Management Team
J. Skyler Fernandes
Co-Founder & General Partner
- Ranked Top 100 Powerlist VC
- 10+ years of VC/PE Investing, 80+ Portfolio Companies
- Select Prior Portfolio Companies: Beyond Meat (IPO'd), Sensity (Acquired by Verizon), ShopKick (Acquired by SK Telecom), FabFitFun, MeUndies, Le Tote, Helix Sleep, ZeroCater, Deliv
- Former Managing Director of Investments at Cleveland Avenue (VC/PE Fund co-founded by Former CEO & President of McDonalds), focusing on food and beverage brands, food related technologies, and new restaurant concepts
- Founder, Head, & Former Managing Director of Simon Venture Group (Corporate investment arm of Simon Property Group, S&P 100, largest retail real estate company in the world), grew to top 5 corporate VC focused on commerce alongside Google Ventures, Intel Capital, and Comcast Ventures
- Adjunct Professor at New York University teaching Venture Capital Intensive
- Creator of Multiple Top Ranked Entrepreneur Resources: #1 Startup Investor Pitch Deck Template (viewed & downloaded 500,000+ times, used by leading business schools and accelerators)
- Co-Founder of the #1 Startup Board Game: The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship, backed by over 25+ of the top accelerators and VC investors
Andrew Zalasin
General Partner
- 25+ years of venture capital and private equity investment and operational experience with entrepreneurial growth companies
- Early investor in Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Venmo, Wisdom Tree, MakerBot, Magnolia Cupcakes, Concur, Massive
- Former General Partner for 17 years at RRE Ventures, a leading technology venture capital firm with $1.5B across seven funds
- Involved in nearly 200 investments and has served on more than 30 boards in the US, Europe and Asia, and has been instrumental in generating industry-leading returns and providing experience and resources to help companies build teams, attack new market opportunities, identify and secure strategic initiatives / partnerships and achieve profitable growth in all phases of development
James Zhang
Partner
- Partner at GRC Fund, a $300M+ technology fund, focused on Energy & Resource Efficiency and Health & Wellness in the US & China
- Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship at HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology) Business School
- Co-Founder & General Partner at Formation 8, a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund with over $1B+ under management and early backer of unicorns like Oculus VR, Wish.com, and Oscar. Other notable team members of the fund included Joe Lonsdale (Co-Founder of Palantir Technologies) and Gideon Yu (CFO of Facebook and YouTube, Partner at Sequoia and Khosla Ventures)
- Venture Partner at SoftBank China Venture Capital
- Entrepreneur in Residence & Venture Partner at Khosla Ventures, where he took Khosla's portfolio company LanzaTech to China by brokering deals between LanzaTech and Chinese steel-makers
- As a biotechnologist, Dr. Zhang was a co-founder of BioConsortia and founding member of Mendel Biotechnology. He led Mendel Biotechnology’s business development and its agricultural collaboration with Monsanto and biofuel collaboration with BP.
- Dr. Zhang has a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California Davis and completed his post-doctoral and business training at Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, respectively
David Lee
Operating Partner
- Manages VU’s Hong Kong office, focuses on deal sourcing within Asia and investor relations
- Strong network of family offices and institutional investors
- 7+ years living and working in Asia
- Senior Director of Corporate Ventures and Strategy at Axcelis, Inc., a semiconductor company
- Director of International Business Development at Blackboard, Inc., one of the world’s largest education technology companies
- Manager of Corporate Strategy and M&A at MAXIMUS, Inc., a consulting and operations firm
- University of Southern California, MPP (International Policy and Economic Development)
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, BA
Aakash Jain
Principal
- VU Cohort 2 Alum
- Venture Fellow, Jump Capital
- Co-Founder, Booth Bay Area Angel Network (Booth BAAN)
- Technology Investment Banking (Growth Equity), Financial Technology Partners
- Fixed Income Quant Trading, Morgan Stanley
- University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MBA
- Cornell University, MEng (Computer Science)
- Jacobs University, BA (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)
Faraz Khan
Principal
Angel Investor for 7+ yrs & Serial
Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Freebie, a 'social currency' app
Founder of a Managed Services Provider with national clientele
Operations and Leadership at University of Chicago, AOL, MusicNow.com
Consultant - Accenture, Avanade
VU Cohort 8, 9 Alum
Arpan Ajmera
Associate
- VU Cohort 7 Alum
- Previously at ZX Ventures (CVC arm of AB InBev)
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering From Purdue University
Kip Stringfellow
Principal, Corporate Innovation & Investments
- Initial team member and Director of Partnerships of Singularity University, an exponential tech organization that grew to 30,000+ alumni over 10 years through startup and executive education programs
- Led 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
Derek Barnett
Venture Partner, Corporate Innovation & Investments
- Previously Vice President, Pietas Capital, Venture Capital (Studio Model Portfolio)
- Private Equity Associate, Kensington Capital Partners
- Risk Analyst, OMERS
- Portfolio Analysis & Investment Risk Analyst, Franklin Templeton Investments
Johan Richards
Venture Partner, VU Africa
Manages VU Africa - Synergos Venture Partners, a fund focused on investing across the african continent
- Passionate about the entrepreneurial and economic development of Africa
- Serial entrepreneur and Angel Investor in many entrepreneurial startups
- Former Strategic Management Consultant focusing on entrepreneurial development
- MBA form Wits Graduate School of Business (WBS) in South Africa
- Served as Chairman of the WBS Alumni Association and member of the WBS Advisory Board
- Certified Leadership Coach, Mentor, Mediator and part time lecturer at leading South African Business school
- Consultant on the Stanford University’s Seed Transformation Program for entrepreneurs in developing economies
- Angel investor & involved with the startup of Africa’s biggest Snow Ski & Adventure Mountain Resort in Lesotho (www.afriski.net)
Jagruti (Jags) Bhikha
Venture Partner, Angel Investor Program
- Super Angel Investor, 50+ portfolio companies
- Senior Innovation Consultant, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
- Founding Partner, Wingpact
- Tech Mentor, Singularity University
- Global Account Manager, Cisco
- MS, Project Management, George Washington University
- NYU - Polytechnic School of Engineering & Computer Science
Irina Lanin
Venture Partner, VU Europe
- Mentor at German Accelerator
- Mid-Atlantic Bio Angels
- Merk, Ass. Director of Strategic Planning
- Sanofi, Ass. Director Global Market Research & Analytics
Venkat Bussa
Venture Partner
- 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
Jenna Fernandes
Co-Founder, Operating Partner, Head of Admissions & HR
- Venture Backed Serial Entrepreneur
- Co-Founder & CEO of The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship, backed by over 25+ of the top accelerators and VC investors
- Ranked Top 10 Female Tech CEO by Women 2.0
- Former CEO of Largest Student Run Business in The Country (Tufts Student Resources)
Julie Zimmerman
Head of University Partnerships and New Programs
- Significant expertise in the areas of higher education and educational technology, specifically in university relations, admissions, strategic partnerships and program development, and consults startups on scaling in the higher ed sector.
- Former Associate Director of Admissions & University Partnerships, St. George's University of London
- Former Vice President, Head of Campus Recruitment & Programs, J.P. Morgan
- Former Assistant Director of Admissions, New York University, where she launched a new graduate school.
- While at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she managed partnerships with the Departments of State, U.S. Congress and the White House.
- Has extensive knowledge and relations in APAC, EMEA and LATAM educational markets
- BA in psychology from the University of Michigan and a M.S. Ed from the University of Pennsylvania in Higher Education Management.
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