thumbnail image
  • Home
  • Contact
  • Join VU
  • Home
  • Investor Accelerator
    • Investor Accelerator Overview
    • VC/PE Investment Apprenticeship
    • Profit Sharing Agreement
    • Career Development & Networking
    • The VU Experience
    • REVERSE DEMO DAY
  • Education
    • Education Programs Overview
    • The VC/PE Masterclass
    • Advanced VC/PE Modules
    • Global Market Modules
    • Global Investor Trip
    • Pre-College Summer Program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Apply To VU
    • Reviews & Testimonials
    • After VU
    • FAQ
    • Resources
      • The VU Blog
      • Startup Resources
      • The Ultimate VC Podcast List
      • The Ultimate VC Blog List
      • The Ultimate VC Book List
      • The Ultimate VC Movie List
  • Team
    • Management Team
    • Speakers, Instructors, Advisors
    • 2021: Cohort 11
    • 2020: Cohorts 7-10
    • 2019: Cohorts 3-6
    • 2018: Cohorts 1-2
    • Hire VU
  • Investments
    • Portfolio
    • Pitch VU
    • Strategy & Value Add
    • Join VU's Investor Syndicate
  • Contact
    •  
      2020: Cohorts 7-10
      Jan 2020 - Dec 2020
      ~140 VU Alumni

    •  
      Cohort 10 - U.S. & Asia
      Fall 2020

      U.S. Cohort: Sep - Dec 2020

      Asia Cohort: Oct - Dec 2020

    • Cohort 10 includes 41 investors (31 in U.S., 10 in Asia) that have formed five deal sourcing teams: Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier, & Healthcare

      Cohort 10 Deal Sourcing Teams

      Consumer Team - U.S.

      Erik Bruckner

      • 8+ years in business development, corporate strategy, mergers & acquisitions, private equity, and venture capital
      • Actively building early-stage angel investment portfolio across multiple verticals
      • MBA, The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business; BSBA, Duquesne University Palumbo Donahue School of Business
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Isabella Ortiz

      • 3+ years as Associate at Northwestern’s Innovation and New Ventures Office managing and commercializing engineering and medical device technologies and startups
      • B.S. Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico Institute of Technology, J.D. From Chicago- Kent College of Law, Intellectual Property Certificate
      • Industry Expert on Blockchain and other emerging technologies

      Inez Novia Sanjaya

      • B.A in Economics from University of California Berkeley, Cum Laude
      • Work experience in the largest global innovation platform, Plug and Play Tech Center, in the supply chain venture team, a Google-backed accelerator in Indonesia focusing on emerging markets in Southeast Asia, and a fast-growing B2B startup in the logistics and distribution industry
      • Passionate about the startup ecosystem, entrepreneurship, and impactful companies that disrupt the old industries

      Ross Rogers

      • BA University of Michigan (2020)
      • A passionate fan of the Detroit Redwings, Detroit Lions, and Cleveland Cavaliers
      • Studied abroad on a cruise ship with 700+ college students docking at numerous countries in Asia and Africa
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Gregory Pratt

      • Helped create first FDA approved digital drug at Proteus Digital Health
      • Avid follower of financial markets and sports
      • Hit a baseball out of the infield at Oracle Park

      Shreekantha Rama

      • A former entrepreneur and technology leader for over two decades. Served on many private boards and has raised capital in private markets 
      • Recognized expert and speaker on technology innovations, commercialization, and entrepreneurship at multiple conferences
      • MBA from UT Austin, Executive Education from GE's Leadership programs, Six Sigma, PMP, Cloud, Salesforce expertise, in wide industries Auto, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Finance
      • Active VC Investor with multiple investments across industry agnostics and a Wealth Management Advisor helping families secure their financial future 

      Camille Accad

      • 5+ years experience as an economist for an asset management firm focusing on emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East
      • MBA and MSc Finance from The George Washington University; BA Economics (minors in Mathematics and Philosophy) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst
      • Multilingual, lived in 10+ countries (EMEA) and traveled to 40+ countries

      Consumer Team - Asia

      Daichi Hirose

       

      • Have taken leading roles for a start-up to go IPO in Japan as senior management
      • Currently specializes in M&A, new business development, and CVC for the major listed marketing agency
      • Worked for BASF Venture Capital, CVC arm of the German chemical company
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Linda Linn

       

      • 7+ years experience of VC fund portfolio management and investor relationship management
      • Specializing in company valuation, investment evaluation, financial analysis & modeling
      • Up to 2 years practicing investment activities as an independent investor
      • CFA Level II, ACCA candidate

      Riady Gozali

       

      • 20+ years experience of management, operations and investment across China, United States, Singapore, and Indonesia
      • Well-versed in corporate investment, system design and implemenation, brownfield/greenfield design and build-out, plant and equipment re-engineering and optimization
      • Having led large organization and startups, highly adept at managing multi-cultural, geographically dispersed teams, thrives well in a multi-cultural business environment
      • An investor in tech companies and real estate developments.
      • Multilingual: English, Mandarin Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia

