Series A investors

GV

Corporate VCMountain View, United States

Ms. Shernaz Daver serves as Advisor at GV. She is a leading marketing, business, and communications executive. She has over 20 years of experience building brands and consumer perception; advising executive management; scaling operational teams; and developing global businesses to take companies to the next level in marketing and mind share. Over her tenure, she has worked with numerous companies on a range of areas from brand building to crisis communication. These companies include Netflix, Walmart, Udacity, Motorola, Polyvore, Khan Academy, Zynga, Groupon, Kosmix, 3DO, PlayerScale (Yahoo), MetaPlace (Disney), Red Hot Labs (Google), Truveo (AOL), Savvis (CenturyLink), Orbital Data (Citrix), Indiegogo, and Baidu. She serves as an advisor to several companies including Spritz and Zettata. Previously, Shernaz served as the chief marketing officer and head of investor relations at Inktomi. Under her leadership, Inktomi became one of the hottest Internet names reaching a $37 billion valuation, and received numerous media and Wall Street accolades. Shernaz started her career at Sun Microsystems where she built a brand name for Solaris, the Sun operating system, and spearheaded the company’s European software initiatives from Paris. Shernaz holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University, Phi Beta Kappa, and a master’s degree from Harvard University.

Miramar Digital Ventures

Venture CapitalCorona Del Mar, United States

Mr. Sherman Atkinson serves as Managing Director at Miramar Ventures. He joined Miramar in 2011 and focuses on early stage, Digital Media investing, with a particular emphasis on social media, online advertising and new forms of e-commerce. Previously, Sherman was with Austin Ventures, where he was a CEO-In-Residence in their Growth Equity Practice. Prior to Austin Ventures, Sherman spent 17 years as an operator and an entrepreneur in the new media and e-commerce sectors. He served as the Chief Operating Officer of Intermix Media, Inc. (AMEX: MIX), - incubator of MySpace.com. As part of the turn-around team, Sherman helped develop a number of new Internet media properties and also served as the President of Intermix Network, one of the largest Advertising Networks in 2005. During his tenure as COO, Intermix was acquired by News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) for $673 million. Prior to joining Intermix, Sherman served as the Chief Operating Officer of Buy.com and President of BuyServices, Inc. Sherman received his BA in Russian from Purdue University. He also served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps and spent five years as a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton. Sherman currently serves on the board of Pointstreak Sports Technologies, Inc., a Canadian-based, venture-backed company focused on the Online Sports Registration and Statistics space.

Richard C. Spalding

Venture CapitalUnited States

Mr. Richard Spalding serves as a Managing Director at Kearny Venture Partners. He also serves as Board Member at Aspire Public Schools. He is an angel investor. He has been investing in and advising private companies for more than 30 years. Prior to KVP, Dick was Vice President and the first CFO at Portal Software (1997 - 1999), which grew from 10 to 120 employees during his tenure. Prior to Portal Software, he served as CFO for Fusion Medical Technologies, and was responsible for all aspects of the company's IPO. Before Fusion, he was the head of West Coast investment banking for Alex. Brown and Sons, which included supervision of the firm's Japan office. Dick was with Alex. Brown between 1991 and 1996, during which time he and Jim were partners. Dick joined Alex. Brown, after a fourteen-year tenure at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, where he co-founded the firm's Palo Alto office, which grew from 2 to over 100 lawyers. He specialized in representing biotechnology companies, including IDEC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Gen Pro, Inc., and Xoma, Inc., among others. He was previously an observer to the board at Align Technology [NASDAQ: ALGN], and currently serves as an observer to the board at Kai Pharmaceuticals and served as the Board Member at Spinal Motion. He holds an A.B. with honors from Harvard College, and a J.D. with honors from Columbia Law School.

Boydstreetventures

Private Equity, Venture CapitalNorman, United States

One of the country’s few minority-owned venture capital firms, Boyd Street Ventures (BSV) was created to support the economic growth of the State of Oklahoma while generating above average returns for investors by providing both funding and de-risking guidance to Oklahoma-affiliated startups. The firm expects that its model will contribute to building Oklahoma’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and allow Oklahoma-based startups to have the financial resources and strategic and operational tools necessary to stay and grow in Oklahoma. The majority of BSV’s portfolio companies come from the ecosystems of the University of Oklahoma or other state universities, from alumni of those schools, or through some other Oklahoma connection. BSV’s Fund I targets Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A and follow-on investments in five sectors that are strengths of the University of Oklahoma, which has been given the highest rating for research activity by the Carnegie Classification. The five sectors are: Life Sciences, FinTech, Energy Tech, Aerospace/Defense, and Climate Tech. As of June 1, 2023, BSV had invested in 10 companies, several of which it has made follow-on investments in, and expects to make additional investments before the Fund closes. BSV has announced that Fund I has an initial closing date of June 30, 2023 and a final closing date of no later than August 31, 2023.

Michael F. Powell

Venture CapitalUnited States

Dr. Michael Powell is a Co-Founder and serves as the Chairman at Dauntless Pharmaceuticals. He is also a Board Member at Galera. He serves as Managing General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures. He also serves as Chairman at Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Powell serves as a General Partner at Sofinnova Ventures. He also serves as a Director at Ocera Therapeutics. He also serves as a Board Member at Labrys Biologics. He was an early investor in Actelion (SWX: ATLN), InterMune (NASDAQ: ITMN), Anesiva (NASDAQ: ANSV), Orexigen Therapeutics (NASDAQ: OREX), Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: SGEN), and Threshold Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: THLD), as well as in several private companies such as Ascenta, Intellikine, and Trius Therapeutics. Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, Dr. Powell worked in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry on 20 clinical products, and has authored almost 100 papers and books. Dr. Powell was Group Leader of Drug Delivery at Genentech (1990-97). In 1987, he was part of the founding team of Cytel as the Director of Product Development. Before that he was Scientist and Project Team Leader at Syntex Research. Dr. Powell received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1981, and completed his post-doctorate work in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of California, where he was subsequently a faculty member.

