The AVG Team

Bio: Mike has been involved in almost every facet of venturing, from angel investing to venture capital, new business and product launches, and innovation consulting. He is currently CEO of Alumni Ventures Group, the managing company for our fund, and launched AVG’s first alumni fund, Green D Ventures, where he oversaw the portfolio as Managing Partner and is now Managing Partner Emeritus. Mike is a serial entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, including Kid Galaxy, Big Idea Group (partially owned by WPP), and RDM. He began his career at VC firm TA Associates firm. He holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Notable Deals: Intuit, Sapho, Jenny Craig, Group

Bio: Jim is Co-Founder and CEO of Sun Valley Foods LLC, a Mexican foods processor employing 350 employees in Mexico and the U.S. and supplying leading North American food producers and distributors. Jim also served as Principal Manager at Eagle Holdings General Partners, a $45 million tribal investment fund. He previously was at Intel Corporation, where he was a Controller for the company’s worldwide network of chip assembly factories. His experiences at Intel included a two-year stint on the island of Penang, Malaysia managing a greenfield factory startup. Jim also served two years in the Peace Corps in Cameroon, W. Africa, where he lived among pygmy tribes and taught aquaculture. He started his career in Boston as a Bond Analyst and fed funds trader. Jim graduated from Dartmouth with an AB in economics and received an MBA from Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management.

Bio: Peter has key experience in the investment banking industry and extensive knowledge of finance and capital markets. Most recently, he was Chairman of the Board of Seventh Generation (SVG), a position he held from 2000 to 2016, when Unilever purchased SVG. He also served on the board of ExamWorks Groups (EXAM-NYSE) and led its Independent Committee through the sale of the Company. Earlier, Peter was the lead independent director of Alloy, a NASDAQ-listed media and education provider to children and negotiated its sale to a private equity company. Peter attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied finance and accounting.

Bio: Dave is a private equity investor with a focus on the software and healthcare industries. He worked from 1990-2015 at TA Associates, a large private equity firm, with roles ranging from Investment Analyst to Managing Director. Over his career at TA, Dave achieved a return of three times the capital he invested. Now, he invests on his own account in small, growing healthcare and tech companies. He is also Chairman of the Board of Lahey Hospital and Medical Clinic. A varsity basketball player at Harvard, Dave now is pursuing a second career in basketball coaching—currently the Assistant Coach of Babson Men’s College Basketball team. Dave has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Harvard University.

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: Rob is a former entrepreneur, institutional fund manager and software executive. He has served on many corporate boards and has founded or financed more than 40 companies, raising capital in both public and private markets. He is an internationally recognized expert and speaker on innovation, commercialization ,and entrepreneurship. Most recently, Rob was on the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin, where he taught entrepreneurship in the MBA program and was the Founder and Director of Texas Venture Labs. Previously he was a venture capitalist, founding AV Labs, a fund affiliated with Austin Ventures. Prior to the venture business, he was a software operating executive with Lotus Development, Business Matters where he was a founder and CEO and Pervasive Software, a company he helped take public. Rob holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue (receiving their Outstanding Engineer Award), an MBA from Babson’s Olin School of Management and a Ph.D. in Management from Capella University.

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.

Bio: Greg is a highly accomplished executive with experience in corporate leadership, business development, startups, M&A, strategic planning, and more. He has spent much of his career growing business in the electrical products, packaging, and chemical industries. Throughout, he has been buying, selling, and combining companies to fit strategic goals. Previously, Greg served as President and CEO of 2D2C, developing safer energy-saving products. Greg was also VP Corporate Development and Acting Division President for a high-tech subsidiary at Woodhead Industries and Director Corporate Development for Tenneco. Greg has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin (’86) and an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
Notable Deals: Heal, Grub Market, American Gene Technologies

Bio: During Gail’s long career at global financial services firms, she has served in decision-making posts as a banking executive, regulator, service provider, and board member. Her areas of expertise include financial services, portfolio development, financial analysis, and information tech. Gail served as a C-suite member of The Bancorp Bank, the innovative banking solution provider for the most recognizable names in digital banking. She also filled other executive roles at PNC Bank, Chase and Capital One, and NCO Financial Systems. In addition, she headed the Payments Studies Group at the Richmond Fed. Gail has a BS Economics, Finance and Statistics from Wharton (‘79).
Notable Deals: BetterView, Burrow, Bainbridge Health, SHIFT