      Soham Bhattbhatt

       

      • Ex- Bank of America Investment Banker (Mumbai); worked across on IPOs, M&As, and Debt issuances across a range of industries
      • Worked at North Haven Capital, a Lower-Middle Market Private Equity firm, and at Deloitte in the M&A Tax Advisory division
      • MBA, SC Johnson School of Business and Chartered Accountant (India) 
      • (a) Student Consultant to Citi Ventures 
      • (b) Advised a student on the potential commercialization of a medical technology patented during his PhD
      • Trained Tabla (Indian Percussion Musical Instrument) player, and recently learnt beginner level Salsa

      Enterprise Team - U.S.

      Robert Chan

      • 15+ years in financial services, led teams of 20+ as a Senior Vice President at City National Bank
      • AB/AM Harvard University, MBA University of Chicago, Executive Education in Leadership Stanford University. CFA Charterholder
      • Film/TV Enthusiast took courses in documentary filmmaking and selling TV shows, producing, screenwriting. Passionate about Asian American media representation. Wheel of Fortune Contestant, Tae Kwon Do Black belt
       
       

      Jake Casas

      • Passionate about helping startups grow. I've contributed in a variety of roles in a variety of stages with multiple startups
      • Former co-founder of fashion tech startup
      • M.S. in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from USC Marshall School of Business / USC Marshall Venture Fund Analyst
       
       
       
       
       

      Dattaraj Nadkarni

      • Former Corporate Finance at GlaxoSmithKline, completed the Future Leaders Program working across Singapore, Malaysia and the United States
      • Keen interest in Fintech, especially in finding micro-financing solutions in developing countries
      • BBM in Finance & Operations Management at Singapore Management University

      Danielle Graham

      • Pitched directly to consumer insurance to Economical Insurance pre-deregulation, built the team for Sonnet
      • Focused on women / underrepresented founders - building opportunities for talent that doesn't have access
      • MBA, MA - educated in sustainability/cleantech specialist
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Zach Betts

      • Entrepreneur and technology advisor assisting startup acceleration and connecting venture capital funding
      • 10+ years advising and leading enterprise digital transformations to Cloud/SaaS technology, data analytics, and AI/robotics adoption
      • MBA, University of Wales UK, with a global network of business and technology leaders seeking innovation value and advantage

       

      Venkat Bussa

      • 20 Years Experience, Engineering, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
      • Worked at Cisco, Lead Technical Marketing and Engineering functions for $1B High-End Routing and Optical Product Lines
      • Market Expertise: Telecommunication, Cloud, Networking, Agriculture, Education, Commercial & Newspaper Print & Packaging Industries
      • BSc. from College of Engineering Osmanabad, Harvard University -  Alternative Investments, Stanford GSB - Mergers & Acquisitions, Berkeley Haas - Venture Capital Executive Program

      Zee Zhong

      • Experience in investment banking and venture capital
      • A veteran of the US Army with 4 years of service
      • Global traveler (lived in US mainland, Hawaii, China, and the UK, and traveled to 20+ countries so far)
      • MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business

      Enterprise Team - Asia

      Eugene Ong

       

      • Aeronautical engineer in finance. 20 years of fundraising experience across investment banking, hedge funds, and venture capital
      • Founded and operated a fintech and a fitness business.
      • Lived and worked across London, Zurich, Hong Kong Singapore, and Tokyo
       
       
       

      Jeremy Wong

       

      • On track to graduate at the end of 2021 from Singapore Management University with a BSc Science (Economics) and a 2nd major in finance
      • Only had my eyes opened to the world of startups and venture in mid-2019, but quickly realized that this is what I would like to do the rest of my life
      • Love keeping my body fit with sports (football) and my mind sharp with poker

      Ritesh Nandwani

       

      • MBA from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and an MSc in Management from the University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines
      • Launched a Venture Fund while working at a Family-owned multinational conglomerate
      • Over 15 years of experience working in multiple locations across industries including textiles, FMCG, and vehicles, among others

      Karan Poddar

      • Traveled to 41 countries 
      • Very curious, love learning about new fields and exploring disruptive technology
      • Skydived
      • BA in Political Science from UMass

      Minn Liu

       

      • Experience in investment banking (TMT) and Fintech
      • BA from Northwestern University
      • Former professional track athlete

      Frontier Team

      Emily Tran

      • B.S. in International Business from Pepperdine & Fudan University, 3.78 GPA, Certificate in Dispute Resolution through Straus Institute – Class Rank: 1st / 300
      • Marketing Strategy Lead for multi-million dollar, venture-backed D2C / subscription brand, disrupting in the sunscreen market
      • Bilingual, avid traveler, and passionate about startups & small businesses

