Investment Team

• Ranked Top 100 Powerlist VC
• ~15+ years of VC/PE Investing, 150+ Portfolio Companies
• Select Prior Portfolio Companies: Beyond Meat (IPO'd, $14B), Sensity (Acquired by Verizon, $300M+), ShopKick (Acquired by SK Telecom, $200M), Made In Space (Acquired by AE Industrial Partners), FabFitFun ($1B+), Spyce (Acquired by sweetgreen), Bear Flags Robotics (Acquired by John Deere, $250M)
• Former Managing Director of Investments at Cleveland Avenue (VC/PE Fund co-founded by Former CEO & President of McDonalds), focusing on food and beverage brands, food related technologies, and new restaurant concepts
• Founder, Head, & Former Managing Director of Simon Venture Group (investment arm of Simon Property Group, S&P 100, largest retail real estate company in the world), grew to top 5 corporate VC focused on commerce alongside Google Ventures, Intel Capital, and Comcast Ventures
• Adjunct Professor at New York University teaching Venture Capital Intensive
• Creator of Multiple Top Ranked Entrepreneur Resources: #1 Startup Investor Pitch Deck Template (viewed & downloaded 500,000+ times, used by leading business schools and accelerators)
• Co-Founder of the #1 Startup Board Game: The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship, backed by over 25+ of the top accelerators and VC investors

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• Partner at GRC Fund, a $300M+ technology fund, focused on Energy & Resource Efficiency and Health & Wellness in the US & China
• Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship at HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology) Business School
• Co-Founder & General Partner at Formation 8, a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund with over $1B+ under management and early backer of unicorns like Oculus VR, Palantir, Wish.com, and Oscar.  Other notable team members of the fund included Joe Lonsdale (Co-Founder of Palantir Technologies) and Gideon Yu (CFO of Facebook and YouTube, Partner at Sequoia and Khosla Ventures)
• Venture Partner at SoftBank China Venture Capital 
• Entrepreneur in Residence & Venture Partner at Khosla Ventures, where he took Khosla's portfolio company LanzaTech to China by brokering deals between LanzaTech and Chinese steel-makers
• As a biotechnologist, Dr. Zhang was a co-founder of BioConsortia and founding member of Mendel Biotechnology. He led Mendel Biotechnology’s business development and its agricultural collaboration with Monsanto and biofuel collaboration with BP. 
• Dr. Zhang has a Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of California Davis and completed his post-doctoral and business training at Stanford University and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, respectively

LinkedIn

• Manages VU’s Hong Kong office, focuses on deal sourcing within Asia and investor relations
• Strong network of family offices and institutional investors
• 7+ years living and working in Asia
• Senior Director of Corporate Ventures and Strategy at Axcelis, Inc., a semiconductor company
• Director of International Business Development at Blackboard, Inc., one of the world’s largest education technology companies
• Manager of Corporate Strategy and M&A at MAXIMUS, Inc., a consulting and operations firm
• University of Southern California, MPP (International Policy and Economic Development)
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, BA

• VU Cohort 7 Alum
• Previously at ZX Ventures (CVC arm of Ab InBev)
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering From Purdue University

LinkedIn

• 6+ years of operating experience in high growth, early-stage start-ups
• Passionate about start-ups, finance, and emerging technologies
• Semi-literate coder, reformed crypto miner, and kombucha brewmaster

LinkedIn

• Manages Personal Family Office
• LP in SoGal
• Investor at Wharton Alumni Angels
• Finance Manager, HERE, a location data and technology platform
• CoFounder & CFO, Xnergy

LinkedIn

• Super Angel Investor, 40+ portfolio companies
• Senior Innovation Consultant, Institute of Food Technologists (IFT)
• Founding Partner, Wingpact
• Tech Mentor, Singularity University
• Global Account Manager, Cisco
• MS, Project Management, George Washington University
• NYU - Polytechnic School of Engineering & Computer Science

LinkedIn

• Experienced investor: Asia & Australia with 20 years equities funds management experience - managing institutional mandates 
• Budding philanthropist. Director and Underwriter of Empower, a global NGO, helping at-risk youth in Emerging Markets
• Angel & VC investor - looking for exceptional entrepreneurs, great businesses with a strong sustainable moat, and terrific returns

• Manages VU Africa - Synergos Venture Partners, a fund focused on investing across the african continent

• Passionate about the entrepreneurial and economic development of Africa
• Serial entrepreneur and Angel Investor in many entrepreneurial startups
• Former Strategic Management Consultant focusing on entrepreneurial development
• MBA form Wits Graduate School of Business (WBS) in South Africa
• Served as Chairman of the WBS Alumni Association and member of the WBS Advisory Board
• Certified Leadership Coach, Mentor, Mediator and part time lecturer at leading South African Business school
• Consultant on the Stanford University’s Seed Transformation Program for entrepreneurs in developing economies
• Angel investor & involved with the startup of Africa’s biggest Snow Ski & Adventure Mountain Resort in Lesotho (www.afriski.net)

LinkedIn

• Venture Backed Serial Entrepreneur
• Co-Founder & CEO of The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship, backed by over 25+ of the top accelerators and VC investors
• Ranked Top 10 Female Tech CEO by Women 2.0 
• Former CEO of Largest Student Run Business in The Country (Tufts Student Resources)

LinkedIn