Robert C. Faulkner

Spider Capital

OtherSan Francisco, United States

Mr. Philippe Suchet serves as a Venture Partner at Spider Capital Partners. Previously, he served as a Chief Strategy Officer at Shopzilla. He was the Chief Executive Officer and a Co-Founder at Zappli. He is an entrepreneur, advisor and investor, in internet companies and in real estate. Prior to that, he was the CEO and co-founder of Kefta, a leader in real-time dynamic/behavioral targeting solutions enabling large corporations to optimize customer experience and boost online sales. He and his team founded Kefta in 2000, gained investment from leading VCs/Angels, launched suite of innovative online marketing solutions, signed dozens of Fortune 1000 companies, survived the internet bubble crash and became profitable after a few years. He and his team then sold Kefta in 2007, to Acxiom Corp (ACXM), a global leader in data and multi-channel marketing solutions. Prior to starting Kefta, he worked for the Boston Consulting Group, Goldman Sachs, Abuzz (acquired by the NYT), and Keeboo. and had the chance to live/work in Asia/Europe/US. In addition, he has built and is currently managing a portfolio of residential properties acquired over the last 20 years. In January 2010, he led New Scholars' first Business Training Workshop for over 50 Sudanese refugees and Kenyans, has seen his and New Scholars' impact firsthand, and is committed to helping New Scholars grow, scale-up, and magnify that impact in East Africa and beyond. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, HEC School of Management, and ENSAE.

Bay Partners

OtherUnited States

Mr. Dempsey serves as a Managing General Partner at Bay. He serves as Board Member at Crowdynews. He is a Board Member at Enphase Energy. Through cycles of change, Neal’s investment thesis has been to find entrepreneurs with domain expertise and the fine art of listening. At the end of the day, customers decide whether startups will succeed or not and without listening to customers, entrepreneurs are seldom successful. This thesis has served him well through investments in category creating companies like Brocade, Informatica and Shiva. Neal balances the stresses of his workload by giving back to the community. In addition to serving on over a dozen boards of Bay portifolio companies, he also serves on the Board of EMQ Children and Family Services (a.k.a. Eastfield Ming Quong). Neal’s leadership helped establish the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at the University of Washington Business School. Neal made the largest gift ever from an alumnus to the University of Washington. Last but not least, Neal is a passionate college sports fan. He is very actively involved with The University of Washington basketball and football programs. To support these athletic programs at his alma mater, Neal sponsored the Dempsey Indoor Training Stadium at the University of Washington. He serves as a Board Member at BoardVantage. He also serves as a board member of Apigee. He is also a Board Member at International Spine & Orthopedic Institute.

Founders First Capital Partners

OtherUnited States

LocationSan Diego, CaliforniaType of CapitalLoanType of FundGrant, Loan FundStage of CapitalEarly Stage, Growth StageMax Capital$2,000,000Focus AreaB2BB2B Technology & ServicesDisadvantaged FoundersDiverse TeamsEconomic EmpowermentLGBTQ+ FoundersLow-Income CommunitiesModerate Income FoundersPOC-LedWomen-Led Founders First provides revenue-based funding, term loans, advisory services, and accelerator programs to small businesses led by women, people of color, LGBTQ+, military veterans, diverse teams, or businesses located in low- to moderate-income areas. Revenue-based financing is more flexible than traditional bank debt, with no equity dilution. It is similar to a term loan format in which the loan is paid back over several years, but instead of a fixed payment every month, we take a percentage of revenue. This allows for a smaller payment during slower revenue months, and larger payments in stronger months. Ninety percent of the companies we fund receive additional capital throughout our relationship with them. Our goal is to get you to bank financing. Along with growth capital, we also offer expansion advisory programs, which guide these underserved businesses to realize the growth potential ahead of them. If you have predictable or repeatable revenue, are profitable, or on your way to profitability, and have at least $500,000 in annual revenue, let’s talk.

MergeLane

OtherVarious/Remote, United States

Ms. Sue Heilbronner is a Co-Founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer at MergeLane. Ms. Sue Heilbronner is a Co-Founder of Shinesty and also serves as its Board Member. Sue has been a CEO, President, or Chief Marketing Officer for digital marketing and ecommerce companies since the earliest days of the internet. She began her career as an attorney – last as a federal prosecutor with the US Department of Justice. She transitioned to business by founding an online baby gift company in 1999, which she later sold when she joined Discovery Communications, parent company of Discovery Channel and 15 other international networks. Since Discovery, Sue has led companies in the interactive travel, digital publishing, ecommerce, and online education sectors. Two of these firms had successful exits. Sue has the privilege of serving as a mentor in the international Techstars Accelerator program and an Adjunct Professor of Law and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado Law School. She is an avid angel investor in companies with amazing founding teams working on problems she cares about. She has been mentoring tremendous young talent throughout her career. Sue earned a B.A. from Oberlin College and a J.D. and M.A. from Duke University.

Rajsekhar Ramaraj

OtherUnited States

Mr. Rajsekhar Ramaraj serves as Senior Advisor at Elevar Equity. He also serves as Board Member at Madura Microfinance and Digital Signage Networks India. Ramaraj was a Senior Advisor at Sequoia Capital and is a member of the Global Board of Trustees of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). Previously he was the Co- Founder and CEO of Sify Limited, the pioneer and leader in Internet, Networking and eCommerce Services in India. Sify was the first Indian Internet company to be listed on the Nasdaq National Market in the US (NASDAQ : SIFY). Ramaraj was recognized as the 'Evangelist of the Year' at the India Internet World Convention in September 2000 and voted IT Person of the Year 2000 in the CNET.com poll in India. He was invited by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan to be a member of UN's Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) and is the first Indian to be invited to the Board of directors of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Mr. R. Ramaraj holds a B.Tech in chemical engineering from the University of Madras and a M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. He also serves as Board Member at Ideacts Innovations.

New Europe Ventures

OtherUnited States

Mr. Andrew Rasiej is a Co-Founder and serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Civic Hall. Mr. Andrew serves as a Founding Partner at New Europe Ventures. He's a recognized serial entrepreneur and investor in a number of early-stage companies including MobileComms, BlipTV, DayLife and ConFabb. He is the Founder of the Personal Democracy Forum and has served as an advisor to Senators, Congressmen and political candidates on the use of Information Technology for campaign and policy purposes since 1999. He also served as a senior advisor to the global Wi-Fi enabler FON, AirAmerica Radio and the Washington DC based Sunlight Foundation. Andrew is a co-founder of TechPresident.com, a news and data service tracking presidential candidates. In the past, he served as former chairman and co-founder of the Digital Club Network (DCN) now called eMusic Live, the Internet's largest live music website and founded Irving Plaza, an internationally known New York City concert venue. Andrew is responsible for Fund's investments in internet services and media companies. Andrew has a BFA from Cooper Union.