Newcommunityfund

Private Equity, Venture CapitalUnited States

The mission of the New Community Transformation Fund -Denver (NCTF-Denver) is to create above market returns by investing in the domestic emerging market. NCTF-Denver is an early-stage venture capital fund based in Denver, Colorado with the goal of investing primarily in companies owned and/or operated by founders of color, while providing suitable risk-adjusted returns to its investors. We define investment as the interconnectedness of capital, leadership, and the fundamentals of business. We are active participants in the success of our portfolio companies. We leverage our extensive ecosystem to mitigate risk and engineer wins. NCTF Denver has built a robust network of mentors, advisors, and corporate partners. Those partnerships with the fund actively assist in the brokering of relationships with the portfolio companies to assist in strategic customer partnerships as well as talent acquisition for senior management and board members. We believe in a more diverse economy, driven by economic prosperity in Denver and Colorado’s communities of color. With greater access to capital and essential support services, we’re creating upward mobility for entrepreneurs who haven’t been given this opportunity historically. NCTF Denver is actively partnering with investors who share this vision and are ready to lead.

Founders Co-Op

Venture CapitalSeattle, United States

Mr. Andy Sack is a Co-Founder ad serves as Managing Partner at Founder's Co-Op. He also serves as a Mentor at TechStars. He also serves as Board Member at MightySignal. He is a Board Member at Influence Mobile. He served as a Co-Founder and Executive Chairman at Lighter Capital. Prior to Lighter Capital, Andy was the co-founder and CEO of Judy's Book, a local search social network. Prior to founding Judy's Book in 2004, Andy co-founded three successful Internet technology companies: Kefta, a provider of real-time customer interaction solutions (acquired in 2007 by Axciom); Abuzz, an enterprises knowledge management solution (acquired by New York Times Digital in 1999) and Firefly Network, an Internet company that pioneered internet personalization technologies (acquired by Microsoft in 1997). Andy also spent time as an entrepreneur in residence for SOFTBANK Venture Capital (now Mobius VC). Andy currently serves on the board of and advises a number of companies including: zango, Cooler Planet, and Orange Line Media. Andy was also a founder and board member of Students for Responsible Business, and is a regular lecturer at the University of Washington Business School. Andy received his undergraduate degree from Brown University in 1990 and his MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

Tensility VC

Venture CapitalChicago, IL, United States

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).

NextEquity Partners

Venture CapitalUnited States

Dr. Avadis Tevanian is a Co-Founder & serves as a Managing Director at NextEquity Partners. He also serves as a Managing Director at Elevation Partners. Previously, Dr. Tevanian served as the Software Chief Technology Officer of Apple Inc. from 2003 to 2006. As Software CTO, Dr. Tevanian focused on setting the company-wide software technology direction for Apple. Prior to his tenure as Software CTO, Dr. Tevanian was Senior Vice President of Software at Apple, a role he took on when Apple acquired NeXT, Inc. in 1997. As Senior Vice President of Software, Dr. Tevanian led the software engineering team responsible for the creation of macOS and worked as part of Apple's executive team. Before joining Apple, he was Vice President of Engineering at NeXT, Inc. and was responsible for managing NeXT's engineering department. Dr. Tevanian started his professional career at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was a principal designer and engineer of the Mach operating system upon which Nextstep, and now macOS and iOS, are based. Dr. Tevanian is a former board member of Tellme Networks, Inc., an internet telecom company acquired by Microsoft. He holds a B.A. degree in mathematics from the University of Rochester and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Tekton Ventures

Venture CapitalSan Francisco, United States

Mr. Jai Choi is the Co-Founder at Tekton Ventures. He also serves as Venture Partner at Partech Ventures. He joined Partech International in 2006 and focuses on early stage opportunities in Internet, Software and Mobile. He has spent most of his career as a serial entrepreneur and early stage investor. Jai is currently a founder of Tekton Ventures, a seed stage venture fund focused on helping founders build and grow their early stage companies. Jai has invested in a number of companies at the seed stage including UserVoice, Coupang, TasteMakerX, EatClub, DoodleDeals(Plum District), Schoolfeed, etc. Jai was also a founder of PeerPong, a cloud-based semantic search company acquired by FormSpring.me in early 2011. Prior to Partech, Jai was a partner with IGNITE Ventures, a $250M venture fund and advisory group with strategic limited partners from major Asia-based technology conglomerates. Jai has extensive experience advising and working with major Asia-based technology companies on new growth platforms, new business formation, joint venture, and M&A. Jai started his career in management consulting at PA Consulting Group, focused on market-related and operational issues for major telecom and energy companies. Jai received a Bachelor Science from University of Southern California.

Icon Ventures

Venture CapitalPalo Alto, United States

Mr. Paul Sallaberry serves as Venture Partner at Icon Ventures. He serves as the Chairman of the Board at Seal Software. He was a Member of the Board of Directors for Quest Software, an information technology and systems management company that recently became a part of Dell. He provided strategic guidance to Quest as it developed, manufactured, and supported software used in a variety of industries. In addition, he serves on the Board of Directors of Acquia, a commercial open-source software company that concentrates on products and services for Drupal. Mr. Sallaberry also sits on the Board of Advisors for PureStorage , Liquid Robotics, and Calypso Software. Aside from his work as a board member, he holds a spot on the University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management Dean’s Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees of the UC Davis Foundation. He is also a Trustee of Sacred Heart Schools and a Venture Partner at Jafco Ventures. Before taking up his current duties, he spent eleven years with Veritas Software, now Symantec, as Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations. Earlier in his career, he worked with software companies such as Oracle, Applied Data Research, and Dorado Software. He holds a degree from the University of California, Davis.