Bio: David has played a leading role in many aspects of the VC investment cycle: structuring transactions as a fundless sponsor, improving operations as a consultant, leading management teams as a CEO, evaluating opportunities as an investor and advisor, and selling companies as a licensed business broker. Previously, he founded Synergy Financial, a private capital and consulting firm for entrepreneurs, PE professionals, and family offices. He started his investment career as a professional advisor managing millions in assets. David has an undergraduate and graduate degrees from Northwestern and played for the two-time Big Ten Championship Northwestern Wildcats Football Team. He serves on the NUvention and Kellogg Entrepreneurial Center Advisory Boards.
Notable Deals: Relayr, Heaven’s Door

Bio: Rob is an experienced investor, whose personal investments include Lyft, one of the world’s largest ride-hailing apps, Coursera, one of the world’s largest online learning platforms, and MobilEye, an autonomous driving company that was acquired by Intel for $15 billion.
Before joining Fission Ventures, Rob was a Managing Director and Partner with Sailing Capital, a private equity fund based in Hong Kong. Prior to that, Rob advised a number of ultra-high net worth individuals on private equity, including one of the first investors in Skype and one of the largest initial investors in Mail.RU. Before that, Rob was Partner and Head of Direct Co-Investments with Atlantic-Pacific Capital in London, after spending 15 years in investment banking with BAML, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and UBS in Europe, the US and Asia.
Rob received his MBA from Columbia and is the 4th generation of his family to attend Columbia University. He received a BA in English from Trinity College, and speaks four languages.

Bio: Ali is a builder and leader of high-performance finance and operations for early and growth-stage companies spanning cleantech, digital music, software, fintech, marketing, and more. As a serial startup CFO, he has executed financial modeling, transactions, and post-merger integrations.
In 1997, Ali joined Microsoft, leading developer evangelism and competitive engagement for East Coast enterprise sales and consulting teams. He later oversaw product management and the launch of Microsoft’s SharePoint business, as well as strategic planning and growth for Microsoft’s $10B Office business. He also was responsible for M&A due diligence and post-merger management for Microsoft’s venture acquisitions.
Ali subsequently joined the Global Technology Investment Banking group at Lehman Brothers, providing M&A and corporate finance advisory. He later joined the next-generation biofuels company Primafuel, a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, where he led fundraising and infrastructure projects. In 2011, he joined SecondMarket as Senior Vice President, facilitating $2B+ in secondary transactions for the world’s best venture-backed private companies. He then joined Movable Ink as CFO, producing record growth and profitability for the marketing personalization company. He also served as CFO of Olapic, a visual marketing leader that he helped sell to Monotype in 2016. Ali earned his BSE in Electrical Engineering from Duke and is now a regional board member for Duke New York. His MBA is from the Wharton School of Business, with a concentration on finance and entrepreneurship.
Notable Deals: Primafuel, Movable Ink, Olapic, Dynamic Yield

Bio: Marco is Principal at Fission Ventures, where he is responsible for sourcing and conducting due diligence on venture investments. Most recently, Marco served as Venture Fellow at Vostok Emerging Finance, where he leveraged his emerging markets expertise to perform in-depth analysis of FinTech opportunities in the region. Marco has 10 years of experience working with institutional investors, introducing them to fast-growing companies for which he helped raise over $20 billion in IPOs and secondary transactions. He received a BA in political science from Middlebury College and an MBA from Columbia University, where he focused on VC & PE investing and entrepreneurship. Marco grew up in Venezuela, finished high school in Southern Africa, and moved to New York by way of Moscow. He is fluent in Spanish and Russian, and conversational in French, Italian, and Portuguese.
Notable Deals: Capella Space, Hatch Apps, Veem, Universal Standard

