Blue Ivy Ventures Team

Bio: Vik Acharya is the Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Brandywine Hospital, Tower Health. In this role, Vik is responsible for providing executive leadership to all hospital operations and strategic planning with a strong focus on the delivery of high quality and compassionate care. Vik has more than 15 years of experience in leadership roles with a focus on leading change and developing teams that build reliable, value-driven, and patient-centric delivery systems. As an active mentor, he coaches secondary and post-secondary students pursuing a career in healthcare administration. Vik is also active in the community, serving on the Board of Directors for the Downingtown Thorndale Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trustees for Community Volunteers in Medicine. Prior to joining Brandywine Hospital, Vik served as Vice President, Clinical and Procedural Services for University of Chicago Medicine, where he led operational, financial, strategic, and regulatory aspects of Perioperative Services, Heart and Vascular Center, Radiology, Transplantation Institute, Neurophysiology, and Sleep Lab. He also served as Administrative Director at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford where he oversaw financial, strategic, and regulatory aspects of six Pediatric service line clinical programs. Vik also managed the Transplant Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Vik was the recipient of the 2004 Yale University School of Public Health Chauncey Inspiration Award and official nominee of the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford Leadership Award in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Vik holds a Master in Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Ill., a Master of Public Health from Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and a Bachelor of Science degree in Healthcare Administration from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

Bio: Jaques is Executive Senior Vice President at Brookfield Asset Management, one of the world’s leading private equity firms. Based in New York City, Jaques leads the firm’s family office coverage effort where he focuses on deal syndication across private equity, real estate, infrastructure, power and renewables. Prior to Brookfield Jaques was a senior coverage officer for UBS Global Family Office Americas where he delivered UBS’s capabilities and expertise across the firm’s global wealth management and investment banking platforms. In this role he focused on financing and advisory mandates for family office portfolio companies, unique private investment opportunities, and tailored lending solutions. He has also been an investment banker with Credit Suisse, serving as a senior family office coverage officer. He has extensive private equity and alternative asset management experience. He earned a BA from Bowdoin College with a dual major in Economics and Political Science, and an MBA in Asset Management from Yale School of Management.

Bio: David is an investor and financial strategist with experience in companies and capital markets/M&A, with a focus on energy and technology. He has also directly invested in a number of private companies. He spent over a dozen years at Goldman Sachs Group, most recently as co-head of Investment Banking Strategies. He has managed portfolios for global macro hedge funds Fortress Investment Group and Tudor Investment, served as a CFO of a solar power plant, and was partner and CFO at a boutique investment bank. He graduated from Yale College with a BS in Mathematics and holds an MS in Scientific Computing and Computational Mathematics from Stanford.

Bio: Ali’s expertise includes capital raising, market development, sales and product management, and she has led both early stage business development as well as F100 initiatives. She is now founder and managing partner of York Street Strategy, a consultant assisting venture-backed tech companies, and is founder and CEO of Rethink: Circular, an advisory firm helping companies adopt circular economy principles. Past roles were at Seagate, Archetype Solutions, Genius.com, Alliances Wyse (acq. by Dell), and BEA Systems (acq. by Oracle.) Ali has an Economics Degree from Yale and is pursuing an Executive Master’s in Public Policy at the London School of Economics.

Bio: Leslie’s has more than ten years of investing and M&A experience across a broad range of industries including healthcare, real estate and fin tech. In total she has helped to value, structure and close more than $35.0bn of investments and M&A situations serving as both a principal investor and advisor. She has worked extensively with leading private equity and venture capital funds, and with leading public companies on transactions. Currently she is advising a PE & VC firm on investment opportunities. Previously Leslie worked as a Director in Corporate Development at Medtronic where she worked to structure, value and negotiate investments with medical devices and healthcare technology companies, many of which were later stage venture backed companies. Previously she was a Vice President in the Real Estate Investment team at Marathon Asset Management, a $13.0bn hedge fund, where she helped to evaluate and execute investments across multiple fund vehicles. She also held roles in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and in Corporate Development and Real Estate Finance at American Express. Leslie started her career as an architect working on commercial projects built in the New York area and in Asia. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia, an M.Arch from Yale, and a BA from the New School.

