Square 1 Bank has strengthened its New England team with the addition of several key hires to support the commercial banking needs of entrepreneurs and investors in the region, including Julianne Tamasy as senior vice president and Jeff Griffor as managing director.

"We are excited to add new energy to the Square 1 New England team," said Frank Tower, executive vice president of Square 1 Bank. "All of our recent hires have strong backgrounds in venture banking and have been working in the Boston area for years. Tapping into this group's regional networks and breadth of industry expertise positions us well to expand our presence in the market, and will benefit colleagues and clients alike."

Tamasy joined Square 1 Bank as senior vice president, Venture Capital Services, and focuses her efforts on meeting the unique needs of private equity and venture capital firms. She brings more than 15 years of banking experience, including most recently, her role as senior managing director of foreign exchange at First Republic Bank. Prior to First Republic, Tamasy served as vice president of currency risk management at Citizens Bank in Boston and manager of foreign exchange trading and sales for PNC Bank (formerly National City Bank) in Indianapolis.

As managing director of the region's life sciences practice, Griffor leads the team's efforts to expand the life sciences banking practice throughout the New England venture capital ecosystem. He joins Square 1 from Comerica Bank, where he served as senior vice president and assistant group manager of the technology and life sciences division. Prior to Comerica, he spent nearly 15 years at Lighthouse Capital Partners, a privately held venture debt fund, where he last served as managing director. Over the past 10 years, Griffor has originated more than $430MM in transactions, primarily within the life sciences sector.

Recent hires in the region also include Shannon O'Brien as vice president, technology banking, and Scott Hansen, vice president, life sciences.

O'Brien brings a strong background in finance with a specific focus on servicing life sciences and technology clients. Her past experience includes vice president at Silicon Valley Bank, as well as roles in trade operations and accounting with Boston hedge fund Highfields Capital Management LP.

Hansen joins Square 1 Bank with extensive corporate finance and proven industry experience, including several years servicing healthcare clients. Most recently, Hansen was a vice president on the healthcare investment banking team at BMO Capital Markets, where he spent five years leading sell-side and buy-side mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance and equity capital raises and other strategic advisory engagements.

Square 1 Bank is a full service commercial bank dedicated exclusively to serving the financial needs of the venture capital community and entrepreneurs in all stages of growth and expansion.