Bio: Cainon has 10+ years’ experience in finance, venture capital, and entrepreneurship, having worked at Boston Consulting Group and PBM Capital Group as well as serving on the founding team of five startups. At BCG, he worked in their private equity practice to conduct due diligence across the semiconductor, transportation, and medical device industries. At PBM (a $500M healthcare-focused venture capital firm), he led investments and worked as an operating partner within portfolio companies (including Human Design Medical, Revive Pharmaceuticals, and Triangle Research Labs). Cainon is a co-founder and advisor of Viafy and was previously a co-founder and CEO of University Laundry (acquired by a national operator and now part of Proctor & Gamble’s marquee Tide brand). He has an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BS from the University of Virginia in Systems Engineering.
Notable Deals: Optimus Ride, Human Design Medical, RapidSOS, Vesper

Bio: Andre is an experienced investor, investment banker, and entrepreneur. He backed leading-edge Internet ventures such as Songza (GooglePlay), Trulia (sold to Zillow), Dash (sold to RIM), and Oodle (sold to QVC). He co-founded Deep Fork Capital as a Managing Partner of Fund I, investing for an ultra-high net worth family, and also founded wine management business Vintrust ($300M+ in assets). Earlier, he managed a $500M venture fund for billionaire Bernard Arnault, ran Morgan Stanley’s global Internet banking practice (working directly with Mary Meeker), and founded the Internet banking practice at Robertson Stephens. He received an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in 1995, JD at Boston University School of Law, and BA in Economics from Trinity College.
Notable Deals: Trulia, Songza, Dataminr, Oodle

Bio: Dave has held operating roles in sales and business development at venture-backed companies focused on digital health (Zocdoc) and enterprise cloud software (Shibumi). He has also invested as a Venture Partner at NextGen and an LP at CRE Venture Capital. Dave began his career in investment banking and corporate strategy at Deutsche Bank. He has a BA in Economics from Brown.
Notable Deals: Circulation, Andela

Bio: Lacey joined Green D Ventures from CareGroup Investment Office, a $3B manager of combined endowment and pension assets. As a member of the investment team, Lacey was responsible for investment sourcing and due diligence. Lacey managed investment opportunities across asset classes and strategies, including venture capital, growth equity, buyout, private credit, and hedge fund vehicles. Previously, she was an Associate at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and an Analyst in the Securities Division of Goldman Sachs. Lacey has a BA in History from Middlebury College and an MBA from Tuck.
Notable Deals Propel, WelbeHealth

Bio: Steve has over 20 years of operating and investing experience, having closed 30+ equity, debt, and M&A transactions totaling ~$5 billion. Previously, he was Founder and Managing Partner of Fox Meadow Capital Partners, a PE and infrastructure investment and advisory firm. Prior to that, he was a General Partner and top performer at Clarity Partners, an $800M PE fund, and a Vice President and top performer at Clarity’s predecessor, Rader Reinfrank & Co., a $100M TMT venture capital fund. While at Clarity, Steve founded ImpreMedia, which he built into the largest Spanish language newspaper company in the US as CFO/EVP of Corporate Development. Steve has also worked in investment banking and as a developer and investor in energy and utilities. He has a JD from Stanford, an MBA from Cornell, and a BS with distinction from Cornell’s College of Engineering. Steve teaches Advanced Private Equity at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and serves on the advisory council of the Cornell Program in Infrastructure Policy (CPIP).
Notable Deals: Trillium Digital Systems, Multex, PrimeCo, ImpreMedia, Verity Studios, Veem

Bio: Erik has worked with both traditional venture investors and corporate venture teams during his career. He has deep experience evaluating opportunities, structuring investments and advising management on value creation. Previously, he helped build the strategy and make investments for the PGA TOUR’s corporate ventures group. Erik began his career with Deloitte Consulting where he focused on corporate strategy and M&A engagements. He holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with High Honors. He has an MBA in Finance from Kellogg.

