Sirius Venture Partners

Safa Rashtchy

Palo Alto, Zz

Mr. Safa Rashtchy is the Founder and serves as Chief Thinker & Managing Director at Think +. He has a passion for helping visionary and smart start-ups flourish and create a game-changing environment for their customers. Safa's vision is for a consumer-centric world where digital platforms make life easier and more productive for all the people. Safa has been investing in start-ups in the Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the world since 2006, and he also sits on the boards of several start-ups and global organizations. Safa's portfolio of investments includes over 20 companies in U.S and abroad. From 1997 to 2007, Safa was a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst focused on Internet media and marketing, and the Lead China analyst at Piper Jaffray and Company. He led the firm's expansion efforts in the Internet industry and its expansion to China, as well as active involvements with leading Web 2.0 companies. Safa is currently on the boards of YouEye, Capshare, Investmentyogi.com (India), Wings Learning Center, and The Mexican Museum (San Francisco- Smithsonian). He is also on the advisory boards of The Hunt.com, LocalMotion, Snapwire, Triptrotting (Wist), ChinaVenture (China), and Early Bird Alert. Throughout his ten year tenure at Piper Jaffray, Safa enjoyed top ranking and recognition from Wall Street, including three consecutive years of the prestigious Institutional Investor (II) ranking, as well as top rankings for stock picks and earnings estimates. In 2007, Safa was named the Investment Analyst of the Year and received the 2007 New Economy Award from iResearch in China. In 2002, Safa was named to The Wall Street Journal's " Best on the Street" analyst survey and was also a winner in Institutional Investor magazine's "Home Run Hitters of 2001? top stock pickers list. Prior to Piper, Safa held a number of industry positions. From 1992 to 1996, Safa was president of ColorWorks Graphics, the digital imaging company he founded in Boston. Prior to that, Safa worked in various technical and management capacities in computer graphics and engineering companies. Safa holds a Master's degree in business administration, summa cum laude, from Boston University and a Bachelor's degree in engineering from Purdue University.

Tensility VC

Zz

Mr. Wayne Boulais is a Co-Founder and serves as Partner at Tensility Venture Partners. He also serves as a Board Member at Anokiwave and Advisor at Hyde Park Venture Partners. Previously, Mr. Wayne Boulais served as General Partner at Apex Venture Partners. He serves as Advisor at Energy Foundry. He was a general partner with investment focus in wireless, enterprise applications, and cleantech. Prior to joining Apex, Wayne was a founding member of the Marsh & McLennan Capital C&I Fund. He was also a partner at Marsh's, Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman) developing growth strategies for high-tech clients. Prior to Mercer, Wayne led engineering development teams for Raytheon Corporation. Wayne received his MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management, and an MS and a BS in Engineering from University of Massachusetts. Wayne currently serves on the boards of Enkata Technologies, IfByPhone, and IQS. He is a board observer of CombineNet. Wayne is also a board member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association and a supporting member of Chicago's Clean Energy Trust. Wayne's previous investments included Broadbeam (acquired by MobileAware), eCredit (acquired by Fidelity Ventures), Imaging Portals (acquired by MWA Intelligence), and RMI Corporation (acquired by NetLogic Microsystems).

Collidecap

New York, Zz

Collide Capital is a Black-owned VC firm ushering in a new era of venture capital where opportunities go to the most deserving, not the most privileged. The firm is led by two GPs who founded AfroTech and BLCK VC, and combines institutional training from Goldman Sachs, Bain & Co, Harvard Business School, and Stanford Graduate School of Business. Following their top-quartile proof-of-concept fund, they set out to raise a $40M Fund 1 and successfully closed an oversubscribed vehicle with $66M in AUM. This fund is backed by a diverse array of LPs from Big Tech (Alphabet, Twitter), Private Equity (General Catalyst, Lightspeed, Bain Capital, Insight Partners), Philanthropy (Weinberg Foundation, George Kaiser Family Foundation), and Institutional Banking (Bank of America & Citi). The portfolio consists of 40+ companies with over 80% led by Black, Latine, and Female founders, and the Collide Capital team works to equip their founders with the resources, knowledge networks, and hands-on operational support for a successful exit.

Providence Equity Partners - Growth

Zz

Mr. Mark Hastings serves as Managing Director & Head of Providence Strategic Growth at Providence Equity Partners. Mr. Hastings is currently a director of Abacus Data Systems, Burning Glass Technologies, GlobalTranz, Netsurion, PaySimple, Skybox Security, SnapApp and Vertical Knowledge. Prior to joining Providence in 2013, Mr. Hastings most recently served as managing partner and founder of Garvin Hill Capital Partners. Prior to spinning out of CIBC to form Garvin Hill in 2009, Mr. Hastings led CIBC's technology-focused growth equity team in the United States. At CIBC, he developed the successful investment strategy and recruited the team. He was the primary deal originator and investment team leader. Prior to joining CIBC, he was a principal and general partner at BCI Partners. Mr. Hastings started his investment career at Edison Ventures. He received a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from Colorado College.

Capita3

Zz

Capita3 is an early stage venture capital fund investing in women startup founders and the companies they’re building. We’re leading the next generation of venture capital by investing in the growth of the startup CEO alongside our investment in the growth of the company, and we’ll set a new standard for how VC-financed companies grow and exit. We’ve developed a game-changing program that helps women entrepreneurs grow into powerful leaders who can grow their companies to maximum value. It’s good for women, good for our investments, and good for the world.

Highline Beta

Toronto, Zz

Starting as Highline in 2014 and eventually evolving to Highline Beta in 2017, this startup co-creation company turned venture creation firm can help your startup reach market-leading levels through their network of investors and the backing of foundations such as Extreme Startups and GrowLab. Part of their invested startups with notable exits include science search engine Meta which was acquired by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and FameBit which was acquired by Google.