Havenly on brink of losing lead investor

The lead investor in Denver interiordesign startup Havenly appears near its demise after allegations surfaced that a partner in the venture capital firm made unwanted sexual advances toward female founders.

Justin Caldbeck, co-founder of Binary Capital, which led Havenly’s $5.8 million round in March 2016, resigned Sunday after six women came forward saying Caldbeck had made unwanted and inappropriate advances on them. A second Binary Capital partner, Matt Mazzeo, also left the firm.

Havenly CEO Lee Mayer announced Monday on Twitter that her company, which she founded with her sister, Emily Motayed, and friend Jessie Dixon, asked Binary Capital to terminate its board rights. Mayer applauded the courage of the three women — Niniane Wang, Susan Ho and Leiti Hsu — who came forward to publicly “take a stand against this grossly inappropriate conduct,” she wrote.

“We recognize this discussion has been catalyzed by the bravery of these individuals and our team pledges to stand alongside them and any other voice fighting for this equality,” Mayer said in the tweet.

Reached on Thursday, Mayer would not say whether Binary Capital has vacated its board seat. She said she has been advised not to comment further.

But from other reports, Binary Capital may be close to an end. Remaining partner Jonathan Teo offered to resign, according to a Bloomberg report. Teo shared on social networks an investigation by a law firm is pending. Teo also asked for forgiveness for believing Caldbeck had stopped his bad behavior.

According to Bloomberg, Binary investors decided to close the firm’s most recent fund, which means it will make no new investments. The investment in Havenly was part of an earlier $125 million fund.

What happens next is up to remaining Binary investors. They could keep Teo in the job to continue managing the existing funds or they could decide to sell off the shares in the startup companies, according to Bloomberg.