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
Andrew Zalasin
General Partner - North America, LatAm, & Europe
- 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 - Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa
- 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
Partner - Asia-Pacific, Middle East, & Africa
- 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
Andy Goldstein
Partner - Europe
- Andy is a serial entrepreneur and professional startup investor, with 40 years of experience in founding, building, financing, and accelerating companies, including a specialization in bringing European companies to a global market and bringing U.S. companies and products into Europe.
- Co-Founder and Managing Partner of A Round Capital Fund Group, two Angel Funds that invested into 50 startups, notable investments include Kranus Health, Kaia Health, Xempus, Omni:us, Lanes & Planes, Klarx, Smart Reporting.
- Co-Founder of Start2Group (formerly known as German Entrepreneurship) which has spawned over 1,000+ startups (including nine unicorns) in 15 years.
- Programs he co-founded include the German Accelerator, a project of the German government (BMWK); LMU Entrepreneurship Center; Social Entrepreneurship Akademie; Start2Raise.
- Andy was a Sr. Partner with Deloitte Consulting Germany for 10 years. Co-Founder/Managing Director of Deloitte Digital GmbH, and co-led Deloitte Consulting's Innovation & Ventures practice for Germany. Responsible for four acquisitions, incl. the Business Building unit of DaimlerBenz & 27 pilots, the global venture clienting leader.
- Before joining Deloitte, Andy sold his software company, MediaGold, to Avanquest Software, a French public company, where he was COO of Europe for 5 years and Board Member for 12 years.
- Co-founded Feingold Technologies (a digital health startup) and exited to Sharecare which IPO’d on the NASDAQ in 2022.
- Andy teaches a Masters Class in Entrepreneurial Growth Management at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and at the EM Lyon Business School in France.
- Andy sits on multiple boards of venture funded startups, including Kaia Health and Kranus Health.
- Andy is a graduate of the Wharton Business School with a dual degree in Entrepreneurial Management and International Business.
Remy Goldstein
Partner - Europe
- Remy is an entrepreneur and investment manager, with 10+ years of experience.
- Founder & Community Co-Director of Entreprenow, a social network he started and has operated since 2021, with 1,800+ members and 20 connected communities.
- Investment Manager at A Round Capital Fund Group responsible for managing and harvesting 50 startup investments.
- Managing Director at Goldstein Creations, a family office that publishes IP rights to novels, documentary films, and screenplays.
- Has worked in VC (Germany), Consulting (France), E-commerce (France), Data Mining (Germany), Startup Accelerators (Germany), Public Administration Advisory (Germany).
- In 2023, Remy designed and implemented the curriculum and platform for Master Accelerator, a program specialized in fundraising for startups.
- Remy is a regular lecturer at the Technical University Munich’s (TUM) – Quantum Entrepreneurship Laboratory, and at the Center for Digital Technology & Management’s (CDTM) – Managing Product Development.
- Remy is a graduate from Ludwig Maximilians Universität (LMU), with a dual degree in Business Education and Business Administration. Following his main studies, Remy graduated from CDTM and holds an Honors Degree in Technology Management, from the LMU and TUM, Valedictorian.
Aakash Jain
Associate Partner - North America, LatAm, & Europe
- 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)
Arpan Ajmera
Principal - North America, LatAm, & Europe
- VU Cohort 7 Alum
- Previously at ZX Ventures (CVC arm of AB InBev)
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering From Purdue University
Angie Wang
Principal - Asia-Pacific, Middle East, & Africa
- Viage Ventures - Personal Angel Investments
- Team Lead, China Digital | Innovation Center of Excellence, HP
- Senior Principal, AI / IoT Research & Advisory, Gartner
- Senior Strategy Manager / Team Lead, PC & Smart Devices Business Group, Lenovo
- Business Intelligence Analyst, International E-commerce, Alibaba
Venkat Bussa
LPAC Lead / Investment Committee Member
- 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
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)
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)
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
