Prism’s Will Kohler to Join Summerhill Venture Partners, Doubling Firm’s Boston Headcount

Erin Kutz2/1/10Leave a CommentFollow @erkutz

Prism VentureWorks principal Will Kohler will join Summerhill Venture Partners as a general partner later this month, doubling the Toronto-headquartered firm’s Boston-area headcount as part of an effort to expand its investments in the Northeast, according to Summerhill managing partner Gary Rubinoff.

“We’re doing a lot of deals in the Northeast it makes sense to get another person on the ground there,” said Rubinoff, who works in Boston a couple days a week. Kohler will be joining full-time venture partner George Cooney in Boston. Rubinoff said the addition of Kohler splits the firm’s investment staff more evenly between the two offices.

Kohler’s last day at Needham, MA-based Prism will be Tuesday. He confirmed his move but declined to comment further on it while still at Prism, a firm that invests in digital media, life sciences, and software services companies. Kohler joined Prism in 2003, according to the website.

Summerhill, which manages $175 million in capital, began its quest for a new Boston staffer the summer. Kohler had already been serving alongside Rubinoff on the board of Needham-based Sonian, an e-mail archiving company that both Prism and Summerhill invest in. Hiring Kohler for Summerhill’s Boston office “was just a great fit for us and for him,” Rubinoff said.

In addition to Sonian, Summerhill’s Bay State investments include Chelmsford-based Arbor Networks, a security and network management company, and Jumptap, a Cambridge-based mobile search company. The firm also has investments in companies based in New York, Texas, and the Washington, DC, area. Rubinoff said the company plans to seek new investments in the Northeast.

Erin Kutz is an Associate Editor for Xconomy. You can reach her by e-mail at ekutz@xconomy.com or by phone at (617) 252-0700, or follow her on Twitter at @erkutz.