Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based Managing Director operating in the FinTech space. If you think a Managing Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Cliff Holekamp
Cofounder, Managing Director, & General Partner of Cultivation Capital
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About Cultivation Capital: Cultivation Capital is a venture capital firm managing funds focused on software, agriculture, geospatial, and health tech startups.
Seena Amidi
Managing Director, Co-head EMEA of Plug and Play Tech Center
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About Plug and Play Tech Center: Plug and Play is an innovation platform bringing together startups and large corporations.
Lio Chen
Managing Director, Travel & Hospitality of Plug and Play Tech Center
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About Plug and Play Tech Center, Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels: Plug and Play is an innovation platform bringing together startups and large corporations.
Nicole Stata
Founder and Managing Director of Boston Seed Capital
Ms. Stata is the Founder and Managing Director of Boston Seed Capital, LLC. From 2007 to 2010, Ms. Stata worked as an angel investor, advisor and start-up executive. Ms. Stata founded Deploy Solutions in 1996, an award-winning leading provider of SAAS Human Capital Management. As CEO and President, she led Deploy for eleven years through its sale to Kronos in 2007. Deploy was widely recognized as a national best place to work and was the recipient of Deloitte and Touche’s Fast 50 award in 2006. Before Deploy, Ms. Stata managed the global service center for Restrac (Webhire) and started her career with Lotus Development Corporation. Nicole serves as an advisor and board member for several companies and non-profit organizations.
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About Boston Seed Capital: Boston Seed Capital provides seed stage funding for internet-enabled businesses.
Peter Blacklow
Managing Director/GP and co-founder of Boston Seed Capital
Peter Blacklow is a Senior Partner at Boston Seed Capital. Peter was formerly the President of WorldWinner, a subsidiary of GSN (Game Show Network), a joint venture of Sony Pictures Television and DirecTV. In this role, he oversaw the online games businesses of WorldWinner.com and GSN.com, as well as its mobile and Facebook applications. Peter led the consolidation of WorldWinner and SkillJam.com, the two leading skill games sites, to create the world’s largest skill games network, with more than 30 million registered players globally. Prior to WorldWinner/GSN, Peter served as Senior Vice President of Marketing at Monster, the largest global careers website, where he was responsible for managing a $100+ million budget, including all advertising, promotions, public relations and business-to-business direct marketing. He negotiated and activated the company’s U.S. Olympics sponsorship, oversaw five Super Bowl commercials, and helped Monster become a top 20 most visited web destination. Before his time at Monster, Peter spent five years at Converse, Inc., where he became the Director of Marketing for five performance business units, including its flagship basketball line, developing its worldwide business plans and overseeing the negotiations of NBA endorsements. Peter has also spent several years at advertising and promotional agencies working on various consumer products. Peter is a graduate of Harvard University, and has received numerous awards and distinctions, including being named one of the nation’s top “Marketers of the Year” by Promo magazine. In addition, Peter serves as a board member of MassDigi, a trade association for digital games, and acts as a board advisor to Oyo SportsToys, AdAgility, DraftKings, and Ubersense.
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About Boston Seed Capital, Drive by DraftKings: Boston Seed Capital provides seed stage funding for internet-enabled businesses.
Wesley Chan
Managing Director, General Partner of Felicis Ventures
Wesley Chan is a Managing Director and General Partner at Felicis Ventures. He founded Google Analytics and Google Voice, built Google’s early advertising system, built Google Venture’s early investment team, and holds 17 US patents for his fundamental contributions in designing many of Google’s most widely-used services. Wesley is an investor and coach to some of the world’s most successful startups. He led investment rounds and holds board or observer seats in Canva, Guild Education, Turvo, CultureAmp, Okera, Hyperscience, Guideline, and Dialpad. He also led investments in Ring (exited for $1B+ to AMZN), Flexport, Carta, Checkr, Gusto, ZipLine, Orca Bio, Whole Biome, Skip the Dishes (exited to Just Eats/JE), and YES (exited to TWTR). Wesley was also one of the earliest General Partners at GV (Google Ventures), where he built the investment team, led many of GV’s investments and held board or observer seats in Angelist, Aptelligent (exited to VMWare), iPerian (exited to BMS), and Dialpad. Wesley was also one of the first checks into Plaid, RobinHood, Gusto, Optimizely, HelloSign (exited to DropBox), DataPad (exited to Cloudera), Freshplum (exited to TWTR), Namo Media (exited to TWTR), and Parse (exited to FB). He is a recipient of Google’s Founders Award–the company’s most prestigious recognition–for leading the development of Google’s early client efforts, which led to the creation of Google Chrome. Wesley worked at HP Labs as a senior software engineer and as a sponsored fellow at Microsoft Research. He holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from MIT where he completed his graduate thesis at the Media Laboratory. Technology Review magazine featured Wesley as a “Top 35 Under 35” innovator. Wesley’s accomplishments have been covered by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Fortune, and his story as a product founder is featured in Steven Levy’s best-selling Google book, “In The Plex.”
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About Felicis Ventures: Felicis invests in seed through Series C stage companies across multiple sectors, industries, and frontier tech.
Sundeep Peechu
Managing Director, General Partner of Felicis Ventures
Sundeep Peechu is a Managing Director, General Partner at Felicis. He’s currently excited about re-invention of security and insurance and further developments in crypto and machine learning. Investor in ActiveHours (Earnin), Counsyl, BitPay, Gigster, Ginkgo Bioworks, HealthIQ, Matterport, Plaid, Pindrop, Recursion, Spoke, Troops, Top Hat, Wish and a few others. Prior to joining Felicis in 2010, he held various product roles at Intel within the software division. Sundeep joined Intel through the acquisition of Sarvega, where he was an early employee responsible for the design of the security infrastructure. He also had brief stints at NEA where he focused on mobile and emerging markets and at Simbol Mining where he developed key initiatives around the production of battery materials. Sundeep has a Bachelors in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, an M.S in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
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About Earnin, Felicis Ventures, Pindrop, Top Hat: Felicis invests in seed through Series C stage companies across multiple sectors, industries, and frontier tech.
Victoria Treyger
General Partner and Managing Director of Felicis Ventures
Victoria is passionate about building great brands and scaling revenue through innovative sales and marketing. She joined Kabbage because she loved the opportunity to leverage technology and data to transform how financial services are delivered to customers.
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About Felicis Ventures: Felicis invests in seed through Series C stage companies across multiple sectors, industries, and frontier tech.
Daniel Friedland
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Goldcrest Capital
Daniel Friedland is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Goldcrest Capital.
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About Goldcrest Capital: Goldcrest is a venture capital fund that invests in private technology companies.
Miriam Rivera
CEO, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Ulu Ventures
Miriam co-founded Ulu Ventures, where she is the Managing Partner. Ulu is an early stage angel fund focused on IT investments and has made 30 investments in the last three years. She is also the co-founder and co-president of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs.
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About Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs, Ulu Ventures: Ulu Ventures provides early-stage investments to enterprise cloud and smart data companies.
Clint Korver
Co-Founder & Managing Director of Ulu Ventures
Clint is a co-founding partner at Ulu Ventures where his investment interests include technology-enabled services, educational technology, and companies that turn data into actionable information. Along with Miriam, Clint is the co-founder and co-president of Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs a Stanford University alumni organization helping to build and connect Stanford’s entrepreneurial community. Prior to becoming a full-time investor, he co-founded and led four companies including Outcome Software, where he raised $10 million in venture capital to build web-based decision tools for large enterprises and was granted multiple patents in web-based decision analytics. He also co-founded Decision Quality International which trained over 1000 Fortune 500 executives in the principles of decision quality, licensed decision training programs to over 10,000 end users, and consulted to six of the largest financial institutions in the US. He also co-founded and led the consumer internet company, DecisionStreet and the analytics consulting firm, The Decision Company. Clint has a passion for teaching and regularly guest lectures at Stanford on entrepreneurship, decision-making, and ethics. He has taught courses in ethical decision-making at both Stanford and Grinnell College, and co-authored Ethics for the Real World (Harvard Business Press 2008) with Stanford professor Ron Howard. Clint is a Kauffman Fellow and Venture Partner at Crescendo Ventures and an advisory board member at the Decision Education Foundation. He holds a PhD and MS degree from Stanford University in Management Science and Engineering with an emphasis in decision analysis and a BA with honors in mathematics from Grinnell College where he currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees.
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About Ulu Ventures: Ulu Ventures provides early-stage investments to enterprise cloud and smart data companies.
Megan Kaspar
Managing Director of Magnetic
Megan Kaspar is a co-founder and managing director of Magnetic, a blockchain and cryptocurrency investment firm.