Bio: Alain has 30+ years of experience as a VC, angel investor, CEO, serial entrepreneur, Board Member, and advisor. He was Co-founder of Common Angels, New England’s leading investment group; Managing Director and CEO of Navigator Technology Ventures, a high-tech VC firm funded by Draper Lab; and CEO of Viewlogic, an innovative chip design software company. Alain has mentored over 100 MIT high-tech spinoffs and served on the MassTech Board through the terms of six governors. He was honored as Inc Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year. He has BSEE and SB Math degrees from MIT, SM Computer Science from Harvard, and OPM from Harvard Business School.
Notable Deals: Viewlogic, Applix, EverQuote

Bio: Larry is an experienced investor, business adviser and investment banker. Before joining Westwood Ventures, Larry managed the investment portfolios for the family offices of two prominent Seattle technology and telecom billionaires. Earlier, Larry was a strategy consultant in McKinsey & Company’s Silicon Valley Office, Director of Finance at a Silicon Valley startup (Blue Pumpkin Software) and a hedge fund investor. Larry started his career as an investment banker with Salomon Brothers and later, Robertson, Stephens & Company.  He received his MBA from The Anderson School at UCLA, Masters in Finance from London Business School, and a BA in Economics from Stanford University, where he sailed for the Varsity Sailing Team.

Bio: Shyam has been a technology entrepreneur, investor, and dealmaker for over 20 years. Until recently, he led business development at Tactai, a leading-edge startup focused on haptics for virtual reality and mobile computing. Previously, Shyam was with Fidelity Investments’ Eight Roads and F-Prime Capital platforms, where he led venture capital investments in technology across three funds that spanned the US, Europe, and Asia. His operating experience also includes leading worldwide business development for the data security division of RSA Security. Shyam received a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Bombay, a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University, and MBA degrees from Columbia Business School and London Business School.

Bio: Brian is a seasoned venture capitalist with over 20 year of investing experience across a range of industries.Before joining Chestnut Street Ventures, Brian was the Managing Director for New York Ventures, the venture capital arm of the State of New York. Prior to New York Ventures, Brian was VP of Strategy & Corporate Development at Arbitron (now Nielsen Audio) and a Managing Director at the Peacock Fund, the venture capital arm of NBC Universal. Before joining the Peacock Fund, Brian worked at GE Capital and Bain & Co.Brian holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from The University of Southern California.
Notable Deals: Outlooksoft, The Rubicon Project, Adify, Unite Us

Bio: Throughout most of her career, Erin has managed a wide range of investments in venture, private equity, buyouts, and more at the senior level. Previously, she was a Senior Investment Officer at Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM), where she managed and invested a $9B portfolio of PE and private debt investments. In this capacity, she sat on numerous boards of top VC & PE firms. Prior to PRIM, Erin was a VP at Bank of America Capital Advisors, investing across the private equity and real estate landscape. In addition, she held positions at Silicon Valley Bank in commercial finance and Citi Group in sales and trading. Erin has an AB in Economics from Harvard with honors, where she was an All-American lacrosse player, and an MBA from Tuck.
Notable Deals: SimpliSafe, JUMP, STRIVR, Landi

Bio: Ron has spent his career in a variety of entrepreneurial, leadership and business development roles. He has been an angel investor and advisor to over a dozen technology startups. Ron was co-founder and CEO of Barcelona-based TravelPerk, a venture capital-backed travel management platform that is ranked as one of the world’s fastest-growing SaaS companies as well as one of the most popular business travel booking tools in the market. Prior to TravelPerk, Ron started the B2B division of Booking.com and before that was a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Ron began his career at Lycos, one of the web’s pioneer search engine and web portals. He has lived in four European cities and traveled for business and pleasure to over 130 countries on six continents. Ron graduated from Babson College and received his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bio: Peter has 20+ years of experience as a business innovator, leader, and investor in Silicon Valley, Europe, and Asia. He is a member of the Forbes Global CEO network; has served on numerous boards and done business in 40+ countries. He was Senior Advisor at McKinsey & Co., a Co-founder and seed investor of Silicon Valley Data Science, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Almaz Capital, and a partner at Alloy Ventures. Previously, he was a founding member and operating executive with several startups. Peter is a co-inventor of several patented mobile messaging technologies and earned an MBA and BS in Engineering from UC Berkeley. Notable Deals: Yandex (IPO), Xactly (IPO), Qik (acq. by Skype) and Silicon Valley Data Science (acq. by Apple).
Notable Deals: Qik, Yandex, Xactly, Silicon Valley Data Science