Acrew Capital

Venture CapitalSan Francisco, United States

Acrew DCF is a new growth stage investment fund from Acrew Capital, that aims to diversify the ownership and leadership of leading growth stage companies through value added capital. Acrew DCF has been created to bring more diverse shareholders to later-stage investments of companies that are IPO bound, in turn increasing representation of women and PoC leaders in the ownership of such companies. Acrew DCF also strives to help our portfolio companies diversify their boards, executive teams, and perspectives by tapping into the unique network of diverse leaders who are involved as Equity Partners or Community Leaders in the DCF. We aim to have a triple bottom line impact by providing strong investor returns, improving company performance, and expanding the investable assets for diverse individual angel investors. For Growth Stage Companies: Acrew DCF targets investments of $5-$15m in growth stage equity financings. We are valued-added co-investors alongside lead growth investors. We help market leading companies at a critical point in their lifecycle. We increase representation and diversity of the shareholder base through a single vehicle. We provide unique access to Acrew DCF’s network of Diverse Leaders to help diversify boards, exec teams, and perspectives.

Battery Ventures

Venture CapitalBoston, United States

Mr. Neeraj Agrawal serves as a General Partner at Battery Ventures. He serves as Board Member at Sprinklr Japan. He also serves as a Board Member at Brightree, Glassdoor, Yesware, Catchpoint, Pendo.io and Chef. Mr. Agrawal was a founding investor in BladeLogic (NASDAQ: BLOG, acquired by BMC). In addition to BladeLogic, Mr. Agrawal's investments include Applimation (acquired by Informatica), Bazaarvoice (NASDAQ: BV), Brightree, Consona (acquired by Vista Equity Partners), Guidewire Software (NASDAQ: GWRE), Internet Brands (acquired by Hellman & Friedman), LifeMed Media, Marketo (NASDAQ: MKTO), Mass Relevance, Omniture (acquired by Adobe), RealPage (NASDAQ: RP), Sprinklr, Tealium, VSS Monitoring (acquired by Danaher), Wayfair (formerly CSN Stores) and Yesware. Prior to Battery, Mr. Agrawal worked as a product manager at Real Networks, an operating executive at SkyTV and a management consultant with Booz-Allen. Mr. Agrawal holds an Engineering degree in Computer Science from Cornell University as well as an MBA with honors from the Harvard Business School. He is a Charter Member of TiE, an active advisor to several local entrepreneurs, and has been named numerous times to the Forbes Midas List, which ranks the top 100 venture capitalists around the world.

MergeLane

Various/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.

Mbafund1

United States

The Minority Business Accelerator Fund I (MBA Fund I) was created to address the well-documented gaps and shortfalls in the availability and access to equity and growth capital for entrepreneurs of color and inner-city based businesses seeking scalable business ventures. Nationally less than 1% of equity capital (be that early-stage venture capital or later stage private equity) is invested in African American and Hispanic-owned businesses which perpetuates the preponderance of smaller-scale business enterprises in these communities. MBA Fund I provides equity and flexible debt investments that enable entrepreneurs of color to purchase existing mainstream businesses with no identified business succession plan as its primary investment thesis. MBA Fund I also provides direct equity and flexible debt investments to existing minority-owned businesses that require an infusion of growth equity capital to help scale the business and optimize enterprise value. Growth equity investments can be used for a variety of purposes including, but not limited to, launching a new product line, investing in new systems and technology platforms, pivoting to a related or complementary industry, and building out a robust management team, to name a few.

Tabreez Verjee

Venture CapitalUnited States

Mr. Saad Khan is a Co-Founder and serves as Partner at Uprising. He also serves on the advisory board for start-up Lending Club, and is a founding member of the FilmAngels. Previously he sat on the board of directors for Blekko, Luminate and Jobvite, a company that developed an on-demand recruitment application to drive and manage talent acquisition for small to mid-sized enterprises. He served as Partner at CMEA Capital. Prior to joining CMEA, he was a Venture Partner and led the advisory services group at Garage Technology Ventures (GTV), a seed stage venture fund. During his career at Garage, he focused on emerging technology investments in the software and digital media space, working closely with many companies including TripleHop (acquired by ORCL), cFares, and Savage Beast (Pandora). Before GTV, he worked for the IBM alphaWorks group in Cupertino, CA, focusing on commercializing IBM R&D. he also worked for the Strategic Planning and Business Development Groups at the Walt Disney Company, helping to develop the strategic and operating plans for ABC, ESPN and Disney's e-businesses. He received a B.S. degree in Symbolic Systems and an A.B in Economics with Honors in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University.

Harrison Metal Capital

Venture CapitalSan Francisco, United States

Mr. Michael Dearing is the Founder at Harrison Metal Capital. He serves as the Board Member & Advisor at Signal Sciences. He also serves as an Advisor at Kepha Partners. He currently teaches at Stanford University. Previously, he spent more than six years at eBay. As SVP & General Merchandise Manager of eBay North America, he was responsible for more than $1.7B in annual revenues and nearly $20B in gross merchandise sales across thousands of merchandise categories. He also led the development of many of the features and services of the eBay.com site including Buy It Now, eBay Stores, ProStores, and Want It Now. Mr. Michael also designed and built the company's first onsite, direct, and product marketing teams to leverage the world's largest database of online consumer activity. Prior to eBay, he held leadership positions at Industrial Shoe Warehouse, The Walt Disney Company and Bain & Company. He also serves as a Board Member at Grand Rounds, Flite, Good Eggs, ZipZapPlay, MoPub, Metaresolverand 500px and Adstack. Mr. Dearing joined the d.school faculty at Stanford University. He holds an AB in Economics with a focus in economic history from Brown University, as well as an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.