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About Magnetic: Crypto, Blockchain, FinTech
Scott Feldman
Managing Director of Susquehanna Growth Equity
Scott Feldman is a Managing Director with SGE and has been with the group since its inception. He focuses on financial services, healthcare IT and human resources technology. He currently serves on the boards of Credit Karma, Fundera, HMP Communications, iCIMS, iContracts and MMIT. He previously served on the board of Clearleap (acquired by IBM) and JK Group (acquired by CyberGrants). Before joining SGE, Scott was an investment banker with Broadmark Capital, a boutique investment banking firm serving telecom, technology and internet companies. He started his career at Gabelli & Company and worked directly for the founder Mario Gabelli, widely considered one of the greatest value investors of all time. A product of the 1980s, Scott was a serious video game junkie and today boasts one of the most complete collections of games and game consoles for the Vectrex, Odyssey, Atari, Commodore 64, Vic20, Intellivision, Colecovision and Sega. Scott’s favorite games include 1-on-1 Larry Bird vs Dr J, Pitfall, Yars Revenge, Tecmo Bowl and The Bard’s Tale. Scott also considers himself one of the greatest Chexx Dome Hockey players of all time and still owns one of the original machines featuring the “Miracle on Ice” game from the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics where amateur and collegiate players from the USA defeated the Soviet Union national team on their way to winning the gold medal. Having been a New York Knicks fan his entire life, Scott has learned how to be humble and intimately understands how to manage through failure and significant losses; lessons he regularly shares with the entrepreneurs with whom he works. Scott graduated with a B.S. in Finance from the Wallace E. Carroll School of Management at Boston College with concentrations in Economics and Computer Science.
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About Susquehanna Growth Equity: Susquehanna Growth Equity invests in growth stage technology companies in the software, information services, and internet.
Ben Weinberg
Managing Director of Susquehanna Growth Equity
Ben Weinberg is a Managing Director with Susquehanna Growth Equity where he leads investments in vertical software, financial technology and marketplace companies. He is particularly interested in the use of technology in slower-adopting and highly fragmented industries. Before joining Susquehanna, Ben was a Principal at Element Partners, where he led investments in software and tech-enabled companies. He started his career as a banker in the TMT and Latin America groups at Citigroup. Ben graduated with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics from Yale University.
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About Citigroup Global Markets, Susquehanna Growth Equity: Susquehanna Growth Equity invests in growth stage technology companies in the software, information services, and internet.
John Helm
Partner and Managing Director of RET Ventures
John Helm is the founder and a current Partner at the proptech-focused VC firm RET Ventures. Prior to founding RET Ventures in 2017, John was a Venture Partner with DN Capital in Munich, Germany. Before that, John ran and successfully exited two venture-backed real estate tech startups, was CFO of Marcus & Millichap, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. You can find John on his skis or mountain biking around Park City or—his favorite thing—spending time with his wife, son, and daughter.
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About RET Ventures: RET Ventures is an industry backed early-stage VC helping build the real estate industry’s cutting edge technology providers.
Christopher Yip
Partner and Managing Director of RET Ventures
Christopher Yip currently serves as Partner at the proptech-focused VC firm RET Ventures. Prior to RET, Christopher spent twelve years at the global private equity firm TPG, where he led growth investments in tech-enabled companies and partnered closely with CEOs and entrepreneurs. He began his career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Christopher has an MBA from the Stanford GSB, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar, as well as an AB in Economics and an SM in Computer Science from Harvard University. You can find Christopher flying between Park City and San Francisco, trailing the RET team on the snow, or driving anything with four wheels.
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About RET Ventures: RET Ventures is an industry backed early-stage VC helping build the real estate industry’s cutting edge technology providers.
Dipender Saluja
Managing Director of Capricorn Investment Group
Dipender Saluja is Partner and Managing Director at Capricorn Investment Group. Dipender oversees investments in energy technology, clean tech, and IT. Prior to Capricorn, Dipender was Chief of Staff at Cadence, a global market leader in electronic design, where he built and managed businesses that worked closely with the leading electronics companies around the world. Dipender is also President and CEO of Automatiks Inc, a Capricorn portfolio company developing electronic connectivity platforms for electric & hybrid vehicles, storage and smart grids. He is an electrical & computer engineer by training, and attended UND, the University of Minnesota, and Stanford.
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About Capricorn Investment Group: Capricorn Investment Group invests in the public equity, fixed income, private equity, and real assets markets.
Don Wilson
Managing Director of Digital Asset
Donald R. Wilson, Jr. is the founder and CEO of DRW, a principal trading firm with more than 800 employees across offices in Chicago, Austin, Houston, London, Montreal, New York, San Francisco and Singapore. Don started in the industry in 1989, focusing on capturing opportunities in the markets through technology, research and risk management, and founded DRW in 1992 while trading in the Eurodollar options pit at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. DRW has since expanded into real estate, cryptoassets and venture capital as part of its trading portfolio. Don is an influential leader in the financial futures industry and in 2010 founded the FIA Principal Traders Group. He is co-founder and board member of Eris Exchange, a designated contract market which trades an interest swap futures contract, and is the co-inventor of the Eris Exchange’s intellectual property. He is co-founder and board member of Digital Asset Holdings, a company which leverages distributed ledgers, such as the blockchain, to improve the settlement of financial instruments. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Chicago, where he is now a trustee. He also sits on the board of the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Foundation. An avid competitive sailor, Don is the founder of the Chicago Match Race Center and chairman of Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series Chicago.
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About Digital Asset, DRW, DRW Venture Capital: Digital Asset develops ledger technology intended to build distributed, encrypted straight-through processing tools.
Sunil Hirani
Managing Director of Digital Asset
Sunil Hirani was the Founder of TassatPay and the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at trueEX. He finished his M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a B.S. from Washington University.
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About Digital Asset, TassatPay, trueEX: Digital Asset develops ledger technology intended to build distributed, encrypted straight-through processing tools.
Osei Van Horne
Managing Director, Founding Member (Venture & Growth Equity Investor) of Wells Fargo
Managing Director and founding member of the Technology Division of Wells Fargo Strategic Capital (merchant bank), a multi-strategy growth capital and private equity investment vehicle, based in Palo Alto, California. In 2020, named a top 50 venture investor by Global Corporate Venturing. Operationally-oriented lean/6-sigma trained, private investment professional with over 15 years of transaction experience across multiple sub/asset classes including early-stage (Series A-B), growth equity (Series C-F), private equity (mid-market buyout), mezzanine debt and special situations. Experience across multiple market cycles, evaluating and executing deals in a variety of sectors including, PropTech, logistics tech, application software (AI/ML), broadcast and digital media, consumer electronics and packaged goods, as well as food and retail. Experience opening new offices as well as recruiting, building (0 – 20 FTEs), training, and managing cross-functional teams. Establishing and managing outbound and partnership-driven deal sourcing strategies, driving top quartile deal flow outcomes, per David Teten deal flow benchmarking research. Experience fundraising from institutional limited partners (U.S. public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, fund-of-funds investors, and North American family offices). Experience bidding on co-investment separate account programs.
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About Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion assets providing banking, insurance, and investments.
Sid Vyas
Managing Director – Head of Wealth and Trust Technology of Wells Fargo
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About Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion assets providing banking, insurance, and investments.
April Frazer
Managing Director, Head of Banks, Financial Institutions Corporate and Investment Banking of Wells Fargo
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About Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion assets providing banking, insurance, and investments.
Garrett Henn
Managing Director, Head of Life Sciences Credit – West of Oxford Finance LLC
Henn has over 10 years of commercial lending experience to public and venture-backed life sciences and technology companies. He became part of the Oxford team in 2008, and is responsible for overseeing the firm’s portfolio of loans in western United States and western Canada. Prior to joining Oxford, Mr. Henn held various positions at Silicon Valley Bank where he managed a portfolio of loans primarily comprised of early and late-stage life sciences and technology companies. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from California State University, Los Angeles.
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About Oxford Finance LLC: Oxford Finance delivers flexible financial solutions to healthcare and life sciences companies worldwide.
Tracy Maziek
Managing Director of Oxford Finance LLC
Maziek rejoined the Oxford team in 2015 and is responsible for managing the company’s healthcare services business. After establishing Oxford’s healthcare lending practice from 2010 to 2012, Mr. Maziek was the Senior Managing Director and Head of Healthcare Finance at Wells Fargo Capital Finance. Previously, Mr. Maziek served in various capacities in the healthcare corporate lending division at Siemens Financial Services. He began his healthcare financing career with FINOVA Capital in 1994. Throughout his career, he has focused exclusively on lending to middle market healthcare companies. Mr. Maziek has had numerous articles published in healthcare industry journals and is a frequent guest speaker at industry conferences and events. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Arizona.
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About Oxford Finance LLC: Oxford Finance delivers flexible financial solutions to healthcare and life sciences companies worldwide.
Edgardo Torres Caballero
Managing Director Americas of Mambu
Edgardo Torres Caballero has a 20-year track record of growing businesses and developing winning teams in the Americas. As an entrepreneur himself, he understands the value of strong regional partnerships, local presence and support to clients. As Mambu’s Managing Director for the Americas, Edgardo is responsible for leading growth plans and driving execution in the region.
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About Mambu: Mambu is a software-as-a-service banking engine provider that powers lending and deposit services.
