Co-Founder and General Partner
- Ranked Top 100 Powerlist VC
- 10+ years of VC/PE Investing, 80+ Portfolio Companies
- Select Prior Portfolio Companies: Beyond Meat (IPO'd), Sensity (Verizon Acquired), ShopKick (SK Telecom Acquired), FabFitFun, MeUndies, Le Tote, Helix Sleep, ZeroCater, Deliv
- 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
Andrew Zalasin
General Partner
- 25+ years of venture capital and private equity investment and operational experience with entrepreneurial growth companies
- Former General Partner for 17 years at RRE Ventures, a leading technology venture capital firm with $1.5B across seven funds
- Involved in nearly 200 investments and has served on more than 30 boards in the US, Europe and Asia, and has been instrumental in generating industry-leading returns and providing experience and resources to help companies build teams, attack new market opportunities, identify and secure strategic initiatives / partnerships and achieve profitable growth in all phases of development
Aakash Jain
Senior Associate
- VU Cohort 2 Alum
- Venture Fellow, Jump Capital
- Co-Founder, Booth Bay Area Angel Network (Booth BAAN)
- Technology Investment Banking (Growth Equity), Financial Technology Partners
- Fixed Income Quant Trading, Morgan Stanley
- University of Chicago Booth School of Business, MBA
- Cornell University, MEng (Computer Science)
- Jacobs University, BA (Electrical Engineering & Computer Science)
Michael Siegel
Analyst
- Member of the Marketplace and Consumer investment teams in Venture University's First Cohort
- Venture Fellow, VentureSouth
- Clemson University, MBA, Entrepreneurship
- Wofford College, BA, Business Economics
Jenna Fernandes
Co-Founder, Operating Partner, & Head of Human Resources
- 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)
Consumer Team
Patrick Allen
- Previously a President and Portfolio Manager at Colite International.
- Previously in Business Development at Colite Technologies.
- BA in Global studies from the University of South Carolina, minors in Business and Italian.
- Passionate about investing in the next generation of CPGs.
Gilyana Saldusova
- Director at KPMG in Deal Advisory Department focused on financial due diligence of chemical, consumer and industrial market companies
- Auditor at Deloitte focused on the audit of telecommunications, media, and technology companies
- Avid Runner
Daniil Chen
- Previously Venture Intern at True Capital Management
- Co-founded the Bull & Bear Club and worked on creating NEU Alumni Angels @ Northeastern University
- Studied Finance & Economics at Northeastern University
- Enthusiastic about Consumer, FinTech, and GreenTech
Enterprise & Healthcare Team
Johan Richards
- 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)
Sterling Duggan
- Lead intern at VentureCapital.Org, building relationships with founders, venture capitalists, and angel investors in the Pacific Northwest while attending school full time
- Master’s in Accounting from Idaho State University, winning multiple intramural championships, and a semi-professional baseball championship with the Gate City Grays
- Passionate about connecting driven entrepreneurs who are attacking large markets to opportunities to raise capital and build sustainable businesses
- Looking to join an early stage fund, bringing differentiated deal flow, challenging conventional wisdom, and learning from General Partners and entrepreneurs
Anna Tishchenko
- Launching an impact investment venture fund
- 12+ years of career in brand & marketing in EY, IBM, startups, and venture funds
- Advisor for early-stage tech startups on business and marketing strategies in the US and abroad
- Built a brand strategy for Venture Capital Holding Company disrupting early-stage startups investing
- Strategized EY Center of Innovations
- Led marketing strategy for IBM Hardware RCIS
- Launched and scaled a brand strategy for an enterprise technology company that reached $100M annual revenue in 3 years
- Launched a social change platform and built a community of business leaders (2000+) driving positive social change
Fintech / Blockchain Team
Ebube David-Osuagwu
- Associate/Ambassador @ Campus Coin project: Cryptocurrency digital medium of exchange shared over a peer-to-peer network utilizing blockchain.
- Co-Owner and founder of Big Wave Wash N Shine
- B.S.B.A.: Coastal Carolina University Wall College of Business. Degree in Finace
- President/Founder of Entrepreneurs Organization at Coastal Carolina University
- Passionate about innovation & entrepreneurship through Venture Capital
Henry Ngan
- Investment, Finance & Accounting professional with an emerging technology bent
- Founder of HHN Capital LLC, Fracitonal CFO & strategic advisory firm
- Startup consultant, advisor, and mentor
- Areas of Focus: FinTech, Blockchain & Cryptoassets, AI (Data Science), IoT & Consumer
- Fordham Gabelli (MBA), UAlbany (BS), CPA in NYS
- Certified Blockchain Expert, Certified Cryptocurrency Expert
- Passionate about US - China relations & the potentials
- Die-hard NBA fan and a Contrarian at heart!
Frontier Tech Team
Vida Asiegbu
- Investment Banking / M&A Advisory at Evercore and Citi with broad industry coverage
- MBA graduate from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business
- Received BA from New York University in Economics (College of Arts and Science) and Business (Stern School of Business)
- Interests include developing the burgeoning FemTech segment and investing in disruptive Tech and Consumer companies
Samira Gholami
- Technology advocate and business leader with over 14 years of experience in the Tech Industry including positions with Palm, WebEx, Dell, Symantec, and Forrester Research.
- Former Director at the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency
- Global Executive MBA – Hult International Business School, BA, Computer Science – University of Ansterdam
Benoit Foulon
- Previously an investment banking and consulting analyst in Paris
- Worked as Financial officer in a mobile learning app
- Studied in Paris @ESCP Europe Business School
- Sports and AI enthusiast
Daniel Grampa
- Broad experience spanning finance and entrepreneurship
- Generally interested in multi-sided platform business models; the convergence of disparate categories; decentralization
- BS Business Administration (Finance); MS Finance
Azim Ghafoori
- Entrepreneur and founder of consumer brands and enterprise brands.
- Former President of a Private Equity Firm in London
- Focused on Frontier tech with expertise in Quantum Computing & alternative meats.
- Adept at building brands and developing strategies.
- Angel Investor
75+ VU Venture Fellows
Joshua Pineault
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