Impact Seven

United States

Impact Seven’s mission is to impact communities and lives through socially-motivated investment and service. We serve as an alternative lender to businesses looking to start, grow and thrive. We offer opportunity to people and businesses that may not be able to find it elsewhere because, while still rigorous, our processes are rooted in common sense. Our loans range from a few thousand dollars to a few million, but each client is as important as the next. An experienced alternative lender, we are a statewide, private, nonprofit community development corporation that works diligently to help our clients reach their full potential. Impact Seven has assembled a group of funds from public and private sources to create a small business lending pool, our Revolving Loan Fund. This fund is designed to assist growing and start-up businesses in our Wisconsin communities. Eligible borrowers are any emerging, expanding or existing businesses in the state of Wisconsin, and some counties in Minnesota, not considered “sin businesses” by federal regulations. Loans from this fund can range anywhere from $10,000 to $5,000,000. Impact Seven can help to facilitate additional funding needs with trusted partners for projects of any size.

Supplychange

Private Equity, Venture CapitalLos Angeles, United States

Culture and climate - the defining forces of our time - are deeply impacting the future of food. Supply Change Capital invests in early stage food and agricultural technology businesses who are responding to seismic culture and climate shifts occurring in the $6 trillion food industry. With 15 investments in Fund I as of 2Q2023, 80% of the portfolio is led by female, Black, and Latinx founders. At the firm level, Supply Change Capital is impactful by design. The firm is led by two women, with 50% Latina ownership. With combined careers in food, tech, and investing, managing partners Noramay Cadena and Shayna Harris lead the team at Supply Change Capital. Noramay is a Boeing aerospace engineer turned investor who previously launched an early-stage venture fund that invested in more than 20 manufacturing and supply chain companies. Shayna has extensive executive experience at venture-backed startups and also at the global food company Mars. She has developed sustainable food strategies in over 20 countries. The duo met at MIT Sloan in 2009. Supply Change champions a community-first approach. This helps build deal flow, nurture co-investment relationships, and advance equity in venture capital opportunities and beyond.

Merus Capital

Venture CapitalUnited States

Mr. Peter Hsing is a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Director at Merus Capital. Peter has over 20 years of technology industry experience. Before co-founding Merus, Peter was Managing Director of the Corporate Strategy Group at Microsoft, where he led a team in identifying and evaluating several $1 billion+ growth opportunities. Under his mandate, he and his team successfully committed Microsoft to investing in Cloud services, from the acquisition of Microsoft's first SaaS offering to driving the strategic and business cases for Azure and Exchange Online. Peter was also a member of Microsoft's Corporate Development team focused on online consumer services, digital media, and interactive entertainment in the U.S. and Asia. Prior to joining Microsoft, Peter was an Associate in JP Morgan's Telecom, Media & Technology investment banking group and Private Placements team in Hong Kong and a management consultant with Price Waterhouse in their Dispute Analysis and Corporate Recovery Services group. He started his career in technology in 1988 as a marketing intern with IBM. Peter holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Columbia University.

Ucedc

BankUnited States

As a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) lender, we’re committed to helping startup and existing small businesses throughout our expanded service area of New Jersey, New York City, Westchester County (NY), Philadelphia, and Bucks County (PA). The loans we offer include microloans, SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 loans. Access to capital is often a business owner’s largest hurdle. We fund a variety of small business loans to meet your needs at every stage of your business’ growth. With loans from $500 to $5.5 million, our staff will work to find the solution that’s right for you. If you can answer “yes” to the following, you’ll be ready to move to the next step! Are you a U.S. citizen or do you have a green card? Does your credit report show that you are free of bankruptcies within the past five years or defaults on federally funded loans (such as a student loan) at any time? If you are a startup business (in business less than two years), do you have related skills or experience in your field of business? Will you contribute at least 10% of the project cost? For existing businesses, do you have sufficient cash flow to cover existing expenses?

Mr. Matthew Vettel serves as Managing Partner at Great Hill Partners. He serves as Board Member at AffiniPay. He is responsible for transaction origination, investment policy, fundraising, investor relations and the general management of Great Hill Partners. His investment experience covers a broad group of industries including software, transaction processing, education and business services. Mr. Vettel serves on the Board of Directors of Match Education, Network Merchants, Vanco Payment Solutions, BlueSnap, Neumont University and PlanSource. He formerly served on the Boards of Freightquote.com, bswift, PayChoice, Passport Health Communications, Accelerated Payment Technologies, etc. Prior to Great Hill Partners, Mr. Vettel was an associate at GTCR Golder Rauner, a $6 billion private equity investment firm, and served on the boards of companies in the technology, healthcare and media sectors. Previously he was a Senior Associate at Accenture and a founding member of PureSpeech, a speech recognition software company acquired by Voice Control Systems. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering and Management from North Dakota State University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Chicago Ventures