Javier Hasse
Managing Director, Benzinga Cannabis of Benzinga
Javier Hasse is a cannabis, hemp, CBD and psychedelics-focused reporter, currently serving as: * Managing Director of Benzinga Cannabis. * CEO of Spanish-language news site El Planteo, a company he co-founded. * Senior Contributor at Forbes. His book, “Start Your Own Cannabis Business,” was published by Entrepreneur Media in 2018 and hit the #1 Best-Seller spot on Amazon. As an award-winning reporter and editor, Javier’s had roughly 5,000 unique articles in multiple languages published across numerous mass media outlets including CNN, Forbes, MSN, Chicago Tribune, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Entrepreneur Magazine, MarketWatch, Houston Chronicle, The Street, Nasdaq, Morningstar, Playboy, Benzinga, MERRY JANE, High Times, and many others. Beyond cannabis, Javier is a published photographer and Billboard-charting rapper, featured on hip-hop albums that also included Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and Inspectah Deck, Twista, Lil Windex, Riff Raff, Cyhi The Prynce, Yung Bleu, DJ Whoo Kid, Jonathan Hay, and others.
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About Benzinga, Billboard, El Planteo, Entrepreneur.com, Green Market Report, High Times, Playboy: Benzinga is a financial news and analysis service providing timely, actionable insights for investors.
Bryan Dougherty
Managing Director and Head of Technology of Arcesium
Bryan Dougherty is a Managing Director and the Head of Technology for Arcesium, overseeing platform development, infrastructure and security. Prior to the formation of Arcesium, Bryan was Head of Middle and Back Office Technology at the D. E. Shaw group for nine years. Bryan started his career at Random Walk Computing, a technology consultancy focused on the capital markets where he worked on a variety of projects for exchanges/marketplaces, investment banks, and hedge funds.
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About Arcesium: Arcesium is provider of middle- and back-office technology and services to alternative asset managers.
David Nable
Managing Director and Head of Sales of Arcesium
David Nable is a Senior Vice President and the Head of Sales for Arcesium. Prior to joining Arcesium, David was the Head of U.S. Sales and a member of the global operating committee for Credit Suisse Prime Fund Services, a fund services business that was acquired by BNP Paribas. Prior to that, David spent nine years at Goldman Sachs in sales and client management roles across both the Prime Brokerage and Fund Administration businesses.
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About Arcesium: Arcesium is provider of middle- and back-office technology and services to alternative asset managers.
Mei Friedman
Managing Director of BlackRock
Mei Friedman, is a Managing Director on BlackRock’s Private Equity Partners investment team. She helps lead deal teams reviewing PE fund investments and direct co-investment opportunities. She also works closely with client coverage teams in business development and separate account client servicing. Additionally, she is serving on the board of American Express Global Business Travel. Prior to joining BlackRock Private Equity Partners, Ms. Friedman headed up the Asian investment team at Swiss Re Private Equity Partners based in Hong Kong. Previously, she ran business development in Asia and China private equity investing for Angelo, Gordon & Co. Before moving to Hong Kong, she was a Director at Angelo, Gordon in New York where she wasresponsible for sourcing, negotiating, structuring, and monitoring direct private equity investments in the U.S. She made investments in industries including specialty financing, power and energy, retail and consumer services. She was a member of the Board of Directors for six portfolio companies during the period. She also sat on the board of New York Private Equity Network. Prior to that, Ms. Friedman structured convertible and equity derivative securities at Merrill Lynch’s Equity-Linked Capital Markets. She also spent a few years at Merrill Lynch’s investment banking division covering industrial clients. Ms. Friedman graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wellesley College and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa National Honour Society and Omicron Delta Epsilon, International Economics Honour Society. She received an MBA degree from Harvard Business School. She speaks English, a number of Chinese dialects (Mandarin, Shanghainese and Cantonese) and Japanese.
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Geraldine Buckingham
Senior Managing Director and Chairman of BlackRock
Geraldine Buckingham, Senior Managing Director, is Global Head of Corporate Strategy at BlackRock and a member of the firm’s Global Executive Committee. She is responsible for helping BlackRock develop and implement long-term goals and respond to the competitive financial services landscape. She previously served as Head of Americas Corporate Strategy. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2014, she was a partner with McKinsey & Company’s financial services practice based in New York. She worked primarily with large global asset managers with additional experience in wealth management and private equity, as well as functional expertise in strategy and organization. She received the Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford University, where she earned a Master of Philosophy degree in Comparative Social Policy. She earned her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degrees from Monash University.
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Kfir Godrich
Managing Director & Global Head of Technology of BlackRock
Kfir L Godrich, Managing Director, is Global Head of Technology for BlackRock. He is responsible for driving the firm’s technology platforms development, operations and Information Security. He is a member of BlackRock’s Global Operations Committee. Mr. Godrich served as CTO for Hewlett Packard Co. (HP) Technology Services, where he was responsible for road-mapping technology for company’s consulting and support business units as well as advising to HP Labs. Prior to that he was CTO for EYP MCF and actively involved in the acquisition by HP in 2007. Mr. Godrich has over 25 years of international experience in mission critical environments design, strategy and operations and began his career in the IAF. Mr. Godrich is a Senior Member and a reviewer of several IEEE transactions with interest in: IT strategy, mission-critical and complex systems applications, fin-tech and cyber-security. His R&D leadership is aligned with principles of “innovation by example” being developer of IP in the fields of converged IT, Data Centers and renewables. He earned a BaSc degree in Electrical and Computers Engineering from Ben-Gurion University where he also attended MaSc studies followed by later PhD studies at NYU/Polytechnic.
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Stefano Pasquali
Managing Director & Head of liquidity research of BlackRock
Stefano Pasquali is Managing Director in BlackRock and he is the Head of Liquidity Research. He oversees research for liquidity risk solution at Blackrock -20 years wide experience in the overall Risk Management. -Inventor and manager of Bloomberg Liquidity Assessment (LQA) based on innovative machine learning techniques. Cross asset class and portfolio level -Strong mix of Technology, Quantitative Finance and Business view -Speaker at main financial conferences Before finance, researcher in Computational Physics and long experience as free lance in IT project (Statistical Analysis & Data Management)
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Joseph Hill
Managing Director & Head of legal & Compliance for Latin America and Iberia of BlackRock
Joseph Hill is currently a managing director and the head of legal and compliance for Latin America and Iberia at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager. Prior to joining BlackRock, Hill served as the principal lawyer for Latin America at MetLife for six years and J.P. Morgan Chase for 12 years. Previously, Hill was an associate at Mayer Brown in New York and Uría & Menéndez in Spain. He is admitted to practice in both jurisdictions. He is a member of the New York City Bar Association, where he has served on the Executive Committee and chaired the Committee on Inter-American Affairs. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a BA, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Fordham University, a JD from Columbia Law School and MBA degrees from Columbia and London Business Schools. Hill is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
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About BlackRock, New York City Bar Association, The Council on Foreign Relations: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Andrew Ang
Managing Director & Head of Factor-based Strategies Group of BlackRock
Andrew Ang is the Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. He is a financial economist whose work centers on understanding the nature of risk and return in asset prices. His work spans bond markets, equities, investment management and portfolio allocation, and alternative investments. Prof. Ang has served as associate editor for several leading journals, and he has received grants from various government and industry organizations. He has consulted for several financial institutions, most often the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. Prof. Ang received a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours from Macquarie University, Sydney, and a Masters of Statistics and PhD in Finance from Stanford University. Prof. Ang’s recent book, “Asset Management: A Systematic Approach to Factor Investing” published by Oxford University Press in 2014, is a comprehensive guide showing how factor risk premiums can be harvested in portfolio design and incorporated in all aspects of investment management.
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Philip Tseng
Managing Director, Co-Head of US Direct Lending and Special Situations of BlackRock
Philip Tseng is Board of Trustees at California Science Center.
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About BlackRock, Tennenbaum Capital Partners: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Lynn Baranski
Managing Director of BlackRock
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Edward Rzeszowski
Managing Director of BlackRock
Edward Rzeszowski, Managing Director, is a portfolio manager within BlackRock Alternative Advisors (BAA), the firm’s hedge fund solutions team. As part of the Absolute Return Strategies Manager Research Group, Edward Rzeszowski oversees sourcing, performance, due diligence and monitoring of hedge fund managers for both privately offered funds and mutual funds. Edward Rzeszowski’s service with the firm dates back to 1995, including his years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM), which merged with BlackRock in 2006. At MLIM,
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Michelle Edkins
Managing Director, Global Head of BlackRock
Michelle Edkins, Managing Director, is the Global Head of BlackRock’s Investment Stewardship team of over 30 specialists covering the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia-Pacific. Ms. Edkins is responsible for the team’s engagement and proxy voting activities in relation to the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients. She also serves on the firm’s Global Operating, Human Capital and Government Relations SteeringCommittees. She is an alumna of BlackRock’s Women’s Leadership Forum and its Enterprise Leadership Program. Ms. Edkins is an active participant in the public corporate governance debate and regularly speaks and writes on the importance of good stewardship for company performance. She was named in the NACD (the U.S. National Association of Corporate Directors) Directorship 100 Governance Professionals list for the past six years. She is also a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s First Movers program and a former Chair of the Board of Governors of the International Corporate Governance Network. She currently serves on a number of industry initiatives to enhance governance and sustainable business practices including the Advisory Council of the International Integrated Reporting Council, the U.S. chapter of the 30% Club, a market initiative to increase the number of women on boards and in senior management, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group and the CECP’s Strategic Investor Initiative. Ms. Edkins’ service with the firm dates back to 2009.
