Reuters: Financial Services and Real Estate: Kleiner, battling suit, hires another female partner

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Kleiner, battling suit, hires another female partner May 31st 2012, 18:41 SAN FRANCISCO | Thu May 31, 2012 2:41pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO May 31 (Reuters) - Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers hired a new investment partner, Megan Quinn, as it battles a gender discrimination lawsuit launched by a female partner. Quinn will join the firm's digital group, where she will focus on investments in the consumer Internet. She comes to Kleiner from payments-company Square, where she served as director of products. Previously, she worked in product management for Google Inc, leading development of products such as Google Maps. "Megan is a rising star in the consumer technology and start-up community and will be a huge asset to Kleiner Perkins as we begin to invest from our latest fund, KPCB 15," said Ted Schlein, the partner at Kleiner who oversees digital investing. Other partners in the digital area include Aileen Lee, who is starting a seed fund, and Chi-Hua Chien, who oversees mobile investments. Former Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker leads the firm's $1 billion digital-growth fund. Kleiner and Quinn have been talking about the role for a few months, a Kleiner spokeswoman said. Quinn has known Kleiner partner John Doerr for years through his board role at Google, a person familiar with the situation said, and also knows Meeker through Meeker's investment in Square. The hiring of Quinn is not a response to the lawsuit filed earlier this month by partner Ellen Pao, the spokeswoman said. Pao's lawsuit against the firm alleges harassment and gender discrimination. "In the end, facts - not unfounded claims - will determine the outcome of the suit filed against us," Doerr said in a statement released Wednesday. "We will vigorously defend our reputation and are confident we will prevail." He cited Kleiner's track record hiring women and backing companies founded or led by women, including reproductive-health company Auxogyn, online retailer One King's Lane, and cancer-diagnostics company Veracyte. The firm is one of venture capital's most distinguished, having backed companies such as retailer Amazon Inc, gaming company Electronic Arts Inc, biotechnology company Genentech, browser company Netscape, information-technology company Sun Microsystems, and gaming company Zynga Inc. Its latest fund, the $525 million KPCB, has 10 managing partners, including Chien and Doerr. It also includes a female managing partner, life-sciences specialist Beth Seidenberg. Managing partners generally have more input and are better compensated compared to other partners. Overall, the firm has 49 partners, of whom 10 are women, a spokeswoman said. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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