Bio: Prior to joining Spike Ventures, Catherine was a successful entrepreneur, product manager, and software engineer. She was Director of Product at NEA-backed DataVisor, an enterprise company offering an unsupervised machine learning fraud solution. Prior to DataVisor, she co-founded the retail analytics company Fancy That, which was acquired by Palantir in 2015. While at Stanford, she built an online platform used by thousands of students and instructors to streamline grading. Catherine graduated from Stanford with a BS and MS in Computer Science, focusing on artificial intelligence.
Notable Deals: Capella Space, Haven, Lily AI, Sunfolding

Bio: Michael has spent most of his career in leadership roles at growing organizations. He has focused his time primarily as an investor, advisor, and/or board member working with companies across a range of industries and stages. Prior to co-founding The Yard, he served as Managing Director of Square 1, leading the expansion of the New England region while providing growth financing to dozens of venture-backed companies. Previously, Michael was an investor at Edison Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners, and Summit Partners. He earned an AB from Harvard University( ’00), where he was a four-year letter winner in both Varsity Football and Varsity Baseball. Michael later received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Notable Deals: JUMP, SimpliSafe, Getaround, STRIVR

Bio: Emil was previously Senior Manager at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Technology Center, where he was responsible for investment sourcing, due diligence, and closings in renewable energy generation, energy efficiency, mobility, and related sectors. Prior to this role, Emil was Manager of Innovation and Corporate Venturing at Liberty Mutual Insurance, and earlier he sourced investments for General Catalyst Partners. Emil holds a BSc. degree in Finance from Oklahoma State University and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, where he concentrated in VC and PE.
Notable Deals: Algorand, Circle, Mtonomy, Codex Protocol

Bio: Jonathan is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence on, and executing venture capital investments at Chestnut Street Ventures. He previously spent 12 years investing in private companies at two single-family offices and at American Capital. Jonathan began his career as an investment banker as an analyst at Wasserstein Perella and subsequently joined Goldman Sachs as an associate. He received his BS in Economics cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA with honors from Columbia Business School.

Bio: Tom Meyer is an experienced CEO and strategic consultant. Prior to becoming Managing Partner of Nassau Street Ventures and Senior Partner at Alumni Ventures Group, Tom was the Chief Operating Officer of OnePak, the leading reverse logistics software company and consultant to over 30 companies, advising on corporate development, sales and marketing, financing, strategic planning, and business transformation. Mr. Meyer has been CEO of three different tech companies, which he successfully turned around. As general manager, he launched Iron Mountain’s award-winning Digital Record Center. He brings a global perspective to business, having lived in Europe and Asia and worked in 40 countries around the globe. Mr. Meyer has an engineering degree from Princeton University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management. He is the former chair of the Princeton Entrepreneurs’ Network of Boston.
Notable Deals: Mapquest, Connotate

Bio: Wayne has held positions in both successful startups and thriving tech firms and brings a wealth of operational experience building teams, executing deals, and developing clients. He is committed to the growth of the venture and tech community in Chicago, serves as an advisor to a number of startups, and is a founding board member of Great Lakes Academy Charter School. Previously, he led analysis, negotiation, and deal execution for the global content acquisition team at Netflix. Before that, he was VP of Business Development at Silver Chalice Ventures, a digital media startup owned by the Chicago White Sox. Wayne began his career in the US Navy, serving as a Surface Warfare Officer. He holds a BS in industrial engineering from Stanford and an MBA from Kellogg.
Notable Deals: Relayr, Exicure

Bio: Ludwig is an experienced entrepreneur, venture investor, and strategic business consultant. Most recently, he was Founder and CEO of Mistral Mobile, delivering mobile fintech solutions to 12M+ people in emerging markets. Earlier, he was General Manager, Digital Financial Services and Business Development & Strategy Lead at Nokia, where he drove global sales, product management and development, and business development. In addition, he oversaw Growth Projects for the Executive Board. At LVMH Venture Fund & LPS Group, Ludwig was a venture investor and product manager. He also served as a Strategy Consultant to The Boston Consulting Group. Ludwig began his career launching and developing a number of startups and small businesses. He has a BA in Political Economy from Brown and an MBA from Columbia. He holds several patents and is an active investor.
Notable Deals: gate5, EMR Ventures

