Jason

Bark

Senior Associate

Jason approaches his work with the mindset of a business partner, not just a legal advisor. He understands how critical it is for early-stage companies to have practical, forward-looking guidance that supports growth without slowing momentum.

With a background in the startup world, Jason brings a rare, first-hand understanding of the challenges early-stage companies face as they grow, scale, and ultimately exit. This experience has shaped his client-first approach and his deep commitment to helping entrepreneurs succeed.

Jason represents companies in all stages of the corporate life cycle, including pre-incorporation planning, general corporate representation and counseling, corporate governance, negotiating commercial contracts, venture capital financings and mergers & acquisitions. He also serves as outside counsel to venture capital firms, advising on investments, deal strategy, and portfolio management. Jason’s clients span life sciences and tech companies including artificial intelligence, blockchain and crypto, gaming and cloud infrastructure.

Whether he’s helping early-stage founders navigate a stressful turning point or structuring a multimillion-dollar financing round, Jason is known for being a steady, strategic counselor—someone his clients trust to think through what’s next and how to get there.

Prior to joining Gould & Ratner, Jason was an associate at a Los Angeles-based firm.

*Admitted to practice law in California; not currently admitted to practice in Illinois.

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Connect with Jason

Chicago

jbark@gouldratner.com

(312) 899-1646 Office

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Practices

Corporate

Emerging Companies & Venture Capital

Private Funds

Credentials

Education

University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, J.D., 2017
Cornell University, B.S., Industrial and Labor Relations, 2009

Bar Admissions

California

Key Cases or Transactions

Venture Capital Financings

Represented a syndicate investment group in the formation and structuring of the organization, as well as the deployment of capital into the clean energy space.
Represented Trek Labs (Backpack Exchange) in its $17 million Series A Financing.
Represented Very Good Security in its $60 million Series C financing.
Represented Greater Good Health in its $20 million Series A financing.
Represented private equity and venture capital firms in deployment of capital, including: Accel Partners, Basis Set, Conductive Ventures, Fika Ventures, Greylock Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Ribbit Capital, and Upfront Ventures.

M&A Deals

Represented Smartest Edu (dba Formative) in its sale to Newsela.
Represented Signal Sciences in its sale to Fastly (NYSE: FSLY), valued at approximately $775 million.
Represented Neutron Holdings (dba LimeBike) in its financing and acquisition of Uber Technologies assets in Latin America.
Represented Nextdoor (NYSE: KIND) in its acquisition of Pixel Labs.
Represented Sumo Logic (Nasdaq: SUMO) in its acquisition of Collective Sense and Jask Labs.
Represented Accompany, an AI-based company in its sale to Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO).

Capital Markets Deals

Represented a syndicate investment group in de-SPAC exits.
Represented Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), a cloud communication company, in its follow-on offering of $1.25 billion of shares.
Represented SANUWAVE Health (OTC:SNWV), a biotechnology company in its PIPE offering.

*Includes transactions at prior firms.

News

Jason Bark Joins Gould & Ratner as Senior Associate, July 29, 2025