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Michelle Edkins
Managing Director, Global Head of BlackRock
Michelle Edkins, Managing Director, is the Global Head of BlackRock’s Investment Stewardship team of over 30 specialists covering the Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia-Pacific. Ms. Edkins is responsible for the team’s engagement and proxy voting activities in relation to the companies in which BlackRock invests on behalf of clients. She also serves on the firm’s Global Operating, Human Capital and Government Relations SteeringCommittees. She is an alumna of BlackRock’s Women’s Leadership Forum and its Enterprise Leadership Program. Ms. Edkins is an active participant in the public corporate governance debate and regularly speaks and writes on the importance of good stewardship for company performance. She was named in the NACD (the U.S. National Association of Corporate Directors) Directorship 100 Governance Professionals list for the past six years. She is also a Fellow of the Aspen Institute’s First Movers program and a former Chair of the Board of Governors of the International Corporate Governance Network. She currently serves on a number of industry initiatives to enhance governance and sustainable business practices including the Advisory Council of the International Integrated Reporting Council, the U.S. chapter of the 30% Club, a market initiative to increase the number of women on boards and in senior management, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Investor Advisory Group and the CECP’s Strategic Investor Initiative. Ms. Edkins’ service with the firm dates back to 2009.
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Anne F. Ackerley
TitleManaging Director of BlackRock
Anne F. Ackerley, Managing Director, is head of BlackRock’s U.S. and Canada Defined Contribution group. She is responsible for the development and distribution of defined contribution strategies and services for institutional and retail clients and consultants – reaching over 60,000 DC plans across North America, including over 50% of the Fortune 100, and more than 15 million Americans. Ms. Ackerley has been with BlackRock since 2000 and held various leadership positions at the firm before assuming her current role in 2015. Most recently, she was Chief Marketing Officer of BlackRock and Chief Operating Officer for Global Marketing and Communications, where she was responsible for driving BlackRock’s marketing strategy and supporting the firm’s ongoing efforts to build the BlackRock brand. Prior to these roles, Ms. Ackerley was the Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock’s Global Client Group, developing and driving strategy across BlackRock’s client businesses. From 2000 to 2009, Ms. Ackerley held various leadership roles in BlackRock’s U.S. Retail Group, including serving as the head of the mutual fund group, the business liaison to the mutual fund boards and the President of BlackRock’s open and closed-end mutual funds. Prior to joining BlackRock in 2000, Ms. Ackerley spent 15 years at Merrill Lynch, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer of the mergers and acquisitions department. Within BlackRock, Ms. Ackerley is a member of the firm’s Global Operating Committee, Americas Executive Committee, Philanthropy Board and the Retirement Committee for the BlackRock Retirement Plan. She also served a term on the Human Capital Committee. A co-founder of BlackRock’s Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), today she is the chair of the Global WIN SteerCo and is head of WIN Americas. Outside the firm, Ms. Ackerley is a frequent speaker and writer about retirement readiness and women’s leadership. She currently sits on the Executive Board of DCIIA and is a trustee of Mosaic Mental Health. Earlier this year, Ms. Ackerley was honored as the recipient of the Women’s Bond Club’s 2018 Merit Award for her outstanding leadership in financial services. In 2017, she was invited to join the Women’s Forum of New York and C200, both premier organizations of women leaders. She was also named to the New York City & State CSR’s Responsible 100 list in 2016. In 2013, Ms. Ackerley was honored by the YWCA Academy of Women Leaders and was recognized as a 2013 Trailblazer by the National Council for Research on Women (NCRW) for her work in advancing gender equity. She served on the board of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School from 2011 to 2013. And, from 2002 to 2005, she served on the Board of Governors of the Investment Company Institute. Ms. Ackerley earned a BA degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, in Economics from Harvard College in 1984, and an MBA degree from Harvard Business School in 1988
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About BlackRock: BlackRock is an investment company that offers its services to institutions, intermediaries, foundations, and individual investors.
Raza Shaikh
Managing Director of LaunchPad Venture Group
Raza Shaikh is the Managing Director of the Launchpad Venture Group.
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About LaunchPad Venture Group, MassChallenge, On Boards Podcast, Techstars: Launchpad Venture Group is an angel investment group that provides funding to early-stage companies.
Christopher Mirabile
Managing Director of LaunchPad Venture Group
Christopher Mirabile is the co-Managing Director of Launchpad Venture Group, a venture investment group focused on seed and early-stage investments in technology-oriented companies. Launchpad is the largest angel group in New England and top-three ranked group in the U.S. Christopher is a full-time angel and an active member of the Boston-area angel investing community with more than 60 investments in start-up companies. He was named one of XConomy’s “Top Angel Investors in New England.” Christopher is an adjunct lecturer in the MBA program at Babson’s Olin School of Business, a regular advisor and mentor to start-ups, and a frequent panelist and speaker. He is also the co-founder of www.seraf-investor.com, a tool for managing early-stage portfolios. He is a member of the Board of Directors or Board of Advisors of numerous start-up companies as well as several non-profits, including serving on the board of the Angel Capital Association, and he is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Babson. Christopher has served as a public company CFO with IONA Technologies PLC, a corporate and securities lawyer with Testa Hurwitz & Thibeault and as a management consultant with Price Waterhouse’s Strategic Consulting Group. Christopher earned his J.D. from Boston College Law School and his B.A., with honors, from Colgate University.
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About Copiun, Crocodoc, Incentive Targeting, LaunchPad Venture Group, Seraf: Launchpad Venture Group is an angel investment group that provides funding to early-stage companies.
Chad Parker
Managing Director and Head of Global Transportation of Barclays
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About Barclays: Barclays is a global financial services company that provides various financial products and services worldwide.
Jay Gelb
Managing Director of Barclays
Jay Gelb, CFA, is currently Managing Director and senior equity analyst at Barclays covering the property-casualty and life insurance industries as well as Berkshire Hathaway. Prior to joining Barclays in 2008, Jay was the senior equity analyst at Lehman Brothers covering the P&C insurance industry. Before joining Lehman, Jay spent five years in equity research at Prudential Equity Group, LLC. He began his professional career as an underwriter for Chubb specializing in the financial institutions industry. Jay earned a B.A. in Finance from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a M.B.A., also in Finance, from Bentley University.
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About Barclays: Barclays is a global financial services company that provides various financial products and services worldwide.
Jeremy Takle
Managing Director, Head of US Digital Consumer Bank of Barclays
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About Barclays: Barclays is a global financial services company that provides various financial products and services worldwide.
Sarah Fay
Managing Director of Glasswing Ventures
SSarah Fay is the Steering Committee Member, Boston Chapter of All Raise.
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About All Raise, Glasswing Ventures: Glasswing Ventures is an early-stage VC firm investing in next gen AI and frontier technology startups enabling the intelligent enterprise.
Richard Reubenstone
Managing Director, Credit Hedge Fund/High Yield Sales of Cantor Fitzgerald
Lead Advisor to Collaborizm, an online collaborative workspace and freelance marketplace for makers/engineers, hackers, aspiring entrepreneurs and creatives. Experienced finance professional – institutional salesperson, covering credit hedge funds and high yield funds.
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About Cantor Fitzgerald: Cantor Fitzgerald is a global financial services firm that specializes in equities, investment banking, and real estate.
Scott Sommers
Managing Director of Cantor Fitzgerald
Prior to Index AR Solutions Scott was SVP, Finance and Corporate Development at SureWest Communications from. He was instrumental in setting the Company’s strategic direction, leading the sale of the directories, wireless and tower assets as well as the acquisition of the Kansas City properties. He also lead the restructuring of the corporate compensation plans, freezing the defined benefit plan and outsourcing of non-core functions. Additionally, he lead all treasury functions, investor relations, banking and financial institution relationships; directing the planning, procurement and investment funds. Prior to the Communications industry Scott has over 20 years of banking and finance experience serving as managing director of investment banking for Cantor Fitzgerald in Los Angeles, CA and held executive roles with Mellon Financial Group, KBC and UBS with a focus in the energy industry. Scott is a graduate of the University of Iowa with degrees in History and Psychology, 1981 and received his MBA from The American Graduate School of International Management in 1984.
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About Cantor Fitzgerald: Cantor Fitzgerald is a global financial services firm that specializes in equities, investment banking, and real estate.
Steve Kuo
Senior Managing Director and Group Head – Technology of Hercules Capital
Steve Kuo is a managing director in the Technology Group and brings more than 15 years of operational and structured finance experience to Hercules. Prior to joining the Company in 2006, he was a co-founder of Lending Rock, Inc., a real estate solutions company, where he was responsible for marketing, customer management and lending syndication. Prior to starting Lending Rock, Kuo was a strategic member of the Lightcross team, a venture-backed start-up focused on silicon photonics. Before joining Lightcross, Kuo was a principal at Comdisco Ventures. Kuo began his career as a management consultant with Arthur Andersen where he specialized in distressed companies. Kuo holds a B.S. from the Haas Business School at the University of California at Berkeley.