Venture CapitalChicago, United States

Mr. Stuart Larkins serves as Co-Founder, Investment Committee Member & Partner at Chicago Ventures. He is an Internet entrepreneur and digital marketing expert with more than fifteen years of experience leading Internet companies and start-up organizations. Mr. Stuart is a Co-Founder and Partner of Chicago Ventures. He was Senior Vice President and part of the founding management team at Performics. During his eight years at Performics, he helped lead the business through rapid growth and subsequent acquisitions by Doubleclick, Hellman & Friedman, Google, and Publicis. He was also involved in many online advertising industry groups and associations, such as the IAB, Yahoo Search Advertiser Council, MSN Search Committee, and the Google SEM Council. In addition to his involvement with the Chicago Ventures, Mr. Larkins is the Founder and Managing Partner of Twin Capital, where he is an investor in early-stage interactive marketing service and technology companies. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Shedd Aquarium, a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, and a member of the Springboard Foundation. He holds a B.S. in Economics from Southern Methodist University.

main street capital corporation

Venture CapitalHouston, United States

Main Street is a principal investment firm that primarily provides customized long-term debt and equity capital solutions to lower middle market companies and debt capital to private companies owned by or in the process of being acquired by a private equity fund. Main Street's portfolio investments are typically made to support management buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings, refinancings and acquisitions of companies that operate in diverse industry sectors. Main Street seeks to partner with entrepreneurs, business owners and management teams and generally provides customized "one-stop" debt and equity financing solutions within its lower middle market investment strategy. Main Street seeks to partner with private equity fund sponsors and primarily invests in secured debt investments in its private loan investment strategy. Main Street's lower middle market portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $10 million and $150 million. Main Street's private loan portfolio companies generally have annual revenues between $25 million and $500 million. Main Street's common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbol "MAIN."

AlphaPrime Ventures

Venture CapitalNew York, United States

Mr. Alessandro Piol serves as Partner and is a Co-Founder at AlphaPrime Ventures. Mr. Piol is a Co-Founder and serves as General Partner at Vedanta Capital. He serves as an Advisor at U-Start. He led investments in Arbortext (acquired by PTC), Cadis (Aspect Development), Cast Iron Systems (IBM), Digital Persona, LogLogic (TIBCO), ONI Systems (IPO in 2000), Portal Software (IPO in 1999), Torrent Networking (Ericsson), and Verisign (IPO in 1997) among others. In 1991, he co-founded AT&T Ventures where he led investments in BBN Planet (Verizon), Classic Sports Network (now ESPN Classic), Multex (IPO in 1999), Redgate Communications (AOL), and Spectrum HoloByte (Microprose/Hasbro). In 1995, Alessandro became a partner at Invesco Private Capital. Before working as a venture capitalist, Alessandro spent several years developing compilers in Fortran, co-founded the AT&T-backed graphics supercomputing business Pixel Machines, and worked as director of Strategic Partnerships for AT&T Computer Systems. Alessandro received an MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1985. He received an MS and BS in Computer Science from Columbia University in 1982 and 1979, respectively.

Engineering Capital

Venture CapitalPalo Alto, United States

Mr. Ashmeet Sidana serves as Founder, Managing Partner & Chief Engineer at Engineering Capital. He served as a General Partner at Foundation Capital. He is a seasoned executive who came to Foundation Capital with a combination of 15 years of experience ranging from startups to establishing companies. His experience spans engineering, sales, marketing and product management. Most recently, he was at VMware where as Dir. of Product Management he was responsible for multiple products including Virtual SMP, P2V and their flagship product, ESX Server. At VMware, he helped grow ESX Server from early pilots to widespread worldwide deployment in mission critical systems by Fortune 500 companies. Prior to VMware, Mr. Sidana was CEO of Sidana Systems, a successful enterprise-software company that pioneered Docsan for publishing very-large (terabyte) documents. He bootstrapped Sidana Systems from inception through growth and to its acquisition by Doclinx. He served as the Board Member at Simply Hired. He is presently a board member at FreeWheel Media. He began his professional career at Hewlett-Packard and later Silicon Graphics, holding various technology roles.

Brightventures

Venture CapitalNew York, United States

Bright Ventures Fund I invests up to $1M each in Pre Seed and Seed-stage venture in fin-tech, digital health and the future of work. Our expertise is Inclusive Innovation: identifying and scaling ventures that have inclusion as a market-winning competitive advantage.Bright Ventures’ fund is supported by a broader platform launched in 2014. The Bright Ventures Platform is an Inclusive Innovation Strategy Group, which delivers executive coaching, strategic advisory services, and training programs for founders, investors and operators globally. It is the premiere partner for leveraging inclusion as a competitive advantage in the innovation economy. Bright Ventures Fund I applies a thematic focus on inclusion using our proprietary Inclusive Innovation framework to invest in the teams and companies in fintech, digital health, and the future of work. Ventures in this category have innovative leaders, teams, and products that drive alpha in markets with massive TAM, serve overlooked consumers and win institutional partners. We use our proven expertise in sourcing, scaling and evaluating inclusive ventures to see early signals that others miss.

Cdcloans

For over four decades, we have helped small business owners get a loan to support their business dreams. We have provided financing to more than 12,000 borrowers and counting. Access from $20,000- $250,000, a monthly payment you can afford, fixed and variable rates available to meet your needs, 5-10 year terms, ability to improve cash flow, and complimentary business advising. CDC Small Business Finance has delivered over $165,000,000 to minorities, women and veterans. We know that working with someone who understands your industry will help you get the right financing for your needs. All of our loan officers are experts and help entrepreneurs in every industry from restaurants to automotive to salons to medical and much more. Eligibility requirements: Collateral not needed for approval; located in California, Arizona, Nevada, Detroit, Michigan or Washington, D.C. metro; able to provide a down payment - 20% for start-ups, 10% for business acquisitions; ability to show sufficient cash flow to make payments; and flexibility to waive some requirements for businesses in low-moderate income communities, start-up businesses and veteran owned.