      Mark Saltzer

      • Principal Computational Scientist at Caltech
      • Director at Hughes working primarily on radar and quantum computing
      • Mentor of students at Caltech
      • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); and a fellow at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation on data-driven discovery
      • BSc. from California State University, Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California

      Sammi Toorish

      • B.A in International Relations from Colgate University ('18), Summa Cum Laude, top 8% of graduating class. Professional experience in client services and account management, servicing PE and VC clients
      • Activity enthusiast: Division 1 athlete; avid hiker; youngest advanced open water scuba diver in the world at age 10
      • Bilingual, traveled to 35+ countries, lived in five countries

      Kip Stringfellow

      • Initial team member of Singularity University, an exponential tech organization that grew to 30,000+ alumni over 10 years through startup and executive education programs
      • Formed partnerships with impact-focused organizations like the World Bank Group, Inter-American Development Bank, numerous global NGOs, foundations, and nonprofits
      • Extensive experience working and living internationally: entrepreneur in China, a startup accelerator in Brazil, volunteer projects in Ethiopia, language student in Argentina

      Brett G Jones

      • 5-year tenure 'swinging with the air wing' in the United States Marine Corps
      • 10 years managing accounts in retail, healthcare, fintech, and aerospace on Madison Avenue (McCann, Ogilvy, Madras, O&Jones)
      • 20 years with a Saturn tattoo and a mind to harden American space systems
       

      Julia Samoylenko

      • 10 years of global experience gained in Europe, the US, the Middle East, and Asia driving the strategic direction and launching transformative programs in MedTech and automotive organizations
      • Julia is an alumnus of the Stanford ‘LEAD’ Corporate Innovation program. Earned Medtronic CIO Award (2019), Medtronic Star of Excellence (2019), and Medtronic CIO Partner Excellence Award (2018)
      • Bilingual has traveled to 45+ countries, has lived and worked in 3

      Healthcare Team

      Aarti Ranani

      • Healthcare background executing EHR implementations, telemedicine, AI, cybersecurity and M&A projects
      • Recipient of "Partners in Excellence" Award during tenure at Massachusetts General Hospital
      • Multilingual; traveled to 30+ countries
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Adam Grant

      • Air Force Contracting Officer managing a $1B portfolio that provides mission support for range and launches operations ensuring the vitality of national space activities at the only launch base for DoD and commercial Atlas, Delta, SpaceX, and NASA launch vehicles
      • BASc Intelligence Studies with a minor in Spanish from the University of Arizona, MS in Enterprise Risk Management from Columbia University in New York City
      • A self-proclaimed foodie with a passion for family, food, and friends

      Ritika Das

      • 10 years of experience as a Longevity and microbiome researcher-led independent projects to generate high impact discoveries and findings that have clinical implications
      • Currently working as a consultant for life science-focused firmly on projects related to gene therapies, medical devices and Companion diagnostics from Go to Market strategy perspective
      • Had a brief stint in Wall Street helping an analyst with equity research reports for cell and gene therapy companies mostly in the oncology space

      Jennifer Nam

      • Biomedical Engineer, Scientist, and PhD. Candidate
      • Worked for Medtronic, Bristol Myers-Squibb, and Merck and Company
      • Commercial real estate investor

      Jaishree Singh

      • Cultivated 65+ family office clients at Boundless. Conducted market research on nutrition, mental health, and brain diseases
      • Developed international health investment strategies for the Rockefeller Foundation
      • Passionate about impact measurement tools that correlate companies’ health impact with financial performance. 4. MSPH degree from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health with a focus on pandemics, nutrition, and climate change

      Fintech Team

      Christo Kuriakose

      • BA from the University of Florida
      • Yoga and Workout Enthusiast
      • Passionate about emerging technology
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      (Lynn) Liang Y. Hsu

      • A strategic thinker and relationship manager with 15 years of investment management and advisory experience across both public and private-market asset classes
      • CFA Charterholder | Certificate in Commercial Real Estate | Executive Program in Hedge Fund | MBA in Finance & Investments | MS in Business Information Systems
      • Passionate about discovering human capital and disruptive technology that transforms how/what we invest and the financial markets

      Dorothy Ma

      • 10+ years of experience in the financial services sector with expertise in mergers & acquisitions, capital raising, corporate development, and corporate strategy
      • BSBA, Washington University in St. Louis; MBA, NYU Stern School of Business
      • Work experience in New York, Hong Kong, London, and Beijing

      J. Lopez, Jr.

      • Extremely curious about Technology, Data Science, ML & AI as it applies to the investment management and financial services sector
      • Practitioner of internal Chinese Martial Arts
      • Registered private detective and concealed carry instructor

      Sophia Dodd

      • 3+ years of commercial real estate experience at Brookfield Properties with expertise in office, retail & multi-family investments, asset management, & development
      • B.S. Business & Enterprise Management: Finance & Data Analytics from Wake Forest University | D1 Athlete: Volleyball
    •  
       
      Cohort 9 - U.S. & Asia
      Summer 2020

      U.S. Cohort: Apr - Aug 2020

      Asia Cohort: Jul - Oct 2020

       

       

       

       

    • Cohort 9 includes 42 Investors (U.S. Team: 35 + Asia Team: 7) that formed six deal sourcing teams: Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier Tech, Healthcare, & SpaceTech

      Cohort 9 Deal Sourcing Teams

      Consumer Team - U.S.

