-hungry ecosystem—empowering the next wave of high-conviction bets from its origins in Karr's networking mastery.
Key people at LinkSV.
