Expo Ventures Team

Bio: Scott Armanini is a Silicon Valley venture advisor, angel investor, and sales and business development professional. At Samsung NEXT, Samsung’s early stage venture fund, he served as Senior Advisor for Portfolio Company Growth, helping software startups accelerate market traction. He also serves as Venture Advisor to IoT platform pioneer EKARTRA IoT, AI-based video communication platform Viddyad, global patent marketplace IPwe, the Silicon Valley Big Data and Cybersecurity Center, and US – China business development leader SVIEF (Silicon Valley Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum). Previously, he was Global Lead of Open Innovation at Accenture Ventures, Sales Director at Open Innovation firms GLIDR and RocketSpace, Product Manager at HP Software and Cisco Systems, and Global Business Development Manager at Microsoft Corp. (where he co-founded Avanade, a game-changing $B joint venture with Accenture). In addition to being a member of Peter Diamandis’ Abundance 360 Community, Scott has served as an advisor to Accenture’s 2014 Technology Forecast; the G20’s Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance Summit; and as an Entrepreneurship and Innovation Instructor for UC Berkeley Extension’s International Diploma Program. He has a BA in Economics and Political Science from UCLA and an MBA in Marketing from USC.
Notable Deals: Avanade, Bloomlife

Bio: Andy is VP of Investments at Alumni Ventures Group, where he supports investment operations, analytics, and portfolio management. Previously, Andy held several executive roles at a VC-backed start-up in Boston called MiniLuxe, where he led finance and operations during a period of significant growth. Andy was also a consultant at The Parthenon Group, and began his career as an actuary at the Liberty Mutual Group. Andy holds a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
Notable Deals: Commonbond, Mezu, Honor, Kognition

Bio: Anton has 20+ years of technology experience as a proven venture capital investor, entrepreneur and operating executive in companies ranging in size from start-up to Fortune 10. Most recently, Anton founded and led Vener8 Technologies, a technology commercialization company he started with GE. Previously in his career, Anton led the Software and Internet Infrastructure Group at GE Equity where he directly invested $72 million in 10 companies generating more than $500 million of realized gains. Anton has substantial international experience in Canada, China, Europe and Israel, and has served on the board of directors of more than 20 private and public companies. Anton has a BSc. Engineering from Queen’s University in Canada, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bio: During his 10 year tenure at Microsoft Corporation as a Lead Program Manager, Derek co-founded Microsoft Biztalk / workflow services product, co-invented several messaging protocols and co-patented the WindowsTM secure boot / volume encryption (BitLockerTM) technology. Derek then returned to finance as a vice president Head of Information and Integration Architecture at the JP Morgan Investment Bank. Concurrently, Derek led global financial industry messaging standards efforts serving as Convener/Chair of the ISO20022 Financial Messaging Standards Technical Support Group while also contributing to ISDA FpML and FIX Protocol standards. More recently, Derek served as a Solution Architect for a large hedge fund executing their back office outsourcing strategy. As an early adopter of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, Derek encourages the growth of friction free commerce and the great disintermediation wave enabled by Blockchain based Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with particular focus towards autonomous edge computing and bi-lateral smart contracts. Derek studied Aerospace Engineering at The University of Southern California.

Bio: Sean Nasiri is a seasoned entrepreneur, experienced fundraiser, and startup advisor. Sean currently serves as Head of Business Development and East Coast Operations for TokenSoft, a leading digital asset securities issuance and management platform. Notable clients include Hedera Hashgraph, Tezos Foundation, and INX. Sean started his career as a serial entrepreneur while attending the University of Southern California, where he was involved in multiple startup ventures in various capacities in addition to helping Motorola Mobility build their university relations program. After graduating, Sean was an early pioneer in the equity crowdfunding space. He founded GenYrator, the first mission-driven equity crowdfunding platform that connected alumni networks with young entrepreneurs. After GenYrator, Sean later launched the first Regulation A+ equity crowdfunding platform, where he served as Director of Investments at StartEngine. Prior to joining TokenSoft in 2018, Sean helped build Newark’s first social impact incubator, Fownders, and was Growth Operations Consultant at Electric.ai, where he helped the company scale operations to secure Series A financing.