      Suzanne EL-Moursi

      • 2 Successful Exits: President & CEO of Uplift Data Partners, a enterprise drone technology company, and CMO of Power2Switch, a Kleiner Perkins portfolio company
      • Strong operator with 20 years in execution and delivery; building products, teams, businesses and brands, and
      • Creative mastermind in developing brand story, visual DNA, and strong longterm brand equity 
      • Captivating storyteller with a natural ability to make you a believer
      • BSc. Northern Illinois University; MSc. DePaul University; MBA, Booth School of Business

      Parker French

      • Earned All-American Honors for the Texas Baseball Team
      • Played 4 years of professional baseball with the Colorado Rockies organisation
      • BBA in Finance at The University of Texas at Austin 

      Hans Schmit

      • Involved with numerous startups including a Venture Capital Association and a clothing company for people with limited mobility
      • Community tutor and mentor for 2nd graders at Paul L. Dunbar Elementary School
      • Studying finance at Tulane University 
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Charlie Tarbutton

      • Manage $2M+ of University of Georgia Endowment Fund across all sectors of the equities markets 
      • Mentor and Tutor underrepresented youth in middle Georgia communities
      • BBA Finance & M.S. Management Information Systems at University of Georgia Honors Program

      Will Suh

      • A member of the highly selective, faculty-led Fisher Futures Investment Banking Program at Ohio State 
      • In my free time I enjoy working out, cooking, shopping, and capitalising on happy hours with friends
      • On track to graduate from The Ohio State University in May of 2021 with a specialisation in Finance and a minor in Fashion & Retail Studies 
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Danny Liu

      • Led two research projects in the Economic Science Institute (ESI) under guidance of nobel laureate Vernon Smith 
      • Bilingual in Mandarin and English
      • BA in Mathematical Economics from Colgate University 

      Consumer Team - Asia

      Arnault Lee

      • Relationship Manager in a Market Leading FinTech Company covering South Korea's Buy-side Accounts
      • Former Founder of Online Art Gallery and a Hong Kong Government Scholar (4 Years)
      • Holder of CAIA (Alternative Investment), CAPM (Project Management) and CPM (Product Management) License

      Hamsini Balaji

      • Involved in two social enterprises in the US and a Day Hospital in Costa Rica which scaled nationally
      • Focused on investments in impact ventures specifically education and workforce development
      • Bachelor's in Biochemistry from Mississippi State and Master's in Social Entrepreneurship from University of SoCal

      Mandar Dixit

      • Curious about Technology and Business Model Innovation
      • Finance + Corporate Strategy + Business Development + Digital Platforms (Clean/Ed/Health/Ag Tech)
      • Gold Medalist CA (India), CPA (Aus), CGMA (UK) with 11.5 years of diverse experience across sectors

      Enterprise Team - U.S.

      Jasmine Yu Zhang

      • 10 Years experience in financial planning, business strategy and entrepreneurship (co-founded two companies)
      • Multilingual global citizen, lived in 3 countries, traveled 40+ countries
      • Angel investor, Trust fund manager focus on alternative and cross border investment
      • BA from Shanghai Finance University; Certificate of Strategic Decision and Risk Management from Stanford
       
       
       
       
       

      Vahagn Voskanyan

      • 23+ years experience in impact investment (ImpactTech, AgriTech, Fintech, Nutrition) and impact measurement, private equity and project finance
      • Supported the launch of $75M EBRD EU SME Private Equity Fund and $40M UNDP supported Impact Tech VC fund
      • MSc in major programme management from Said Business School, University of Oxford

      Alejandro Chardon

      • Management Consultant at Accenture
      • Rising VC fund manager
      • B.A. in Health Services Administration 

      David de Jesus

      • Senior software engineer with 10+ years of broad technical expertise
      • Entrepreneur with tactical experience in startups and corporate innovation
      • Early stage startup advisor to founders across lifestyle, sports, fitness, wellness, and food industries
      • Focused on investing in marketplaces, consumer tech, and seeking out high-performance founders
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Avery Ramin

      • VP, Wells Fargo Principal Investments. Previously Analyst and Associate, Commodities Sales and Trading
      • Angel Investor focused on Food/Ag, FinTech, Emerging Markets and Adviser to NYC-based Family Office expanding into VC
      • BA, NYU Gallatin School of Individualised Study: Political Economy and Financial Crises