Harbinger Ventures

Venture CapitalUnited States

Harbinger Ventures works exclusively with early-stage consumer brands that are led by exceptional female founders or mixed-gender founder founding teams, and incentivizes collaboration amongst its portfolio companies by giving each entrepreneur an equity stake in the portfolio. We invest behind visionaries who will be successful with or without us, but where our partnership can accelerate and enhance their strategy. We build our portfolio with purpose. Our investments are more than a collection of brands; it represents a cohesive vision and is composed of companies whose strategies are well-suited to reinforcing each other. With an unusually concentrated portfolio, we are able to foster an atmosphere of trust and collaboration not only between Harbinger and its investment strategy companies but among the companies themselves, driving fast-paced growth across the portfolio. We hold ourselves accountable to our values. Gender diverse leadership drives better results. It’s also more fun, more challenging and ultimately more interesting. We work with brands who both share this vision and are willing to embrace the opportunity it presents.

Baltimore Community Lending

Baltimore Community Lending is a US Treasury-certified nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution. BCL provides loan capital to small real estate developers and small business owners in Baltimore City who have no relationship with or are unable to get a loan from a bank, and who are committed to developing underserved neighborhoods. We work with the government, foundations, financial institutions, community stakeholders, anchor institutions, and small business owners early in the planning process to provide small-to-mid size capital solutions leading to a more diverse and economically balanced Baltimore. Baltimore Community Lending supports the revitalization and strengthening of underserved Baltimore neighborhoods through innovative and flexible financial assistance designed to promote community development. Small business micro loans up to $150,000 are available to business owners in Baltimore City for existing and new ventures and the proceeds can be used for, but are not limited to, working capital, expansion, purchase of fixed assets, business acquisitions, leasehold improvements, and to restructure debt.

Accion Venture Lab

Venture CapitalUnited States

Early-stage startups often lack access to the capital and support they need to grow. Accion’s seed-stage investment initiative, Accion Venture Lab, provides financial and post-investment support to address these needs. Investing since 2012, and backed by third party commercial and impact investors since the launch of our fund in 2019, we typically invest U.S. $500,000 in seed-stage startups and can continue to support companies as they grow through follow-on capital that drives scale. Accion Venture Lab is an active and engaged investor, creating value in our portfolio by providing investees with strategic and operational support across a broad range of functional areas. We look for startups that are leveraging new technologies, data, and analytical tools to acquire, engage, and serve previously underserved individuals and small businesses. We like innovative customer engagement models that blend tech and touch to create seamless user experiences. We are excited about new approaches that focus on financial health and building financial capabilities as they provide critical products and services to consumers.

Tahoma Ventures

Boulder, United States

Mr. John Ives is the Founder of Tahoma Ventures. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of ColoradoBoulder and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, John was a product manager at Spectra Logic in Boulder. There, he focused on solid-state storage devices (SSD) and memory systems.He moved on to Symbios Logic, Ft. Collins and Colorado Springs, where he worked for the high-performance data-storage I/O standard product semiconductor business, and then went on to co-found Serano Systems, a fabless storage semiconductor company also in Colorado Springs. John was at the helm of the companys early sales, marketing and business development efforts prior to Seranos acquisition by Vitesse Semiconductor in 1999.John has been an early-stage investor and entrepreneur since 1997. He is co-founder of Chips on the Deck, a networking organization for Colorado-based semiconductor, EDA and embedded system entrepreneurs. He is also the founder of Boulder Angels, which organizes the activities of active, professional angel investors in Boulder County.

Rethink Capital

Gothenburg, United States

Rethink Food is tackling an existential problem: our planet will need to feed 2 billion more people by 2050, while human activity and climate change shrink our arable land by the day. We invest in technologies that leverage data to increase agricultural yields, unlock scientific breakthroughs to deliver better nutrition, and utilize materials and processes that will build a sustainable food supply chain. Led by Rini Greenfield, a former Tiger Management fund manager, and Brad Jakeman, the former President of Global Beverages at PepsiCo, Rethink brings a combination of investment sophistication and industry experience. We have built a board of industry experts who are able to advise our companies on food science, regulatory processes, supply chain, data analysis, and sales. Our experience accelerates the growth of companies using data, software, automation, and biotechnology to Digitize the Food System. We are raising a $100mm Fund for early-stage investments across precision agriculture, novel ingredients, sustainable distribution, waste reduction, packaging technology, and food as medicine.

Rethink Food is tackling an existential problem: our planet will need to feed 2 billion more people by 2050, while human activity and climate change shrink our arable land by the day. We invest in technologies that leverage data to increase agricultural yields, unlock scientific breakthroughs to deliver better nutrition, and utilize materials and processes that will build a sustainable food supply chain. Led by Rini Greenfield, a former Tiger Management fund manager, and Brad Jakeman, the former President of Global Beverages at PepsiCo, Rethink brings a combination of investment sophistication and industry experience. We have built a board of industry experts who are able to advise our companies on food science, regulatory processes, supply chain, data analysis, and sales. Our experience accelerates the growth of companies using data, software, automation, and biotechnology to Digitize the Food System. We are raising a $100mm Fund for early-stage investments across precision agriculture, novel ingredients, sustainable distribution, waste reduction, packaging technology, and food as medicine.

