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  • Home
  • Investor Accelerator
    • Investor Accelerator Overview
    • VC/PE Investment Apprenticeship
    • Profit Sharing Agreement
    • Career Development & Networking
    • The VU Experience
    • VC/PE Recruiting
    • REVERSE DEMO DAY
  • Education
    • Education Programs Overview
    • The VC/PE Masterclass
    • Advanced VC/PE Modules
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Apply To VU
    • Reviews & Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • After VU
  • Team
    • Management Team
    • Speakers, Instructors, Advisors
    • 2022: Cohorts 21-28
    • 2020-2021: Cohorts 7-20
    • 2018-2019: Cohorts 1-6
  • Investments
    • Portfolio Companies
    • Jobs @ Portfolio Companies
    • Pitch VU
    • Join VU's Investor Syndciate
  • Resources
    • The VU Blog
    • Startup Resources
    • The Ultimate VC Book List
    • The Ultimate VC Blog List
    • The Ultimate VC Podcast List
    • The Ultimate VC Movie List
  • Contact
    •  

       

       

      The VU Team

       

       

       

    • Management Team

      J. Skyler Fernandes

      Co-Founder & General Partner

      • Ranked Top 100 Powerlist VC
      • ~15 years of VC/PE Investing, 150+ Portfolio Companies
      • Select Prior Portfolio Companies: Beyond Meat (IPO'd, $14B), Sensity (Acquired by Verizon, $300M+), ShopKick (Acquired by SK Telecom, $200M), Made In Space (Acquired by AE Industrial Partners,  FabFitFun ($1B+), Spyce (Acquired by sweetgreen), Bear Flags Robotics (Acquired by John Deere, $250M)
      • 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

       

      LinkedIn

      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

      LinkedIn

      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
      LinkedIn

      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

      LinkedIn

      Venkat Bussa

      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

      LinkedIn

      Aakash Jain

      Associate Partner

      • 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)
      LinkedIn

      Arpan Ajmera

      Associate

      • VU Cohort 7 Alum
      • Previously at ZX Ventures (CVC arm of AB InBev)
      • B.S. in Mechanical Engineering From Purdue University

      LinkedIn

      Seamus Crawford

      Principal - Asia Investment Team

      • Finance Director, Head of Strategy & Research, at Pupil,  a spacial data technology company
      • Investment Associate, Hollyport Capital, a global private equity firm
      • Manager, Corporate Finance, at EY, doing buy-side and sell-side consulting and due diligence for both Private Equity and Corporate clients
      • Mentor at R3, providing support and guidance to startups and pioneers in the Crypto & Fintech space and learning more about disruptive technologies

       

      LinkedIn

      Faraz Khan

      Principal - Asia Investment Team

      • 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

      LinkedIn

      Johan Richards

      Venture Partner, 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)
      LinkedIn

       

      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

       

      LinkedIn

      Irina Lanin

      Venture Partner, Europe

      • Mentor at German Accelerator
      • Mid-Atlantic Bio Angels
      • Merk, Ass. Director of Strategic Planning
      • Sanofi, Ass. Director Global Market Research & Analytics

      LinkedIn

      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)

      LinkedIn

      Hannah Wang

      Head of Human Resources & Admissions - Asia

      • Consultant, ICF (NASDAQ:ICFI) is a global consulting and technology services provider
      • Pricing Analyst, Wiley Rein LL
      • George Mason University, Masters of Science
      • University of Illinois, Bachelors in Science & Finance

       

      LinkedIn

      Jaymie Lo

      Administrative Assistant

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