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
Catherine Jhung
Senior Managing Director of Hercules Capital
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
Lake McGuire
Managing Director | Life Sciences of Hercules Capital
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
Janice Bourque
Managing Director, Life Sciences of Hercules Capital
As a managing director in the Life Sciences Group, Janice Bourque has more than 25 years of life science experience and focuses on emerging growth stage life science companies. Before joining Hercules in 2010, Bourque advised and provided strategic corporate investor fundraising for Commons Capital and Oxford Bioscience Partners to create a global health fund focused on innovative healthcare investments for emerging and developing countries. She also was senior vice president and group head-life sciences for Comerica Bank for 4 years beginning in 2005. In addition, Bourque led the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC), the first biotechnology association in the world, for 12 years as President/CEO. Bourque held several other senior managerial positions, including CFO/controller of Cambridge Medical Technology Corporation, senior public accountant for Coopers & Lybrand Emerging and Middle Market Group, and project manager for NASA Space Science at UNH. Bourque holds an M.B.A in finance and accounting and B.S. in veterinary science from the University of New Hampshire. She currently serves on the board of directors of the MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and The Village Bank, as an advisor to TBS Technologies, co-President of the Crystal Lake Conservancy and a member of the Women’s Forum. She has also been named as one of Boston Magazine’s 100 most influential women.
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
Bryan R. Jadot
Senior Managing Director and Group Head – Life Sciences of Hercules Capital
R. Bryan Jadot is a managing director in the Life Sciences Group and brings over 18 years of financial and credit structuring experience. Prior to joining Hercules in 2005, Jadot served as vice president of the Life Sciences Group at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in Newton, MA where he co-managed a banking group dedicated to New England-based life science clients including biotechnology, medical device, and healthcare IT clients. Jadot also worked as the vice president of the Software Group at Silicon Valley Bank in Palo Alto, CA. Prior to Silicon Valley Bank, Jadot worked with the Corporate Banking arm of the Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP) in San Francisco, CA and was an assistant economist with the Department of Treasury’s Office of Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union in Washington DC. Jadot earned a B.A. in economics and government from California State University at Sacramento – Completed the Wells Fargo Bank Credit Management Training Program. He served as a nuclear operations specialist with the US Army (Europe) and is fluent in French.
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
John Eggbeer
Managing Director of Hercules Capital
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
John Eggbeer
Managing Director of Hercules Capital
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About Hercules Capital: Hercules Capital is a capital market company that lends to technology, life sciences, and sustainable technology companies.
Javier Saade
Managing Director of Fenway Summer Ventures
Javier is Partner of Impact Master Holdings and Fenway Summer. Impact Master works with companies and people creating values-driven value and Fenway Summer is a venture capital firm that has backed ~60 companies innovating at the intersection of finance & technology (a.k.a. FinTech). He serves on the Board of Directors of SoftBank-sponsored SVF Investment Corp (NASDAQ: SVFA), is Lead Independent Director of Porch Group (NASDAQ: PRCH) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of GP Funding, a Rothschild and Presidio owned financial services firm. Javier served on President Biden’s Transition Team and focused on the economy and Treasury. Until recently he sat on the Global Advisory Board of DocuSign (NASDAQ: DOCU), Board of Advisors of Univision Communications, Board of Advisors of Harvard’s Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, Board of Trustees of the Pan American Development Foundation and Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy. Previously, Javier was appointed by President Obama as Associate Administrator, Chief of Investment & Innovation of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). He was chief executive of programs that since inception have invested over $120 billion in >300,000 companies. He worked w/ the White House and agency councils on economic policy, and served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Committee on Small & Emerging Companies. He is a national leader focused on sustainable investing, tech innovation, financial services and inclusive economic development. Before public service, he spent 20+ yrs in operating, investing, and advisory roles at McKinsey & Company, Booz Allen (NYSE:BAH), Bridgewater Associates, GEM Group, Abbott Labs (NYSE:ABT) and Air America, a media company he co-founded. In his transition back to private life he was Exec in Residence at Columbia Technology Ventures, Fellow at Georgetown’s Beeck Center for Social Impact and Mentor at Stanford’s Latino Leadership Initiative. Over his career Javier has been a director of several PE/VC backed companies and nonprofits, served as Mentor at Kauffman Foundation and Techstars, and was a Member of Aspen Institute’s Latinos & Society. He frequently writes and speaks about the economy, digital finance, financial services, venture capital, sustainability, diversity, civic leadership, policymaking, impact capital and ESG stewardship. Javier holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, MS in Operations & Technology from Illinois Institute of Technology and BS in Industrial Management from Purdue University.
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About Fenway Summer Ventures, Fenway Summer Ventures, Impact Master Holdings: Venture firm backing companies tackling challenges at the intersection of finance & technology.
Raj Date
Managing Director of Fenway Summer Ventures
Raj Date, 47, is the founder of Fenway Summer LLC, a hybrid advisory and venture investment firm focused on innovation in highly regulated industries like financial services. He has served as Managing Partner of the firm since 2013. Previously, Date served in a variety of capacities at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Among other roles, Date served as the first-ever Deputy Director of the CFPB, and also acted as the CFPB’s interim leader for several months. Prior to his public service, Date was a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank Securities. From 2001 to 2007, Date served in various capacities at Capital One Financial, a bank holding company, including most recently as Senior Vice President for Corporate Strategy and Development. Date began his career in the financial institutions practice of McKinsey & Company. Date currently serves on the boards of directors of Circle Internet Financial, Inc., College Ave Student Loans LLC; FS Card Inc.; Green Dot Corporation; and Prosper Marketplace, Inc. Date holds a B.S., highest honors, in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California at Berkeley, and a J.D., magna cum laude, from the Harvard Law School.
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About Fenway Summer Ventures, Linden Lab: Venture firm backing companies tackling challenges at the intersection of finance & technology.
Alex Acree
Managing Director of Fenway Summer Ventures
Alex brings to Fenway Summer Ventures significant experience advising financial institutions and investment funds and holding senior leadership positions in early-stage companies. Immediately prior to joining the company, Alex was an attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he advised financial institutions on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters in connection with business combinations, reorganizations and capital markets transactions, Dodd-Frank Act implementation, corporate governance and compliance issues. Alex also regularly advised sponsors in connection with the formation and management of private investment funds. Earlier in his career, Alex held a series of senior positions at early-stage companies, with responsibilities including financial modeling, budgeting, business development, strategy, and operations. Alex is a summa cum laude graduate of Boston College and holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and an MBA from Yale School of Management, where he focused on corporate finance and operations. While at Yale, Alex was a director of a student clinic that helped to launch a denovo bank to serve financially underserved communities around New Haven, CT. Alex lives in Silver Spring, MD with his wife and their three children.
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About Fenway Summer Ventures: Venture firm backing companies tackling challenges at the intersection of finance & technology.
Mark Lefanowicz
Managing Director of Fenway Summer Ventures
Mark joins Fenway Summer Ventures from Springleaf Financial, where he served as Senior Vice President responsible for Internet lending, call center operations, and new business initiatives. Mark is also currently the CEO of Ethos Lending. Previously, Mark served as CFO of Provident Funding Associates, currently the largest wholesale mortgage lender in the United States. In this capacity, he was responsible for the company’s treasury, finance, accounting, and administrative functions. From 2004 to 2008, Mark served as CEO/President of E-LOAN, a publicly traded Internet mortgage, home equity, and auto lender. As CEO, he led the company’s sale to Banco Popular, resulting in an 89% per share price appreciation from the time Mark joined E-LOAN to its sale. Earlier in his career, Mark served in numerous executive positions at Bay View Capital and as a partner at Coopers & Lybrand, which later merged with Price Waterhouse to form PWC. He has served on the Board of Directors for several consumer financial institutions, including Credit Karma. Mark has also been an active angel investor in consumer finance and fintech companies. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a bachelor of science in accounting from the University of Wyoming. Mark resides in Lafayette, CA with his wife Kathy and his three daughters.
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About Fenway Summer Ventures: Venture firm backing companies tackling challenges at the intersection of finance & technology.
Elias Dokas
Managing Director of MidOcean Partners
Managing Director at MidOcean Partners .
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About MidOcean Partners: Presence Capital is an investment firm that finances startups developing technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
Eric Roth
Managing Director of MidOcean Partners
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About MidOcean Partners: Presence Capital is an investment firm that finances startups developing technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality.
Doug Russell
Managing Director and Head of MassMutual Ventures of MassMutual Ventures
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About MassMutual Ventures: MMV is a multi-stage, global venture capital firm investing in enterprise software, cybersecurity, financial technology, and digital health.
Sanjay Chadda
Partner & Managing Director of Petsky Prunier LLC
Sanjay Chadda runs one of the most active investment banking practices on Wall Street focused on the broader media, digital advertising and marketing, commerce, information and marketing technology and services industries. He has played an instrumental role in helping the firm become Bloomberg’s leading investment bank for mid-market internet & advertising transactions and has been named one of AlwaysOn’s “Power Players New York City” every year the honor has been awarded. As a trusted advisor to CEOs and private equity sponsors, Sanjay has led more than 70 transactions during his career and has successfully completed over 25 transactions since 2010 alone. In his engagements, he focuses on origination, due diligence, marketing, management, and negotiation of both M&A and private placement transactions in order to drive successful results for his clients. He is active in all of the firm’s industry practice areas and brings to his engagements a unique combination of extensive sell-side and buy-side M&A experience as well as a deep understanding of business models of companies in the sectors he covers. Sanjay has been a speaker at Strategy Institute’s Digital Out-of-Home Media Conference and the DMA Annual Leader’s Summit. He has also been a guest lecturer at New York University’s School of Continuing & Professional Studies Interactive and Direct Marketing Program. Prior to joining Petsky Prunier in 1999 he served as a financial analyst in GE Capital’s Financial Management Program. Sanjay holds a B.S. from the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University, where he graduated with honors.