Bio: Leslie is a Co-founder and Principal of The Artemis Fund, a VC fund focusing on high growth seed and Series A stage companies led by women. She currently serves as a board member of the Houston Angel Network, on the Board of Advisors of Deep Isolation, a growth stage company that has a novel solution for the disposal of nuclear waste, and on the Advisory Board of SmartGurlz, a STEM education and entertainment company that creates products to address the diversity gap in STEM. She also serves on the board of the Yale Club of Houston, the Advisory Board of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Texas TriCities Chapter, on the Investment Committee of Blue Ivy Ventures Fund 3, and as an advisor to the Texas Medical Center Incubator Program (TMCx). Leslie is an active member of the Launch Syndicate (Jason Calacanis), PandoLabs in Park City, the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC), and the Rice Business Alliance, as well as the ADT Society of United Way Houston, DirectWomen, Center for Women in Law, and Emerge Houston. In addition, Leslie has directly invested in over 40 early stage companies and 5 seed/series A stage VC Funds. Prior to co-founding the Artemis Fund, Leslie practiced as a corporate lawyer for over 25 years and then as an executive recruiter for 3 years. Her experience in private practice included working with startups from incorporation to fundraising to growth through acquisitions. Leslie left private practice for roles at Waste Management and later Thermo Fisher Scientific (TMO). Leslie holds a B.A. from Yale University, an M.A. from the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia and a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law.

Bio: Neil has worked in industries from AI/machine learning to financial services, networking, robotics, and more. He has broad expertise in engineering and software development, product management, sales, and market strategy. He is now a product manager at Google Life Sciences, working on surgical robotics. Previously, he was in the Apps group, leading large brands strategy for Google Plus, and drove major initiatives in the Ads org. Prior to Google, Neil worked in financial services at ITG (an international broker-dealer) and developing proprietary trading and analytics tools for Wellington Management. Neil holds a BS in Computer Science from Yale University.

Bio: Northrup has broad private equity experience. In 1990 he founded Noonmark Capital to acquire small, high-growth specialty manufacturers. The firm led a series of successful buyouts, and Northrup currently invests in earlier stage private companies. Previously, he was an associate at Goldman Financial Group and later at Shawmut National Ventures. Northrup serves on the investment committees of the $900M University at Buffalo Foundation and the Seymour H. Knox Foundation, and on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. He received a BA from Amherst College and an MBA in Finance and Organizational Behavior from the Yale School of Management.

Bio: Bob Martin has over 40 years of experience as an investment banker, most recently as a Managing Director with Citigroup. In 2021, he retired after 33 years with the firm. During his time with Citigroup, Bob served as Co-Chair of the Fairness Opinion Committee, Chair of the Global Equity Commitment Committee, and a financial advisor on troubled company restructurings and mergers and acquisitions. Bob earned a degree in American Studies from Yale and is a Trustee of the Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut.

Bio: Michael joined the private fund placement agent Monument Group in 1998, and is a Partner in the Boston office. Monument has assisted its clients in raising 79 funds, totaling $86B of equity, and has investor coverage responsibility in the US. Previously, he was a Senior Research Associate at Cambridge Associates, where he was responsible for PE. Prior to this, Michael worked in Merrill Lynch’s Media Investment Banking Group. He has a BA in Political Science from Yale and an MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. He is FINRA Series 7, 63 and 24 registered through Monument Group.

Bio: Phong is an accomplished technology executive and entrepreneur. He serves as EVP of Product Management & Strategy for Accolade, a leading on-demand healthcare concierge (one of Forbes’s 25 most promising companies). Previously, he served as SVP & General Manager for Concur Technologies, a travel and expense SaaS pioneer (sold to SAP for $8.3B) and as Vice President for SAP across key functions including mobility, emerging markets, and corporate development. Phong has an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and graduated as a Joseph Wharton Scholar from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Bio: Mat is Founder and President of LKM Ventures, a firm that advises, invests in, and helps manage technology and media businesses. Over the past 30 years, he has held CEO and other executive roles at companies in search, advertising, publishing, communications, and identity security, and has been on the boards of companies from startups to multi-billion dollar corporations. He also served in the federal government and has overseen government affairs, policy, and regulatory initiatives in the private sector. He holds a BA from Yale and completed the Executive Program of the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia.

Bio: Mark is a Founding Partner of Las Olas Venture Capital, an early stage venture fund focused on Florida and other underserved venture capital markets. Prior to starting Las Olas VC, he spent 15 years at Higher One as CFO, Chairman, and then CEO, where he had a major hand in steering the company from its first round of seed funding and multiple rounds of venture funding all the way to its successful IPO in 2010. Since 2008, Mark has been an active angel investor and has invested in over 30 companies. He is also a Director of the Founder Institute – South Florida, where he helps budding entrepreneurs get their companies started. Mark holds a BA and MA in Economics from Yale University. He was also a founding officer of the Yale Entrepreneurial Society and on its board from 2000 to 2010.