      Venkat Bussa

      • 20 Years Experience, Engineering, Marketing and Entrepreneurship
      • Worked at Cisco, Lead Technical Marketing and Engineering functions for $1B High-End Routing and Optical Product Lines
      • Market Expertise: Telecommunication, Cloud, Networking, Agriculture, Education, Commercial & Newspaper Print & Packaging Industries
      • BSc. from College of Engineering Osmanabad
      • Harvard University -  Alternative Investments
      • Stanford GSB - Mergers & Aquisitions
      • Berkeley Haas - Venture Capital Executive Program

      Doug Stewart

      • Served in Army infantry unit providing emergency field medical care in urban combat environments
      • Co-founded small service start-up; co-developed internal ERP system capable of automating $1 billion in annual transactions
      • Juris Doctorate from Saint Louis University

      Enterprise Team - Asia

      Vivian Heng

      • 5 years + industry research (Public & Private Equity)
      • Keen interest in disruptive and innovative business models
      • BAcc and Finance from Singapore Management University
       
       
       
       
       
       
       

      Jeremy Wong

      • On track to graduate at the end of 2021 from Singapore Management University with a BSc Science (Economics) and a 2nd major in finance
      • Only had my eyes opened to the world of startups and venture in mid 2019, but quickly realized that this is what i would like to do the rest of my life
      • Love keeping my body fit with sports (football) and my mind sharp with poker

      Ritesh Nandwani

      • MBA from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a MSc in Management from the University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines
      • Launched a Venture Fund while working at a Family-owned multinational conglomerate
      • Over 15 years experience working in multiple locations across industries including textiles, FMCG, and vehicles, among others

      Akshat Agarwal

      • Senior Consultant at a Technology company, working with FinTech startups and Banks across multiple regions, helping them scale up and automate their businesses
      • Former Assistant Manager, Portfolio Analysis for an Automotive Financial Services company
      • B.Sc. in Information Systems and Analytics from SMU; Last leg of the CFA and CAIA Charters

      Frontier Tech Team

      Aliesha Balde

      • Successfully led and co-led the development of 4 custom client products, valuing $2M in services
      • 4+ years of experience in start-up ecosystem development, including managing the US State Department entrepreneurship initiative, LIONS@FRICA
      • Advised +100 local and international early stage companies
      • BA, University of California, Santa Cruz

      Mark Saltzer

      • Principal Computational Scientist at Caltech
      • Director at Hughes working primarily on radar and quantum computing
      • Mentor of students at Caltech
      • Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); and a fellow at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation on data-driven discovery
      • BSc. from California State University, PHD in Computer Science from University of Southern California

      Rahul Singh

      • U.S. Marine Veteran with 10+ years of global operations and business development experience
      • Advised over 500+ startup ecommerce brands at Amazon HQ. Generated over $1B+ in gross merchandise sales
      • Founder, Dual Use Ventures. 
      • City Leader in LA for Bunker Labs. 
      • UCLA Polysci / Stanford GSB Ignite
       
       

      Alexander Saunders

      • Founder of Simple Tones Ventures, an industry agnostic venture fund based in Boston, MA
      • 10+ years of leading organisations and individuals in the experiential, real estate and hospitality verticals 
      • Brigham & Women's Cancer Advisory Board Member and advisor to SCORE, the nation's largest network of expert business mentors
      • BA in Economics from Connecticut College

      Reynaldo Raymond Trevino

      • 5 years experience in product management and building startup
      • Spent over 8 years in the US Army as an Infantryman and 2+ years connecting startups with DoD problem sets
      • B.S. in entrepreneurship from Saint Mary's College of California
       
       
       

      Jeevanjit Gill

      • Current Senior Financial Analyst at Intel Corporation
      • Former corporate finance at Siemens United States and Germany 
      • Former Demand Manager at RIX Industries
      • B.S. in Management Information Systems from CSU, Sacramento; Executive MBA Candidate at Saint Mary's College of California

      Healthcare Team

      Georgios Varsos

      • A neuroscientist turned venture capitalist, multidisciplinary professional with experience across business, scientific, and clinical domains
      • Serves as a career coach and start-up mentor at several organisations globally, including MassChallenge, MIT Enterprise Forum, University of Cambridge and Imperial College
      • His Ph.D. research at the University of Cambridge eliminated a major 60-year methodological drawback for assessing brain haemodynamics, setting the basis for a $170K+ NIH research grant 

      Kyra Frederick

      • Engineered and deployed water treatment solution for low-income Latin America and India while studying at Cornell University
      • Pioneered CSR as a tool for innovation, value creation and risk management at Tesla and Bechtel Corporation
      • Market Expertise: CleanTech, Biotech, Ag-tech, Impact Investing, Sustainable Development
      • BSc. in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University

       

      Ho-Young 'Grace' Lee

      • Pharma industry expert and group leader at Genentech - experienced in diverse scientific areas (synthetic biology/metabolic engineering, RNAi, Immuno-oncology, cell and gene therapy), CMC manufacturing / analytics, clinical, and regulatory filing
      • Ph.D. in Chemistry at Stanford Gradate School and Postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular and Cell biology at UC Berkeley 
      • Executive MBA candidate
       