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About Petsky Prunier LLC, Petsky Prunier LLC: Leading investment bank to the technology, media, marketing, eCommerce, and healthcare industries.
Richard Lim
Founder and Managing Director of GSR Ventures
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About GSR Ventures: GSR Ventures focuses on early-stage technology companies developing AI-enabled technology.
Kevin Fong
Managing Director of GSR Ventures
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About GSR Ventures: GSR Ventures focuses on early-stage technology companies developing AI-enabled technology.
Michael Silton
Managing Director and Founder of Act One Ventures
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About Act One Ventures: Act One Ventures is a pre-seed and seed-stage fund that leads rounds in business software.
Paul Mangione
Managing Director of 10X Capital
Paul Mangione is a managing director at 10X Capital. He is also the founder and principal at Fort Schuyler Advisors.
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About 10X Capital, Fort Schuyler Advisors, Fort Schuyler Ventures: Silicon Valley Meets Wall Street – 10X brings institutional equity and debt capital to high growth tech companies
David Platt
Managing Director, Head of Corporate Development of Moody’s Investors Service
Mr. Platt has served as Managing Director and Head of Corporate Development for Moody’s since January 2013. Prior to joining Moody’s, Mr. Platt provided M&A advisory services to corporate clients, including Moody’s, from 2010 to 2012. Previously, he served as a Managing Director in the M&A Group at Deutsche Bank from 2007 to 2009. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Mr. Platt served as a Managing Director in the M&A Group at Bank of America and held similar roles in the M&A Groups at Citigroup and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette from 1997 to 2007. From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Platt was a Senior Investment Analyst in the Money Market Fixed Income Division at Fidelity Investments where his responsibilities included credit risk assessment, setting of exposure limits and investment oversight for a broad range of corporate and municipal credits as well as structured products.
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About Moody’s Investors Service: Moody’s Investors Service is a bond credit rating business that provides research, credit rating, and financial risk analysis services.
William Black
Managing Director of Moody’s Investors Service
William Black is a Managing Director of Moody’s Consumer Structured Finance primary ratings team for the Americas. Mr. Black heads a team of credit professionals who analyze a variety of ABS and RMBS asset classes, including: credit card, auto, student loan, equipment, transportation, rental car, wireless tower, stranded cost, structured settlement, whole business, marketplace lending, solar and PACE. Mr. Black earned a BA in Economics from Vanderbilt University and an MBA at Fordham’s Graduate Business School.
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About : Moody’s Investors Service is a bond credit rating business that provides research, credit rating, and financial risk analysis services.
Leonard Jones
Managing Director of Moody’s Investors Service
Leonard Jones is a Managing Director for Moody’s Public Finance Group and a co- manager of Local Government ratings primarily in the Eastern and Western US. He is responsible for managing the New York and San Francisco Local Governments Ratings teams. Prior to joining Moody’s, Lenny was a Partner at Rice Financial Products Company, where he managed Rice Financials investment banking business and specialized in public infrastructure finance. He was a Senior Consultant at ABT Associates, Chief Consultant to the Zambia Privatization Agency, Vice President at Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., Vice President at Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. and Assistant Treasurer in the International Department of Chase Manhattan Bank. Lenny holds an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and an AB in Economics from Dartmouth College.
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About Moody’s Investors Service: Moody’s Investors Service is a bond credit rating business that provides research, credit rating, and financial risk analysis services.
Steve Jurvetson
Managing Director & Founder of Future Ventures
Steve Jurvetson fosters companies at the forefront of technology. He looks for unconventional companies in deep learning, commercial space, synthetic biology, genomics, robotics, and sustainable transportation—purpose-driven companies that will transform massive industries. His current board responsibilities include D-Wave, Memphis Meats, Mythic, Planet, SpaceX, Synthetic Genomics, and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). He was the founding VC investor in Hotmail (Microsoft), Interwoven (NASDAQ: IWOV), Kana (NASDAQ: KANA), and NeoPhotonics (NYSE: NPTN). Steve was also the first VC investor and board member at deep learning company Nervana, acquired by Intel in 2016. He always has a passion for the cutting edge of technology and the frontiers of the unknown. Steve has BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford, and he finished his undergrad studies in 2.5 years, graduating number one in his class. He went on to earn an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and was named an Arjay Miller Scholar. He then worked at leading companies like HP, Apple, NeXT Software, and Bain & Company. In 2017, Steve received the Visionary Award from SV Forum for his role in fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. In 2016, President Barack Obama announced Steve’s position as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship at the Seventh Global Entrepreneurship Summit at Stanford University. Steve has also been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and as the Venture Capitalist of the Year by Deloitte. He was also chosen by the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner as one of “the ten people expected to have the greatest impact on the Bay Area in the early part of the 21st century.” Forbes has recognized Steve several times on the Midas List, and named him one of “Tech’s Best Venture Investors.”
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About Future Ventures: Future Ventures is a financial services platform with a focus on disruptive technology companies.
Ho Nam
Managing Director and Co-Founder of Altos Ventures
Ho Nam is a co-founder and Managing Director of Altos Ventures, a global Venture Capital firm and Registered Investment Advisor with more than $10 billion in regulated assets under management. Since 1996, Altos has been the first and lead institutional investor in more than 100 technology startups. Before joining Altos Ventures in 1996, Ho worked at Silicon Graphics and Octel Communications. Ho began his VC career at Trinity Ventures in 1990 and began his professional career at Bain & Company where he advised clients in the Media and Technology industries on product and corporate strategy. Ho received an MBA from Stanford University and a BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College.
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About Altos Ventures: Altos Ventures is a venture capital firm and registered investment advisor with more than $8 billion in regulated assets under management.
Anthony Lee
Managing Director of Altos Ventures
Anthony Lee is a Managing Director of Altos Ventures, where he focuses on software and digital media investments. Before joining Altos Ventures, Anthony led marketing efforts for three start-up companies including Evolve Software (Nasdaq: EVLV, later acquired by Oracle). Anthony began his career as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company and has published a national magazine. Anthony serves as Chairman of TechSoup Global, the world’s largest non-profit distributor of computer software and hardware. He co-founded and co-chairs the C100, a network of top Canadian technology leaders dedicated to supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. Anthony served as a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy. He is a founding member of the Full Circle Fund, a venture philanthropy group based in San Francisco. Anthony received his MBA from Stanford University and earned a BA in Politics and Economics from Princeton University.
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About Altos Ventures, C100: Altos Ventures is a venture capital firm and registered investment advisor with more than $8 billion in regulated assets under management.
Han Kim
Managing Director of Altos Ventures
Han Kim is a Managing Director at Altos Ventures from Jan 1996 till date.
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About Altos Ventures: Altos Ventures is a venture capital firm and registered investment advisor with more than $8 billion in regulated assets under management.
Linda Xie
Co-founder & Managing Director of Scalar Capital
Linda Xie is co-founder and Managing Director of Scalar Capital. Previously she was a product manager at Coinbase which she joined in June 2014. At Coinbase, Linda has worked with regulators and law enforcement on compliance for digital assets. Prior to Coinbase, she was a portfolio risk analyst at AIG. Linda holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego.
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About Scalar Capital: Scalar Capital is a hedge fund company specializing in cryptoassets.
Jordan Clifford
Co-founder and Managing Director of Scalar Capital
Jordan Clifford is a co-founder and managing director at Scalar Capital. Previously he was lead growth engineer at Coinbase. Jordan has also worked as a software engineer at multiple tech startups and as a business analyst at Capital One. Jordan holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.
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About Scalar Capital: Scalar Capital is a hedge fund company specializing in cryptoassets.
Omar Darwazah
Managing Director and General Partner of AAF Management Ltd.
Omar has over 16 years of international experience in corporate finance, strategy, investor relations and venture capital. He is a Managing Director and General Partner at AAF Management Ltd. (AAF), an early-stage venture capital firm he co-founded in 2016. AAF focuses on top tier venture-backed Seed and Series A investment opportunities in US-based startups that have international expansion potential and currently has over $100M in assets under management. AAF invests across Fintech, Consumer, Enterprise Software and Healthcare and its portfolio includes Synthego, Tamara Mellon, Current, Even Financial, Portfolium (acquired by Instructure), HeyDoctor (acquired by GoodRx), Prodigy (acquired by Upstart), TruOptik (acquired by Transunion) among others. Omar is also an angel investor in various technology companies including Andela, Blockstack and FiscalNote. He sits on the Board of the Middle East Investor Relations Association (MEIRA). He is also a mentor to the NYU Steinhardt EdTech Accelerator, an advisor to Yale University’s Center for Digital Health and Innovation and a judge at the Wharton School’s Venture Lab. Previously, Omar spent 10 years of his career with OCI N.V. in Cairo and New York focusing on strategy, corporate finance, and investor relations where he worked on over $35 billion worth of corporate transactions. Prior to that, he was with Deloitte in Chicago and Deutsche Bank’s Leveraged Finance team in London. Omar holds a BA in Economics and Political Science with Honors from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Omar was born in Cairo and lived in London, Chicago, Montreal and Paris. He now resides in New York City with his wife Bouchra and twin son and daughter Zayn and Layla. Omar enjoys scuba diving and is an avid travel photographer having visited 85 countries around the world. He also has an interest in film production and has been an Executive Producer on several short feature films including Baby Mine (2017) and Lab Rat (2018). He was named one of Wharton’s 40 Under 40 in 2017.