Bio: Natasha Walji is a Director at Google Canada leading their Telecom, Tech and Public Sector. Her client focus is on customer acquisition & retention, brand building and digital transformation. Previously she was a McKinsey consultant and a software developer. Natasha has actively served the community for ~20+ years focusing on disaster relief, poverty alleviation, public health and co-founded an organization for children with disabilities. She is an angel investor and holds a BSc., Computer Science (UVic), MBA (Yale) and MSt. Sustainability Leadership (Cambridge). Natasha is one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women (WXN).

Bio: Rebekah has 18 years of experience in global financial markets and businesses, with a proven track record in asset allocation, portfolio management, and investing. She started her career with the EDB Singapore before spending more than 6 years with a multi-billion dollar single-family office investing across asset classes. Rebekah then joined JP Morgan Asset Management. After JP Morgan, Rebekah joined CDPQ, Canada’s 2nd largest pension plan when it first opened its Asia Pacific HQ in Singapore, covering investments throughout Asia. She currently invests and advises several startups, growth companies, angel networks, and family offices. Rebekah is an active contributor to Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) and Yale Alumni Association and has degrees from LSE, Yale University and the CFA/CAIA professional designations.

Bio: Preeti is an experienced professional in the tech industry across the globe. Her most recent roles were as the VP of Marketing at an AI startup in NYC as well as the AI Lead/Director of an investment bank. She recently graduated from the Yale School of Management with a Master of Advanced Management [MAM] degree.

Bio: Cathy is currently pursuing her MBA at the Yale School of Management. Prior to coming to Yale, Cathy worked in product management and operations at Liveramp, where she oversaw partnerships with Fortune 50 technology companies and built programmatic ad-targeting and attribution products. Cathy holds a B.E. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is passionate about investing in the female entrepreneurial community, and is interested in how FinTech and FemTech will transform society.

Bio: Jose Carlos is an MBA candidate at Yale SOM and a Summer Associate at Supernode Ventures. Before business school, Jose Carlos worked as an Investment Banking Associate at DD3 Capital Partners, where he led the execution of several M&A and Capital Raising transactions for an estimated value of over US$1.0bn. Prior to DD3, Jose Carlos worked for J.P. Morgan’s Investment Banking LatAm team both in Mexico City and New York, advising on M&A, ECM, and DCM transactions across industries. Jose Carlos majored in Financial Management with honors from Tec de Monterrey in Mexico City.

Bio: Howard (YC’17) is an associate at Searchlight Capital Partners, a private investment firm that has the ability to invest across the capital structure. Prior to joining Searchlight, Howard worked at Evercore in New York where he was part of the Industrials M&A group. Howard received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University.

Bio: John is a business development and growth strategy professional with diverse experience in food, insurance, and biotech industries. He has deep and varied experience building the commercial engine for a biotech startup, developing market entry and business development strategies for a health insurer, and growing the customer success team for a restaurant business intelligence SaaS company. Outside of his professional endeavors, John serves as an adviser to the American Exchange Project and is a chairman of the Associate Board for non-profit Rethink Food. John studied International Relations at Yale University, where he played varsity football before graduating in 2017.

Bio: Megan is pursuing her PhD in Materials Science/Applied Physics at Caltech, where her research focuses on next-generation solar energy and nanotechnology. Prior to Caltech, Megan worked in Equities Trading at Barclays. She graduated with a B.S. in Physics from Yale University.

Bio: Alina is a recent graduate from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where she primarily focused on sustainable product and business development as well as entrepreneurship. Prior to coming to Yale, she developed skincare products and has since worked with large beauty brands during her graduate school career, not only for product development, but to create corporate-wide initiatives to increase their sustainability. She is now working on a customizable skincare startup that she founded called Alta Mara.

Bio: Julia is an Investment Analyst at the Wesleyan Investments Office. At the endowment, she meets with investment managers as part of the asset allocation process and conducts portfolio analysis. She previously worked with the Global Education and Leadership Foundation to help found the Entrepreneurship Sports Generation, a global, sportified entrepreneurship competition. Julia studied Math and Philosophy at Yale University (’20).

Bio: Susan works with TMT clients on leveraged finance and advisory activities at J.P. Morgan within the investment banking division. She also serves as an Operating Committee member of the firm‚ Junior Women in Banking initiative. Born in New Zealand, Susan is trilingual and has lived on three continents. Susan holds a BA in Economics from Yale University, with a Certificate in Energy Studies focusing on sustainable investing.

Bio: Eugene (YC15) is currently a program manager for Google Cloud, where he works to develop large enterprise customers. Prior to Google, Eugene worked in vendor management at Amazon, as a Workday consultant for Mercer, and an account executive at Darktrace. Eugene holds a BA in Economics from Yale University.