       
       
       

      Tanner Condon

      • Originally striving to be an accountant, an introduction to finance during my freshman year spurred my interest for venture capital and steered me towards VU
      • On the more personal side, I love surfing, anything to do with the ocean and outdoors, and I previously worked as a swim instructor and lifeguard
      • Currently studying Finance and the University of Notre Dame 

      Westley Giadolor

      • Launching Southern Methodist University's very first venture accelerator
      • Quantitative Research Analyst for a Fintech Startup
      • Currently studying Psychology and Finance and expanding on my intellectual curiosity in Venture Capital

      Fintech Team

      Ivana Marsic

      • Extensive international experience in private and public sector (Siemens, European Commission), founded 2 startups (fashion tech Myrio - won a golden Tesla award for innovation, IoT smart textile - WearMe)
      • Global citizen - lived in 5 countries, multilingual, traveled 40+ countries
      • Pioneer of startup ecosystem in Croatia and the region (Founding member of the Croatian Business Angel Network, one of the first women startup entrepreneurs in Croatia)
      • BSc. in Electrical Engineering from University of Split; MBA from Simmons School of Management (awarded Lukic and Rown Brown Fellowships)

      Jake Albritton

      • Co-founded a leather company, Harper Albritton, that specializes in the custom design and personalization of various products for both consumers and organisations 
      • Enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone; I've run a couple marathons, been skydiving, and even placed in one of Florida's largest a Cross-fit competition
      • Finishing both my bachelors degree in Business Administration and Master of International Business from the University of Florida

      Guangyu Liu

      • 8+ years of experience at top tier market-oriented and state-backed financial institutions in China, with solid experience in business development, business strategy and credit risk management and deep insights on the political economy of the Chinese market as well as the global financial landscape
      • Sourced and executed $1.5B+ deals for various sized companies in multiple industries
      • Current MBA candidate at Georgetown University; LL.M. from National University of Singapore
       
       
       

      Dattaraj Nadkarni

      • Former Corporate Finance at GlaxoSmithKline, completed the Future Leaders Program working across Singapore, Malaysia and the United States
      • Keen interest in Fintech, especially in finding micro-financing solutions in developing countries
      • BBM in Finance & Operations Management at Singapore Management University

      Brian Scholten

      • 15 years of public market finance experience in institutional equity sales, sales trading, research and operations covering Asian and US markets
      • Avid traveler, sports enthusiast, and keen interest in globalization
      • B.A. in Business Management from Hartwick College where I was a student athlete and team captain

      SpaceTech Team

      Jeff Locanzo

      • Angel investor in 20+ startups (3+ years) and public stock market investor with consistent 500 - 1,000+ bps annual alpha (5+ years)
      • 15+ years of institutional / operational experience in Fortune 100 consulting and financial services firms
      • CFA Charter holder and fully credentialed actuary (Investments focus)

      Kimia Sadeghi

      • Founder of two startups (tech and beverage)
      • Private plane pilot
      • B.S. in Business Administration from Babson College

      Victor McGuire

      • Music Production and Technology Masters from Berkley College of Music 
      • Enjoys time with his wife and two children; looking to start a fund within 2 years
      • Graduate USAF Academy Colorado Springs 2009
       
       

      Jack Schow

      • Founder of Tremendous View Capital, a space focused venture fund
      • Member of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation's Patron's Board
      • BFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design

      Karan Poddar

      • Traveled to 41 countries 
      • Very curious, love learning about new fields and exploring disruptive technology
      • Skydived
      • BA in Political Science from UMass
    •  
       
      Cohort 8
      Spring: Apr - Jun 2020

      The Virtual Office

       

       

       

       

       

    • Cohort 8 includes 25 investors (~0.5% accepted) that formed five deal sourcing teams: Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier Tech, Healthcare

      Cohort 8 Deal Sourcing Teams

      Consumer Team

      Suzanne EL-Moursi

      Charlie Streep

      Alice Ou

      Aqil Sohail

      Enterprise Team

      Rex Chen

      De Zhang

      David de Jesus

      Charles Vernau

      Fintech Team

      Randall Finke

      John Taylor

      Asta Galinyte

      Anderson Theodore

      Graham Holdren

      Frontier Tech Team

      Ronald Fernando

      Matthew Martinez

      Jeff Lazcano

      Karan Poddar

      Victor McGuire

      Healthcare Team

      Gautam Goel

      Irina Lanin

      Faraz Khan

      Noah Stevens

      Tony Kizhakkekuttu

    •  
       
      Cohort 7
      Winter: Jan - Mar 2020

      San Francisco & NYC

       

       

       

       

       

       

    • Cohort 7 includes 30 investors (~0.5% accepted) that formed five deal sourcing teams: Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Healthcare, & Frontier Tech

      Cohort 7 Deal Sourcing Teams

      Consumer Team

      Brian Agredano

      • Former NYC teacher and school leader through Teach for America
      • Gates Millennium Scholar and Consortium Fellowship recipient
      • BA, Yale University; MA, Relay Graduate School of Education; MBA, UVA Darden School of Business

      LinkedIn

       

       

       

       

       

      David de Jesus

      • Senior software engineer with 10+ years of broad technical expertise.
      • Entrepreneur with tactical experience in startups and corporate innovation.
      • Early stage startup advisor to founders across lifestyle, sports, fitness, wellness, and food industries.
      • Focused on investing in marketplaces, consumer tech, and seeking out high-performance founders.