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About AAF Management Ltd., GoldCleats Global: AAF Management Ltd. is an early-stage VC firm focused on Seed and Series A technology companies.
Elisa Jagerson
Managing Director of Wildcat Venture Partners
Elisa Jagerson is the Managing Director at Wildcat Venture Partners.
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About Wildcat Venture Partners: Wildcat invests in early stage B2B and B2B2C tech startups in the following markets: Digital Health, EdTech, Enterprise SaaS and FinTech.
Paul VanderMarck
Managing Director of Financial Technology Partners
Paul is responsible for corporate strategy and business development at RMS. Since joining RMS in 1992, Paul has played a key role in developing the company’s global catastrophe modeling product suite and advancing the state of practice for catastrophe risk management. In 2003, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute recognized Paul for his contributions to the field of earthquake risk mitigation and management with the Shah Family Innovation Award. Paul also serves as Chairman of the Board of Build Change, a non-profit social enterprise focused on improving construction practices in developing countries. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s in structural engineering from Stanford University.
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About Financial Technology Partners: Financial Technology Partners is an investment banking firm focusing on financial technology.
Marianne Wu
Managing Director of 40 North Ventures
Marianne Wu is the President of GE Ventures. Previously Ms Wu was a Partner at MDV where she focuses on Cleantech investments. These typically involve significant technology or business model breakthroughs applied to large, evolving markets such as solar, biofuels and chemicals, clean coal, energy efficiency and water treatment and management. She leverages a decade of technology development and business experience to help entrepreneurs build meaningful, successful businesses. At MDV, she works closely with a number of the portfolio companies including ZeaChem and Catilin. Prior to joining MDV, Marianne was VP Marketing at ONI Systems where she was responsible for product strategy and market development. Earlier in her career, Marianne was a consultant at McKinsey and Company where she advised major technology clients on strategic and operational issues. Marianne has conducted state-of-the-art research in materials, devices, and systems at Stanford University and started her career as a design engineer at Nortel Networks where she developed high-speed networking technologies. She is a member of the Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association (HYSTA) VC Group, Environmental Entrepreneurs, and is on the Advisory Committee of the Western Governors’ Association. Marianne earned both her doctoral and master’s degrees from the School of Engineering at Stanford University and her bachelor’s in Applied Science at the University of British Columbia.
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About 40 North Ventures: 40 North Ventures is a venture capital fund that focuses on technology investments.
Erik Benson
Managing Director of Voyager Capital
Erik Benson is a General Partner with Voyager Capital, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm. Prior to Voyager, Erik was an EIR for Seattle-based WRF Capital after leadership roles at Mimix Inc., a pioneer in the area of motion capture and animation software for the gaming industry. Erik started his career in New York City for a predecessor bank to JPMorgan Chase called Chemical Bank, advising and financing private equity clients.
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About Imperative, Lighter Capital, Rebellion Defense, Voyager Capital: Voyager Capital is a venture firm providing entrepreneurs with the resources, experience, and connection to build successful tech companies.
Bill McAleer
Co-founder and Managing Director of Voyager Capital
Bill McAleer is the Co-founder and Managing Director at Voyager Capital.
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About Voyager Capital: Voyager Capital is a venture firm providing entrepreneurs with the resources, experience, and connection to build successful tech companies.
Diane Fraiman
Managing Director of Voyager Capital
Diane Fraiman joined Voyager Capital Managing Director as in 2007.
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About Act-On Software, Syndio, Voyager Capital: Voyager Capital is a venture firm providing entrepreneurs with the resources, experience, and connection to build successful tech companies.
James Newell
Managing Director of Voyager Capital
James Newell is the Managing Director at Voyager Capital.
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About Voyager Capital: Voyager Capital is a venture firm providing entrepreneurs with the resources, experience, and connection to build successful tech companies.
Jim Marshall
Managing Director of SVB Capital
Jim co-founded Selby Venture Partners in 1998 and brings over 18 years of investment and technology experience in the Silicon Valley. He currently focuses his investments in software, consumer services, and sustainable technology and services. When mentoring and supporting management teams of Selby portfolio companies, Jim draws on expertise developed during his nine years in various positions at Silicon Valley Bank. While there, he worked closely with more than 75 early-stage, emerging growth technology companies. In his last position as Vice President of the Commercial Software Practice, he worked with a number of venture-backed software and Internet companies including Accrue Software, BEA Systems, Broadbase Software, E.piphany and Nuance Communications. Jim is active in the Silicon Valley ecosystem and is a board member of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, the VC/Private Equity Roundtable, and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University. He received a B.S. degree in Finance from Santa Clara University, and an MBA from Pepperdine University, where he was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2007. Outside of the office, his time is devoted to his family, golf, tennis, and playing drums and guitar.
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About SVB Capital: SVB Capital is the investment platform of SVB Financial Group.
Kevin Scott
Managing Director of SVB Capital
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About SVB Capital: SVB Capital is the investment platform of SVB Financial Group.
Alex Marquez
Global Managing Director, Experian Ventures of Experian
Alex launched Experian Ventures in 2016 and is currently the Global Managing Director and a member of Experians Investment Committee. As a leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to our clients around the world, we invest in data/analytics, information security, healthcare, automotive and the broader financial services ecosystem. The Experian Ventures portfolio of investments includes AireLabs, AxiaMed (acq), BankBazaar, Hyphen, Bonify, C88, Canopy, Cazana, Grab, InfoSum, Madaket Health, Finicity (acq), Grab (GRAB), Jirnexu, Infosum, Machinify, Nav, PlaceIQ, RecargaPay, Salary Finance, Stackin, TrueData, and TrueAccord. We have invested more than $225m across the globe since inception in 2016. Previously, Alex served as Executive Vice President at Nantmobile, part of the Nantworks family of companies, building novel consumer mobile applications in health, wellness, and computer vision. Alex was Managing Director with USAA’s Corporate Development Group and a member of USAA’s Executive Management team and built USAA Ventures into one of the most active FinTech CVC after his first year. Alex created USAA’s Blockchain Working Group and investment thesis in blockchain [according to CBInsights, USAA was recognized as the first bank/insurance company to invest in blockchain technologies] and was responsible for the groups investments in Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Saffron (acq by Intel), and CafeX, ExpectLabs (acq by Cisco), while establishing USAA’s venture brand in Silicon Valley. Alex was a Director with Intel Capital, the world’s largest corporate venture group having invested over $14B globally. During his tenure with Intel Capital, Alex managed or co-managed investments in Atom Entertainment (acquired by Viacom), BlackArrow (acquired by Cross Mediaworks), ChannelM (acquired by PlayNetwork), Gametrust (acquired by Real Networks), Gaikai (acquired by Sony), Envivio (Nasdaq: ENVI), Kabam (acquired by Netmarble), K2 Network (acquired by RHI), Trymedia (acquired by Macrovision), The Generations Network (Nasdaq: ACOM), SixApart (acquired by SayMedia), and Synacor (Nasdaq: SYNC). In addition, Alex was co-founder and CEO of AppScotch, which brought transparency to paid mobile advertising. AppScotch was acquired by AppAnnie in 2016. Alex has served as a mentor to Plug&Play Silicon Valley and numerous other startups and accelerators/incubators. Alex has served as an advisor to ProSieben – the second largest media company in Germany; supports Purdue University mentorship program (SV BIG); and was a member of UNLV’s Engineering Advisory Board. Alex has served as an advisor to Gamestop Corporation, Playspan (acquired by Visa), and he has also served as an advisor and mentor to dozens of early stage companies and global corporate venture groups. Alex was previously an advisor to the NVCA’s Corporate Venture working group.
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About Experian, Experian Ventures: Experian unlocks the power of data to create opportunities for consumers, businesses, and society.
Steve Wagner
Managing Director, Experian Decision Analytics of Experian
Steve Wagner is Global Managing Director, Experian Decision Analytics. Steve joined Experian in 2005 and has led a wide range of businesses including Consumer Information Services in North America, Credit Services, Marketing Services, and Consumer Services in Brazil and the now divested global Cross Channel Marketing business. Steve represents Experian on the board of the US Data and Marketing Association, and serves as Chairman of the Experian social innovation fund. Prior to joining Experian, Steve was General Counsel of ERisk, a risk and capital management software company owned by JP Morgan Partners. Before that, Steve was a corporate transactional lawyer in New York and London with the global firm of Clifford Chance. Steve has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts and a Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law.
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About Experian: Experian unlocks the power of data to create opportunities for consumers, businesses, and society.
