Founder Letter
A note from Susan & Philippe
Over the past two decades, we've each sat on both sides of the capital formation table, running investor relations in-house with general partners raising billions, and counseling firms as trusted advisors. We started Keel IR Advisors because we kept seeing the same gap: firms with strong strategies and real track records who struggled to articulate their story clearly, didn't have the systems in place to manage LP relationships consistently, or didn't have anyone senior enough with IR chops in the room when it mattered most.
The name Keel reflects the importance of stability in LP matters. A keel is the structural backbone of a boat, the part you don't see, that keeps everything steady, balanced, and moving in the right direction, especially when conditions get rough. That's the role we play for our clients: the steady structure underneath that keeps everything aligned with investors when it counts most.
We built Keel around four elements we believe every private equity and venture capital firm needs to get right:
how you manage and communicate with your LPs
how you tell your story and build your brand
how you think strategically about capital formation
how you stay organized and credible while a raise is underway and between raises.
We've spent decades being that resource: the people GPs call not only when a fund is live, but also years before it opens and years after it closes. We built Keel around that same belief: relationships that outlast any single fund, and counsel that accompanies the full arc of the journey.
We'd welcome the chance to discuss your capital formation needs.
Philippe Schenk & Susan Stella
Founding Partners, Keel IR Advisors