Hannah Kirby
Hannah Kirby began her career in corporate finance for AT&T. and later transitioned an equities trader at Shearson Lehman Brothers and later, fixed income trading at a division of Bear Stearns in Orange, New Jersey.
​
Following a move to San Diego, Hannah rapidly moved into the emerging tech sector, focusing on early stage companies developing promising software. After a good deal of starts and stops, she became CFO for a startup called StorageCraft which developed a new data storage technology. Hannah helped to negotiate a venture raise of $1.5 M in 2004 and ultimately, the sale of the founder’s stake in 2006.
As a firmly entrenched serial entrepreneur, Hannah and her partner founded a beverage company in 2006 which they still own. Hannah secured $800,000 in seed financing for the startup and managed 350% of revenue growth during the company’s first year which also attracted $1 M in additional capital investment.
​
After a recent move to North Carolina, Hannah pivoted to commercial real estate. Historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and urban infill projects provided a natural extension to financial analysis skills that Hannah has refined over the thirty-year span of her career. Hannah took on complex commercial projects to provide value to builders and commercial buyers through capitalization strategies that streamline process, balance risk, and clarify exit strategies.
​
Carolina Opportunity Funds was launched in May of 2019 with the goal of drawing attention to the tertiary markets within North Carolina that might otherwise be overlooked by the wave of Opportunity Fund investment. Also, in 2019, Hannah served as a User Advocate for the White House Council of Economic Advisors’ Opportunity Project. The initiative analyzed data driven tools to help investors, entrepreneurs, and community leaders develop strategies for economic development in Opportunity Zones.
