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
Johan Richards
Venture Partner
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)
Derek Barnett
Venture Partner
- 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
Jagruti (Jags) Bhikha
Venture Partner
- 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
- 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)
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