Bio: Carly has spent her career with technology companies, in business development and product roles. Prior to joining Blue Ivy Ventures, Carly worked at dataxu, a marketer-aligned data and analytics company, where her responsibilities included overseeing strategic partnerships, managing multiple BD relationships and leading product development efforts. Carly has a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, where she was on the women’s varsity rowing team.
Notable Deals: Honor, Humatics

Bio: Laura brings operational perspective as a CEO, Chairman, and executive in technology startups. As Managing Partner at Ripplecreek Partners’ technology practice and General Partner at FA Technology Ventures she worked many tech sectors: mobile, consumer, internet, SaaS, cloud-based, marketing and enterprise software. She also served as CEO at Handango, creating the first marketplace of mobile apps. At Microsoft, she co-founded Sidewalk.com and MSN HomeAdvisor as part of an elite swat team spun out of Bill Gates’s office. Laura holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and AB in Government from Dartmouth (‘89).
Notable Deals: RealSelf, Propel

Bio: Isaac is an experienced investor and analyst, leading research, sourcing deals, and coordinating diligence for venture and growth equity firms. Prior to joining Castor, he was an Investment Consultant to Tiger Global Management and founded Buttonwood Gaming, developing a digital economic simulation game with collaborators at MIT and worldwide. Earlier, Isaac served as Senior Analyst, Business and Research at Catalyst Investors, and an Associate at Samson Capital Advisors (now Fiera Capital). Isaac has an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, an AB from Brown University in Economics and Political Theory, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Bio: David has over 25 years of experience as an investor, advisor, and board member, with expertise across early and late stage venture capital, growth investing and secondary deals, as well as in technology operations and entrepreneurship. Before joining Blue Ivy, David was Senior VP Corporate Development and Business Development for DataXu, a marketer-aligned data and analytics company.Prior to his time at DataXu, he was a Director with the global venture and private equity firm 3i, and Managing Partner at Great Point Capital (established to manage a venture portfolio spun off from 3i.) This includes Board Directorships with ten companies, as well as strategic advisory work at both the Board and operating levels. His pursuit and passion is helping disruptive technologies and ideas to scale commercially. Prior to his tenure with 3i, David was Co-Founder and COO of Exygy, focused on GPS and wireless technology. He also worked in the Private Equity group at GE Asset Management, where he specialized in late stage venture and growth capital opportunities. David received his BA in History from Yale in 1991, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth in 2000.
Notable Deals: Wellpartner, Carbonite, Dataminr, Rigetti

Bio: Chris has over 20 years’ experience in tech investing, product development, and sales engineering. He has invested over $60M in companies from seed to venture stage. Most recently, he was Vice President at Edison Partners, where he focused on investments for Enterprise 2.0 and mobile. Previously, Chris was a Director of Business Development with biomedical venture accelerator BioEnterprise and Director of Business Development with Chrysalis Ventures. Earlier, at JumpStart, a nationally recognized venture development organization, he sourced and executed seed investments. Chris has an SB EE from MIT (’88) and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Notable Deals: MoneyLion, eSentire, Uptivity, HealthMedia

Bio: Prior to joining Fission Ventures, Zachary was the Director of Investments at Alpha Square Group, a New York based multi-family office investment fund. Zach was in charge of leading private investments in mid and late-stage US technology and healthcare companies. Prior to Alpha Square, Zach helped launch a venture investment platform for a large private Chinese asset manager in Silicon Valley. He has also worked at a tech-focused growth and buyout private equity fund in New York. Zach comes from a background in M&A with experiences in investment banking, management consulting and corporate development. He has an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelors in Finance from Ohio State University.