Dakotabusinesslending

Dakota Business Lending is committed to the success and growth of businesses in North Dakota, Western Minnesota, and Montana. At Dakota Business Lending, we provide financing solutions through collaborative partnerships in a supportive and creative environment to grow the economy and create and preserve quality jobs. Financing for startup businesses-Main Street loans: Dakota Business Lending specializes in partnering with borrowers with limited financial resources and no history to get the financing they need. This helps them launch their new business and build the businesses’ credit to become bankable in 3-5 years. Financing for existing and growing businesses-Rural Development IRP, SBA ILP, and Main Street loans: Dakota Business Lending offers several programs that provide loans from $1,000-$250,000 with low down-payment, and competitive interest rate options. Financing for real estate and long term fixed assets-SBA 504 loans: Whether purchasing commercial real estate, obtaining major equipment, or consolidating debt, an SBA 504 or SBA 504 Debt Refinance loan program is tough to beat.

Gary M. Lauder

Venture Capital

Mr. Gary Lauder is a Co-Founder and serves as a Managing Director at Lauder Partners. He has been a venture capitalist since 1985, investing in over 80 private companies. He is also Chairman of ActiveVideo Networks. Other directorships: OnLive, net2tv, Promptu, MediaFriends and ShotSpotter. Investments are primarily in television/IPTV technology and WWW arenas. In the 1980's, he worked at the venture firms of Aetna, Jacobs & Ramo Technology Ventures, as well as Wolfensohn Associates. He holds a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania; a BS in Economics from the Wharton School; and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is the co-creator of the Aspen Institute's Socrates Society with Laura, his wife. He is a member of the inaugural class of the Aspen Institute's Henry Crown Fellowship Program. He has had a working cable modem (usually) in his home since 1994. He is co-inventor of 12 patents, has spoken at over 100 industry forums, and, since 1992, has published several articles about the future of the cable industry...that he still stands by.

Vertex Ventures US

Venture CapitalTel Aviv, United States

Dr. Sandeep Bhadra serves as a Partner at Vertex Ventures US. He joined Vertex in 2017 and focuses primarily on cloud infrastructure, data-driven business applications and cybersecurity. At 21, as a freshly minted electrical engineer, he helped set up and operate India's first WiFi hotspot and felt how transformative technology could be for business users, how hard infrastructure was to operate at scale and how demanding business buyers could be. Most recently, he was a Principal at Menlo Ventures where he focused on investments in infrastructure and data/machine-learning driven applications-my investments there include Platform9, Signifyd, Unravel Data and Clarifai. Prior to that, he was with Cisco's Corporate Development team learning how a market leader uses inorganic strategies to grow and transform itself. While there he worked on Cisco's investments in MapR, Platfora, Moogsoft and acquisitions of Metacloud, tail-f and Memoir Systems. He holds both a B.Tech from IIT Madras and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Electrical Engineering, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Capital Factory

Venture CapitalAustin, United States

Mr. Gordon Daugherty serves as a Managing Director at Capital Factory. He spent eight years in the videoconferencing industry, including four years as President of an Israeli-based company that grew from $5M to $36M in a short few years and went public on the Euronext stock market. He has served in an executive capacity over most company functions, but with emphasis on marketing, sales, business development and M&A. He ran corporate development and strategy for Austin-based NetQoS, who grew rapidly to more than $55M in revenue before being acquired by CA Technologies for $200M and was a founding advisor for digital advertising pioneer MediaMind, who reached $65M in revenue and a NASDAQ IPO in 2010 at a $192M valuation. Through his advisory practice, Shockwave Innovations, and as Managing Director for Austin's Capital Factory startup accelerator, Gordon is an active angel investor, VC and startup advisor. He is currently a board member for Austin-based technology companies SwimTopia, Riskpulse and Chiron Health. He received his Computer Science degree from Baylor University.

Aedconline

Lending money to launch and grow small businesses is at the core of AEDC’s work. We know that many, if not most, small enterprises struggle to access adequate capital and this is especially true for our largely low- and moderate-income clients. The scale of small business in the North Country can make access to traditional financial institution capital difficult, especially for just-starting entrepreneurs. AEDC manages six loan funds through state and federal programs. These include the NYS Minority and Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE), two Small Business Administration (SBA) and three US Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA-RD) loan funds. AEDC has revolved millions of dollars into the regional economy through hundreds of small business loans. The most likely beneficiaries of AEDC loans are those who are seeking smaller amounts (AEDC will loan as little as $1,000) and those who do not have an established commercial banking relationship or have been turned down for such loans. Average interest rates are 8% with repayment terms available up to seven years.

Moment Ventures

Venture CapitalPalo Alto, United States

Mr. Clint Chao is a Co-Founder and serves as General Partner at Moment Ventures. He is also a Co-Founder and serves as Managing Director at Formative Ventures. He invests in emerging technologies start-ups in areas such as communications, wireless, and next-generation Internet solutions. He brings years of start-up operating experience including marketing, sales and business development to Formative Ventures. Prior to co-founding Formative Ventures, he served as vice president of marketing, sales, and business development at SkyStream Networks (acquired by Tandberg TV). Under his leadership, SkyStream formed partnerships with industry leaders such as AOL Time Warner, HP, Microsoft, RealNetworks, Lucent Technologies, Mitsubishi, and Philips. He served as a Board Member at SOASTA. He has also served as senior director of marketing at C-Cube Microsystems and held numerous sales and sales management positions at Motorola Semiconductor. He earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative

United States

The Greater Cincinnati Microenterprise Initiative (GCMI) provides access to microloans and small business loans to individual business owners who are low- to moderate-income. These loans can be used to start or expand your business. GCMI has three different loan programs: The GCMI Loan Fund which serves to increase the creation and expansion of businesses, operated by low-to-moderate income individuals and increase access to traditional and conventional financing sources to low-to-moderate income individuals; and the Microcity Loan, which is a flexible microloan financing to established or qualified emerging small businesses within the city of Cincinnati serving to facilitate growth and retention of small businesses, promote job creation and retention and enhance access to capital; and the Grow Cincinnati Loan, which is a flexible term loan for established or qualified emerging small businesses within the city of Cincinnati with the goal to facilitate growth and retention of small businesses, promote job creation and retention and enhance access to capital.

