Ex-Phoenix exec Leonardi is CI’s new CEO

Former Phoenix Cos. Inc. investment executive Claire Leonardi is the new CEO of Connecticut’s quasi-public technology investment arm.

Leonardi, whose husband is state Insurance Commissioner Thomas Leonardi, takes on the newly created post at Connecticut Innovations Inc. starting March 1.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wants to merge CI with another state agency that, like CI, invests in small startup businesses.

More recently, Claire Leonardi was advising startup companies in New York state. CI said Leonardi was traveling Wednesday and unavailable for comment.

Leonardi, who has worked at several Connecticut investment firms and as a vice president at Phoenix Home Life in Hartford, takes over CI’s lead spot from Peter Longo.

Longo, who was CI’s president and executive director, will continue to be a part of CI, reporting to Leonardi, and running the day-to-day operations.

Leonardi will make an annual salary of $198,000 in her new role.

Originally, Catherine Smith, who is the commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development, wanted Matthew Nemerson, head of the Connecticut Technology Council to take the newly created CEO job at Connecticut Innovations, but his choice created some resistance among CI board members.

Nemerson fell out of the running for the job over a month ago, sources said. 

Leonardi is a veteran investment and venture capital executive with more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry.

She takes over CI at a time when the quasi-public technology investment firm is taking on a much bigger role in Connecticut’s economic development.

CI will be deploying an extra $50 million each year for the next five years thanks to a cash injection approved by the state legislature during the speical jobs session in October.

That includes $4 million per year for CI’s pre-seed program and $22 million per year for seed stage and Series A investments, which help entrepreneurs grow existing businesses, and for follow-on investments in CI portfolio companies.

Leonardi earned an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

She has held senior positions in financial firms including alternative investment management with Crossroads Capital in Farmington and Fairview Capital in West Hartford, as well as overseeing business development and strategic investment at Phoenix Home Life in Hartford.

As part of his legislative agenda for 2012, Malloy is proposing to consolidate CI with the Connecticut Development Authority.