Bio: Wesley has a background in both technology and investing. Previously, he served as a product manager at BlackRock Solutions. While at BlackRock, he helped grow and scale their enterprise risk analytics platform, including facilitating the on-boarding of a $300 bn AUM client. He later transitioned to a traditional investment role where he worked as an investment strategist for the fixed income division of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which manages over $400 bn in AUM across macro and credit strategies. He is also the author of the blog The Unofficial VC. Wesley received his BS from the College of Engineering at Cornell University.
Notable Deals: npm, Better Mortgage, Tempo Automation

Bio: Sohila completed her undergraduate studies in Molecular Cell Biology and Neurobiology at Berkeley (’07), her doctoral studies in Neuroscience and Neuro-engineering, and her post-doctoral fellowship in Systems Neuroscience, Bioinformatics, Computational Modeling at Cal Tech. By the age of 25, she had published over a dozen first author publications in leading scientific journals. By the age of 30, she founded three biotech and digital health companies (one has exited, the others are in diligence for acquisition). Sohila serves as an advisor to several biotech, digital health, and several accelerators, including UC Berkeley’s accelerator. She has also worked for leading VC firms, including Pacific Capital Hong Kong, BCG Digital Ventures, and Khosla Ventures.
Notable Deals: Contraline, Sana.io, SQZ Biotech, Smart Skin Biome

Bio: Deborah has over 25 years of experience working with social impact entrepreneurs and mission-driven leaders. Prior to joining AVG, Deb was an independent consultant for business development and growth strategies, guiding founders through the early startup and launch phases of new social ventures and nonprofit organizations. Her clients included an MIT professor and former dean launching a venture to transform the higher education landscape, social ventures focused on national security and foreign policy, and a national organization building a global joint initiative for world leaders. She has worked in higher education advancement, nonprofit management, and as a Capitol Hill lobbyist, beginning her career as committee staff in the US Senate. Deborah holds a BS in political science from Birmingham-Southern College and a MA in Communication from American University.

Bio: Luke is an experienced entrepreneur with a focus on marketing, sales operations, and customer experience. He has a background in private equity, and has scaled several startups as employee #1, including bootstrapped, angel-backed and venture backed companies. His first company, Urban Escapes, was acquired by LivingSocial. He is also the Founder of the AVG Venture Fellow Program. Luke has an AB in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.

Bio: Mike has been involved in almost every facet of venturing, from angel investing to venture capital, new business and product launches, and innovation consulting. He is currently CEO of Alumni Ventures Group, the managing company for our fund, and launched AVG’s first alumni fund, Green D Ventures, where he oversaw the portfolio as Managing Partner and is now Managing Partner Emeritus. Mike is a serial entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, including Kid Galaxy, Big Idea Group (partially owned by WPP), and RDM. He began his career at VC firm TA Associates firm. He holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Notable Deals: Intuit, Sophos, Jenny Craig, Group

Bio: Sue was formerly a Senior Vice President at Bain Capital, bringing 18 years of private equity experience with her to AVG, with a focus in Venture Capital as well as Private Equity Funds. Prior to being at Bain Capital, she was a Manager in the Small Business Division of Arthur Andersen, one of the big-eight accounting firms, focusing on tax and audit for start-ups and smaller clients. Sue is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and holds a BS in Accounting from Northeastern University.

Bio: Beth is an experienced communications expert, product developer, and C-level executive, who has helped launch and grow numerous startups. Most recently, she was Vice President at Big Idea Group, an innovation consulting agency partly owned by WPP, where she was head of operations and marketing. Earlier, she served as VP of Product Development at specialty retailer Kid Galaxy. She began her career in editorial supervisory positions at educational publishers. Beth has a BA from Grinnell College and an MA from the University of Michigan, both in English.

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: Colin is an entrepreneurial business leader with experience leading high-growth ventures in higher education, tech, CPG, and politics & government.  Most recently, he served as Vice President of Workforce Solutions for Southern New Hampshire University, and was on the founding executive team for SNHU’s online College for America, which he helped launch and grow to more than 10,000 students and graduates nationwide. Colin was a candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in 2016 and was publicly elected twice to New Hampshire’s five-member Executive Council (which serves as a board of directors for the state government). Colin holds a BA in International Studies from The George Washington University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Bio: Shraddha has over a decade experience in the Fund Accounting/Administration space working on numerous investment vehicles and asset classes. Prior to AVG she has worked for RBC Investor & Treasury Services, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai.