Bridgewaycapital

We help small businesses access new opportunities. We offer flexible loans and business education to grow small businesses and help them provide employment opportunities in low-income communities. Bridgeway can help you take your business plan and connect it with capital to launch or expand your business. Funding from Bridgeway combined with our Entrepreneurship Hub ensures you have the capital and entrepreneurial skills to succeed and bring economic growth to communities. Loans: Flexible capital for entrepreneurs to start up or grow emerging small businesses. Loans for business growth tailored to meet your growing company’s business needs. We offer loans for startup or expansion from $10,000 up to $3 million. Our average loan size is $250,000. Eligibility: Minority-, woman-, immigrant- or veteran-owned businesses, or businesses in economically distressed urban and rural areas. We work in the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Fayette, Indiana, Greene, Lawrence, Mercer, Venango, Washington, and Westmoreland.

Slow Ventures

Venture CapitalSan Francisco, United States

Mr. Kevin Colleran serves as Managing Partner and is the Co-Founder of Slow Ventures. He also serves as an Advisor at General Catalyst Partners. He serves as a board member at Chatous and SocialRadar. Mr. Colleran was one of the first 10 Facebook employees and its first salesperson. Prior to Facebook, Colleran had been a lifelong entrepreneur winning many National Entrepreneur of the Year awards. Kevin's various internet companies included StartingPage.com, LiveService.com and PhotoMasterpieces. While in college in Boston, Colleran co-Founded BlabberForce Enterprises, a company that recruited student entrepreneurs on college campuses (called 'Blabbermouths') and gave them the tools to start their own grassroots marketing companies on their own campuses. After college, Colleran worked as a consultant with BMG Music in NY where he launched a music sponsorship company that focused on artists signed to the Arista and RCA record labels. Kevin received a BA in Business Management and Marketing from Babson College. He serves as Mentor at Rough Draft Ventures.

Kickstart Fund

Venture CapitalSalt Lake City, United States

Mr. Clarke Miyasaki serves as General Partner at Kickstart Seed Fund. He is also a Board Member at Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification. He previously served as a Board Member at Dsco. He has a history of success in start-up and early-stage investment environments. Most recently, Clarke served as the Global Vice President of Business Development at Skullcandy, which went public in July 2011 (NASDAQ: SKUL). Clarke joined Skullcandy in early 2008 when there were 18 employees and keyed several initiatives that helped grow the company to over $230 million in revenue in 2011. Prior to Skullcandy, Clarke was the Vice President of Business Development at Logoworks, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard for $57 million in April 2007. Clarke joined on the ground floor of Logoworks and developed several strategic partnerships that spurred Logoworks rapid growth and positioned it for a successful sale to HP. Some of the partnerships included Staples, eBay, Network Solutions, HP, Legalzoom and Intuit. Clarke was at Logoworks from August 2004 - April 2008.

Information Venture Partners

Venture CapitalToronto, Canada

Our team of experienced venture capital investors is intimately acquainted and exclusively focused on investing in B2B fintech and enterprise SaaS companies selling to financial services. Our founding team invested together while at RBC Venture Partners for over a decade. In 2014, they purchased the remaining companies in that portfolio, with the support of leading institutional investors to create our first independent fund. In 2016, we raised our second $106M fund. We invested in fintech and enterprise SaaS before it became a buzzword, and have invested across multiple economic cycles - we know a thing or two about the rollercoaster ride of building a company. We invested during the dot com era. We stayed the course, making investments and supporting our portfolio through the global financial crisis. Today, we are still excited to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs. Information Venture Partners is a part of Beyond the Billion, a pledge campaign aimed at mobilizing a global consortium committed to invest $1 BILLION in women founders.

Foundation Capital

Venture CapitalBerlin, United States

Mr. Jonathan Ehrlich serves as Partner at Foundation Capital. He concentrates on identifying and investing in early-stage consumer, mobile, small business-oriented startups and technologies. Jonathan has deep experience building fast-growing startups. From 2009 to 2011, he ran Marketing for Facebook where he led the company's consumer and brand marketing efforts. Prior to his career at Facebook, he was the executive vice president, online, at Indigo Books & Music, Canada’s largest book retailer, where he was responsible for building the online business to over $100 million. Jonathan also co-founded Utah Street Labs, backed by Foundation, Google and Relay Ventures and Mobshop, backed by Marc Andreessen, Visa and GE. He also spent several years as an EIR at Albright Ventures (now Relay Ventures). Jonathan began his career in Advertising and Consumer Packaged Goods, working for McCann: Erikson and Unilever respectively. He holds an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a BA in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario.

Masters

United States

We are women who have invested in tech startups for 10+ years, with 4 exits and $475 million in generated revenue. Our superpower is connecting and attracting powerful partners, all experienced entrepreneurs and investors. We use gender lens investing to bring valuable information to the investment decision. Gender lens investing is the deliberate integration of gender analysis into investment analysis and decision making. Such intentional investing is not only about funding women, but about looking at deals with an understanding of gender bias in ideas and processes. When we are aware of our bias, we make better investment decisions. Our expertise lies in B2B and B2C tech companies. We will look at other business models and invest when we and our VP and LP advisors can bring the company to an exit or the next stage of capitalization. We may syndicate funding, taking either a lead or follow-on position. When we lead, we take a Board Seat; when we follow, we or the other investors take a Board Seat to represent the interest of the investors.