Bio: Gary Sawka has extensive public and private company Board, management, and consulting experience in global companies in the areas of transportation equipment leasing and logistics, financial services, technology, biotech, and corporate venture capital.  This experience brings valuable financial, operational, governance and strategic expertise to Board and advisory roles in the Expo Ventures portfolio companies. Gary has served for the past twelve years as Board Member of a NYSE global transportation leasing finance and logistics company ($3 billion assets, $400 million revenue, $800 million annual capex) where he is Chairman of the Audit Committee and past Chairman of Compensation and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committees.  He has actively led strategic change and diversification. Gary has five years Board experience with an In-Q-Tel ventured funded diversified technology company (aerospace & defense, oil & gas, and entertainment). He can contribute and lead Board discussions involving strategic review, capital structure, financing sources, acquisitions, divestitures, crisis management, and restructurings.  He has experience in incentive compensation schemes across multiple industries.  He can provide in depth advice and counsel on global economics, trade, currency and interest rate issues impacting the company. He is well suited to public and private companies undergoing industry transition and consolidation. His CFO experience has been in public and private companies in global diversified industries – transportation leasing and logistics, financial services, technology, specialty pharmaceuticals / biotech. He has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BS in Accounting from the University of Southern California.  He is a San Francisco Bay Area resident with global business experience in Europe, Asia and across the U.S.

Bio: Inder M. Singh is Executive Vice President and CFO of Arm and leads the global finance organization as well as corporate IT operations and enterprise security teams. He joins Arm after having served as CFO for Unisys Corp., helping to accelerate organic growth and profitability, while also leading strategy and M&A functions. Inder has held senior financial leadership roles at top Fortune 50 companies, including Cisco Systems, Comcast and AT&T and brings key experience in M&A, IPOs, driving internal innovation strategies and external investment portfolio management. Inder serves on the Supervisory Committee of the Board of Directors at Affinity FCU, a US financial services firm. He also advises start-ups as a member of Columbia University’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Board. He has also served as an advisor on national security and critical infrastructure matters.

Bio: Aisha (‘17) is a strategist at EY, where she focuses on growth, innovation and transformation—primarily in the TMT sector. Previously she worked in market research and business development. She graduated from USC with a BA/BS in Philosophy & Business.

Bio: Deepak has an extensive background in Real Estate and Retail strategy from his experiences at Simon Property Group, a global developer of shopping malls and outlets and Sleepy’s, a mattress retailer acquired by Mattress Firm. Deepak has been working at Diggen, a data marketplace startup, leveraging 3rd party data assets into retail and real estate strategy. He is also an investor and advisor at OnePointOne, an autonomous robotic vertical farming startup. Deepak received his B.S. from Indiana University majoring in Finance-Real Estate & Operations Management and is currently pursuing his M.B.A. from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Bio: Patrick Liou, CFA is an FX trader at BlackRock with a specialized interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Previously, he has helped build out the Fundamental Active Equity trading desk at BlackRock and traded the Index Equity pad. He enjoys thinking about the markets actively, whether its macro, equities, rates, FX, or crypto and connecting those dots together. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Business Administration, Finance and a Minor in Psychology in 2013, cum laude.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Chris was a Customer Advocate at Graphic Packaging and in Sales & Marketing at Putnam Investments, where he created materials for reps and investors. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Manning School of Business, where he studied Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Studies.

Bio: Previously, Anne was an Applied Behavioral Analysis Counselor for Melmark and a medical biller for Physicians Resources. She is also a certified Certifiied Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, with her own clientele. Anne has a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Jenna was an Investor Service Representative at Putnam Investments, where she provided customer support to both clients and brokers. Jenna is a graduate of Merrimack College, Girard School of Business, where she studied Business Administration with a dual major in Management and Marketing.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Jordan worked in consumer and commercial lending with New Hampshire based firms. A Massachusetts native, Jordan graduated with honors from Plymouth State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a focus in business law.

Bio: Taylor graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a B.S. in Finance/Economics. Prior to joining Alumni Ventures Group, Taylor spent the early part of his career at Fidelity Investments as a licensed Financial Advisor, providing existing 401k clients with financial planning advice.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Hilary was a Staffing Executive and Program Manager at Robert Half. Previous positions include Retirement Planning & Guidance Consultant for Fidelity and an Investor Assistant for an independent investor. She has a Bachelor of Science, Business Management & Marketing from Fisher College.

Bio: Jamie was the Clinical Secretary Sr for Pediatric Gastroenterology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Earlier, he served as a Claims Processor Associate and then a Senior Associate at Cigna Health. He has also served in multiple church youth ministries for over 15 years throughout Ontario, Canada, in many different cultural contexts. He was part of the adjunct faculty in the youth ministry department at Tyndale University College. He has a BA in Psychology from York University, a Masters of Divinity from Tyndale Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.