      ​LinkedIn

      Arpan Ajmera

      • Former Venture Capital Analyst at ZX Ventures (CVC arm of AB InBev) 
      • Interned in consulting and corporate finance in China, Germany & India across various industries
      • Arpan's Blog
      • B.S in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (2018 Graduate); CFI Certified Financial Modeling & Valuation Analyst (FMVA)®

      LinkedIn

       

       

      Scott Hogan

      • Operated a twelve million dollar manufacturing company
      • Increased profit by 1,100% year over year
      • Two academic papers in progress

      LinkedIn

       

      Alberto Bertamino

      • Interested in investing in consumer companies, food and beverage
      • Graduated in Economics and Corporate Finance
      • Looking to join an early-stage venture

      LinkedIn

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      Jeff Lazcano

      • Angel investor in 15+ startups (3+ years) | 5% + annual alpha investing in publicly traded stocks (5+ years)
      • 15+ years of institutional experience in Fortune 100 consulting and financial services firms
      • Actuary (FSA) and CFA Charterholder

      ​LinkedIn

      Enterprise Team

      Marvin Bonhomme

      • Built the first facial biometric layer, an authentication network that connects to any payment types using biometric facial recognition for all e-commerce purchases
      • Formed and managed a team comprised of senior executives including a Wall Street CTO, and a
        director at American Express
      • Co-founded two startups in high-tech and hospitality

      LinkedIn

      Kenneth Lee

      • Delivered Bookings, which replaced Trips, as the golden metrics used for Lyft's IPO readiness
      • Scale - Scaled Chartboost #1 mobile game ad network infrastructure 10X in terms of ad served
      • Revenue (when it didn't exist) - Launched Spotify and Angry Bird (Android) *first* in the USA via Klout Perks, a brand building program with social influencers, and GetJar Android Market respectively

      LinkedIn

      Harrison Frye

      • COO of an Investment Holding Company currently in Seed Funding Round
      • Built an e-commerce business that cleared $4 Million in revenue its first year
      • Co-Managed from the ground up, a Makerspace/Co-working facility that hosted a variety of start ups from early to late stage

      LinkedIn

       

      Kristen Palma

      • Founder of Go Gratis, Inc., non-profit dedicated to supporting sustainability in the market
      • Previously the lead of conformity assessment for the US National Committee to the International Electrotechnical Commission
      • Supported low income and low socioeconomic communities as a staff member of the Office of Environmental Justice in the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

      LinkedIn

      Alessandra (Sandra) Habermann

      • Head of Marketing and Operations for an e-commerce startup
      • Real Estate Development & Portfolio Management for a german family office
      • Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management, MBA

      LinkedIn

      Fintech Team

      Roberto Aguirre

      • 20+ years in finance and business development with a successful track record of designing and implementing over $5 billion in debt financing solutions. Some of the transactions were recognized as Deal of the Year by Project Finance International and Latin Finance
      • Chartered Financial Analyst, B. Comm from Concordia University and MBA from McGill University
      • Founder of Borel Advisors LLC, a boutique capital raise advisory firm

      LinkedIn

      William Leonard

      • Finance and Entrepreneurship Student at Mercer University
      • Previously served as a Summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley
      • Seeking to invest in fintech, consumer, real estate tech, and frontier verticals

      LinkedIn

      Faizan Ahmed

      • Developed software to automate fundamental analysis for stocks, optimize investment portfolios, test algorithmic trading strategies, and built interactive robo advisor
      • Computer / Data Science Student at St. John's University
      • Experience programming with Python, Java, R, and SQL

      LinkedIn

       

       

       

       

      Hyounsik (Andrew) Noh

      • Financial management & analytics experience in reinsurance market focusing on actuarial science, underwriting and project financing
      • Member of a Columbia Venture Community (CVC), interested in enhancing value of entrepreneurship and innovation
      • M.S. Columbia University
      • B.S. Penn State University, Smeal College of Business

      LinkedIn

      Gustavo Cepeda

      • Business Analyst at JP Morgan Chase with experience in implementing FinTech platform
      • Community Ambassador for JP Morgan's enterprise blockchain, Quorum
      • Looking to join a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm as an Analyst

      LinkedIn

       

       

       

       

       