Michael Graham
Managing Director, Senior Internet Analyst, Director of Research of Canaccord Genuity Group
Mike Graham is a Managing Director and Senior Equity Analyst at Canaccord covering the Internet, Blockchain, and Cryptoassets sectors. Mike joined Canaccord in 2011 and has over 20 years of technology, media, and telecom investment experience. He was a sell-side Internet analyst at Robertson Stephens in the ‘Internet 1.0’ boom of the late 1990s, and he spent over five years on the buy side as a TMT analyst at Columbia Management. He also is the U.S. Director of Research. Mike is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and former Infantry officer in the Army, and he earned an MBA in Finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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About Canaccord Genuity Group: Canaccord Genuity is a global, full-service investment bank focused on growth companies.
Mike Walkley
Managing Director IoT, Communications and Security Software of Canaccord Genuity Group
Managing Director IoT, Communications and Security Software at Canaccord Genuity- Global Capital Markets.
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About Canaccord Genuity Group: Canaccord Genuity is a global, full-service investment bank focused on growth companies.
John Stack
Managing Director, Head of Aerospace & Defense Investment Banking of Canaccord Genuity Group
John Stack, Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity and leader of the aerospace & defense (A&D) practice investment banking practice in NYC, has nearly 30 years’ global strategy, business development and M&A experience focusing on publicly-held and private companies. He is well-positioned to assist companies with growth, liquidity events and the sale of non-core businesses given his strong industry knowledge, strategic and operational perspectives, vast global network and extensive transaction experience. He has worked across the A&D value chain. Prior to banking, he was VP, Strategy & Business Development and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Cessna Aircraft Company, where he led the Columbia Aircraft acquisition. Prior to that, he was Director, Strategy Development & International at Textron, where he helped reshape the company’s business portfolio and worked with company presidents on strategic plans, operational challenges and growth. During the course of his career, he has led project and joint venture teams in more than 15 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and he lived in Switzerland for more than four years. John holds a degree in Business Administration from Bryant University and an MBA from Fordham University. He is a commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings. He also is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and proficient in French.
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About Canaccord Genuity Group: Canaccord Genuity is a global, full-service investment bank focused on growth companies.
Daniel Canning
Managing Director for North America of Zepz
Daniel is responsible for leading WorldRemit’s North America commercial activity and driving customer growth in the region. A seasoned product and marketing executive, Daniel has more than 20 years’ experience in the financial services and payments industries, most recently as CEO, Diaspora for Digicel. Prior to that, he held various leadership roles at Western Union, including Vice President of US Money Transfer, where he spearheaded the omni-channel strategy for the company’s largest business. Daniel holds a B.S. in Hotel Administration from Cornell University and an MBA in International Business from the Darla Moore School of Business.
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About Zepz: Zepz is a money transfer service that helps migrants send money to their loved ones all over the world.
Mira Wilczek
Managing Director of Link Ventures
Mira Wilczek is a Managing Director at Link Ventures as well as the President and CEO Emeritus of Cogo Labs. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for EverQuote, Cognius, & CareDash, as well as the Advisory Board for Vestigo Ventures. Previously, she was Founder and CEO at Red Panda Security, Principal Investigator under the DARPA CFT program, and Director of Business Development at Lyric Semiconductor, where she developed a $25M revenue run rate, garnered industry recognition including TR50, Silicon 60, and an EETimes ACE Award, and negotiated a successful acquisition by Analog Devices. She holds patents both granted and pending in the fields of cybersecurity and sensor data fusion. Mira has an S.B. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from MIT Sloan.
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About Cogo Labs, Link Ventures: We invest in early stage direct-to-consumer companies.
Robert Chaplinsky
Co-founder and Managing Director of Link Ventures
Rob Chaplinsky is the Co-founder and Managing Director Link Ventures. He previously worked at Bridgescale Partners as the Managing Director.
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About Kiite, Link Ventures: We invest in early stage direct-to-consumer companies.
John Werner
Managing Director of Link Ventures
John Werner is the Managing Director at Link Ventures. He is the Chief Network Officer at Cogo Labs and an Advisory Board Member at EverQuote Pro. He constantly builds community and is a ‘moonshot’ thinker innovating as he goes while incorporating the latest technologies. He believes passionately in 21st-century collaborative creativity in innovating with direct human or environmental impact.
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About Link Ventures, Meta View: We invest in early stage direct-to-consumer companies.
Dominic Lloyd
Managing Director of Link Ventures
Dominic Lloyd is a Senior Partner at Link. Prior to joining Link, Dominic was a partner with a national law firm focusing on corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and securities. He has worked with Link and its portfolio companies for more than 10 years, advising on company formations, financing structures and sales of companies, and participating in all significant transactions. Dominic has worked closely with the executive teams at public and private companies for 30 years on mergers, acquisitions and equity and debt financings. As a trusted advisor to emerging companies, he has worked with them through all stages of growth, often to liquidity events. Dominic graduated with a BA in Economics from Middlebury College and a JD from the University of Denver. Often quoted in articles on securities laws and private funds, Dominic also frequently speaks on these topics. He has been recognized by Chambers USA and the Best Lawyers in America as a leading corporate and M&A attorney.
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About Link Ventures: We invest in early stage direct-to-consumer companies.
Lisa Dolan
Managing Director of Link Ventures
Lisa Dolan currently works as the Managing Director for Link Ventures. She previously worked at Angel Intelligence Inc. as the CEO and Co-Founder.
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About Link Ventures, Savil.me: We invest in early stage direct-to-consumer companies.
Matt Rita
Managing Director of Link Ventures
Matt Rita is a Managing Director at Link. He is a seasoned negotiator, a former federal and state court litigator. For more than two decades Matt represented both public and private companies in a variety of industries (including logistics, information systems, healthcare, energy, and natural resources, and financial services, among others). As a trusted adviser and dedicated advocate, he handled complex judicial and administrative proceedings for his clients, appearing in both trial courts and appellate tribunals around the country. In his last court appearance before joining Link, Matt successfully defended a publicly-traded mining company against claims of alleged trade secret misappropriation. The subject matter of that dispute (i.e., langbeinite processing in southeastern New Mexico) reawakened some of his distant memories of freshman chemistry at MIT (3.091, wasn’t it?). After graduating from the Institute with his Bachelor of Science degree, Matt earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Cornell Law School. Having traded numbers for words, he has been a prolific speaker and author over the course of his career. The publication of his most recent article (in The Colorado Lawyer) coincides with the beginning of his tenure at Link. Named a Colorado “Super Lawyer” for five consecutive years, Matt is a Massachusetts native who is also admitted to practice here in the Commonwealth. He will maintain his ties to the Rocky Mountain West, thereby expanding Link’s geographic footprint as the team moves forward with raising its second fund.
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About Link Ventures: We invest in early stage direct-to-consumer companies.
Graham Gullans
Co-Founder, Founding Managing Director of Empire Angels
Graham is the Founding Managing Director of Empire Angels, an angel fund and network focused on millennial investors. Empire Angels has invested in 20+ companies and takes an active role leading rounds and holding board positions. In 2014, Graham co-founded LiftMetrix, a social media analytics software company focused on proving the value of social media. Hootsuite acquired LiftMetrix in 2017 and Graham remained with the company as Director of Customer Analytics. In 2013 Graham led the Series Seed round in Zoomcar and has subsequently invested $5mm into Zoomcar in follow-on rounds. Zoomcar has raised $50mm+ from investors such as Sequoia, Ford Motor Company and Our Crowd. Zoomcar is the largest self-drive company in India and was named one of the top 10 most innovative companies in 2017 by Fast Company. Graham sits on the Board of Directors. Previous., Graham was a Vice President at Citigroup. He developed and implemented a quantitative trading strategy, managing $1.5B in a statistical arbitrage equity portfolio. With his early years at Citigroup, Graham was an equity derivatives trader, solely managing the energy and risk-arbitrage portfolios. He graduated cum laude from the honors program of Boston College with a B.S. in Finance and Information Systems.
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About Empire Angels, Superpedestrian, ZoomCar: Diverse group of Millennials investing in early stage ventures with a focus on supporting young entrepreneurs in the US and Europe
Joseph Ohayon
Founder and Managing Director of OTCFin
Joseph Ohayon is the founder and managing director of OTCFin, directing business development activities and acting as an engagement manager on several projects. Mr. Ohayon has extensive experience in sales and trading and portfolio management technology working over 20 years in domestic and international capital markets. He is actively engaged in the design and development of the OTCFin risk and portfolio management products for traditional and alternative asset managers. Mr. Ohayon has written articles, performed product and company evaluations, and has been a guest speaker at numerous technology conferences. He holds a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Ecole Superieure d’Electricite in France, and an MBA in Finance from the Sloan School of Management, MIT.
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About OTCFin: OTCFin is a financial technology company providing risk management and investment decision support solutions.
Romen LeFayer
Managing Director, Eastern Europe of OTCFin
Romen LeFayer has been a consultant to buy-side clients for over 20 years, working with traditional asset managers as well as hedge funds. His experience spans the full specter of Investment Management Process including front-, middle-, and back-office business functions. His expertise lies in quickly grasping clients’ needs, translating them into business requirements and formulating an actionable solution. Prior to consulting, Mr. LeFayer worked in various fixed income Sales & Trading and Research functions at Morgan Stanley, Prudential Bache, and First Boston Corp. He graduated from First Boston Sales & Trading Training Program and earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT.
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About OTCFin: OTCFin is a financial technology company providing risk management and investment decision support solutions.