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: Mersiha is an experienced finance leader with a range of expertise from start-ups to large, multinational corporations. She began her career at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., one of the largest private banks in the United States. Following her time at BBH, Mersiha joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as an analyst and later manager, leading numerous finance & operations functions during her 10-year tenure. More recently, Mersiha developed finance departments and implemented best-practices for startups, resulting in successful acquisitions and IPOs. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University, and an MBA from Bentley’s McCallum Graduate School of Business.

Bio: Josh is Executive Vice President at Alumni Ventures Group. He has had a long career in consumer goods and tech, including Google and Procter & Gamble, and Bose. He is deeply experienced in product innovation, go-to-market strategy, communications and advertising, CPG, traditional retail and e-commerce. Josh is also a former military officer, having served six years on active duty in the U.S. Army. Josh also founded Veterans Brands, a marketing strategy consultancy specializing in veteran-run SMBs, brands targeting veterans and active military, and authentic American brands. He holds a B.S.E in Aerospace Engineering from Princeton and a MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bio: Peter has startup experience in both the non-profit and business sectors, a BA from Wesleyan University and an MBA from The Wharton School. Peter developed expertise building teams and strategic planning in the San Francisco Bay Area, driving growth across multiple seed- and early-stage companies (with many nights spent as informal adviser to a network of entrepreneurs). Peter has a passion for social impact and loves working with people who love what they do and strive to get better at it.

Bio: Katie is a VP of Strategic Relationships at AVG. She works with institutional investors and wealth advisors interested in learning about AVG’s products. Previously, she was a Senior Relationship Manager for State Street Global Advisors, the third largest institutional asset manager, focused on the firm’s largest Sub-Advisory clients. Key responsibilities included client management with a focus on sales and business development. Prior to that Katie focused on capital raising in the hedge fund industry. Earlier positions included institutional sales trading, proprietary trading at Goldman Sachs and equity research at a mutual fund company. Katie earned her BS with a concentration in Economics from Babson College.

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: Luis is an experienced strategy, operations, and sales leader who joined Alumni Ventures Group in 2018. Prior to AVG, he held several positions at Liberty Mutual, including roles in corporate strategy and customer experience. Most recently, he served as the Director of Strategic Initiatives, where he led large-scale projects across Liberty Mutual’s 8,000-person U.S. Claims organization. Earlier, Luis led business development and client relationships operations in the Northeast US for BCA Research, a firm serving traditional asset managers, RIAs, and hedge fund managers. Luis holds a B.S. from Boston College and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Bio: Andrew is an experienced strategy, marketing, and early stage investment leader who joined Alumni Ventures Group in 2019. Prior to joining AVG, Andrew was the CEO of a digital marketing company in Burlington, Vermont which doubled in size/revenues during his tenure. Preceding that, he was the VP of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, operating the incubator and seed capital fund. Andrew serves on the board of WheelPad, an L3C that builds accessible housing veterans. Andrew holds an MBA from the University of Vermont.

Bio: Ingrid joined Alumni Ventures Group from Athena Capital Advisors, a $4 billion Registered Investment Advisor/Multi-Family Office in Lincoln, MA, where she managed the Client Service team. Ingrid was directly responsible for operations in daily money movement & approvals, account opening and investment operations. Prior to Athena, Ingrid spent five years at Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Ingrid holds a BS in Business Administration from Bryant University.

Bio: Darrin’s primary role is to develop new business opportunities for AVG’s lineup of venture portfolios by establishing and managing strategic relationships with investment advisors and institutional investors. An essential function of his role will be broadening product awareness, and education about VC as a viable asset allocation option. Prior to joining AVG, Darrin had extensive business development experience in financial services and B2B including: institutional sales; alternative investment, separate account, and mutual fund wholesaling; software sales; business process outsourcing; and financial operations. He earned a BA in Economics & Public Management from The University of Maine and an MBA from Boston College.