      Nancy Tong

      • Former project Manager at education start-up Career Niu
      • Former fixed income trader and portfolio manager at Goldman Sachs Asset Management
      • BSc Economics from London School of Economics (LSE), MBA Candidate (Class 21J) at INSEAD, CFA charterholder

      LinkedIn

      Frontier Tech Team

      Robert Checchia

      • +12 years of finance experience in multinational companies and investment banking institutions
      • Proven track record in value creation for various companies in different industries through strategic consulting and financial advisory
      • MSc in Finance & Economics, MSc in Applied Physics, CFA candidate for level 3 exam in June 2020

      ​LinkedIn

       

       

       

       

      Jung Lee

      • Sole Proprietary Equity Trader: Trading volatile stocks exploit the jump-process
      • Founder, Humus: FX Risk Management Solution to bridge the ‘information gap’ between manufacturing firms and the financial industry
      • Goldman Sachs / Merrill Lynch: ABS CDO structuring, origination, and valuation

      LinkedIn

       

      Sonali Kalje

      • Angel Investor in Frontier and Enterprise startups
      • Currently Senior Product Manager at Cisco
      • Product design, strategy, go-to-market, and business development; working with Tier1-3 Service Providers, and Enterprise multinationals
      • Previously worked in pre-sales, technical marketing, and software engineering roles
      • MS, Computer Engineering, SJSU
      • Executive education at Berkeley HaaS. and Stanford GSB

      LinkedIn

      Santiago Sada

      • Former Analyst at Startup Studio. Management of the portfolio of companies that resulted in 9 of them receiving financing from Venture Capital Investors and/or Angel Investor
      • Former Analyst at Acelera México Capital. Part of the investment team of a 5 million dollar fund
      • Created an Angel Investor Network in Monterrey México with 15 active members and growing

      LinkedIn

      Sridhar Kummam

      • Led software application development for global banks, built and managed software products for OTC data and the US Muni Bond markets
      • Associated with startup industry for the past 8+ years as a technologist, angel investor, entrepreneur and as a maven
      • Alumni of National Institute of Technology, Warangal, India and actively involved in Americas Alumni association as its Secretary
      • Attended Harvard Business School's Program for Leadership Development

      LinkedIn

      De Zhang

      • Seasoned professional driving global strategy at large firms like Samsung
      • Optimized processes for Samsung's corporate venture capital arm
      • Experienced entrepreneur running a global manufacturing company
      • 10+ years of experience in management consulting at major firms like Accenture
      • MBA at NYU Stern / London Business School, BS in Information Systems at Carnegie Mellon University
      • Experienced Angel Investor

      LinkedIn

      Healthcare Team

      Philip Boukas

      • Former Equity derivatives broker at Tullett Prebon (TP ICAP), operated predominately in the OTC space dealing with indices, variance swaps and VIX pricing/brokering 
      • Student athlete at Fairfield University where I studied Finance, also received an MBA with a concentration in Finance, member of Beta Gamma Sigma – International Honor Society for Business programs
      • Deep interest in Consumer, enterprise and healthcare VC and PE, looking to start a career as an analyst post VU 

      LinkedIn

      Noah Stevens

      • Current senior at Duke University studying economics and decision sciences with a focus on investment decision making in the venture capital space. Formerly on the NCAA Division I Duke Swim Team
      • Intrepreneur at SAP, innovating within its data-driven marketing division to create a program that provided efficiency in communication between SAP's Marketing and Sales Teams
      • Experienced working with startups in Israel focused on enterprise and digital health

      LinkedIn

      Yuvraj Dhanoa

      • Currently a senior at UC Berkeley studying Business with a keen interesting in Fintech and Healthcare related investment opportunities
      • Formerly a Trading Analyst at a Proprietary Trading Firm, dealing with Options and Equities Trading. In addition, spearheaded Investment Analysis and Investment sourcing through research and market analysis
      • Looking to join a Venture Capital or Private Equity Firm as an Analyst

      LinkedIn

       

       

      Arjun Vasan

      • Former Analyst at San Rafael Capital Partners 
      • B.S. Biomedical Engineering and MBA, University of Houston
      • Looking to join a VC firm as an Associate upon completion of VU program

      LinkedIn

      Neil Joshi

      • Former Compliance Analyst at Moody's and Morgan Stanley
      • B.S. in Management Science from UC San Diego and an MBA in Finance from Syracuse University
      • CFA Charterholder

      LinkedIn

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      Charles Vernau

      • Encompassing 20+ years of Global Capital Markets, Institutional Sales, Trading, Origination, Building, Managing Teams, Business Development and Relationship Management
      • Extensive International experience in local markets; EMEA, Asia, Japan and South America
      • Graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology B/S MGT, Former Offensive Linemen, Private/Angel Investor, Wine Lover and supporter of Chelsea FC

      LinkedIn

      Apply Now
    All Posts
    ×
    Cookie Use
    We use cookies to ensure a smooth browsing experience. By continuing we assume you accept the use of cookies.
    Learn More