Blue Ivy Ventures Team

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Marc is a prolific inventor and medical product developer, with broad operating experience as both an entrepreneur and acquirer. He has held a variety of innovation and executive positions at ODC, Medtronic, Abbott, Facet Solutions, Synthes, and Johnson & Johnson. He has played a central role in R&D, M&A transactions, IP strategy, in- and out-licensing of individual technologies, and post-M&A integrations, including the $19.7B acquisition of Synthes by J&J. Marc earned a BS in Physics at Ursinus College, an MS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming, a PhD in Kinesiology at Penn State, and an MBA from Yale.

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: 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: 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: Reshma’s experience includes public and PE investments, strategy consulting, and business development in healthcare. As Director of Business Development for Stanford Health Care, she facilitates strategic program growth. Prior to that, she was a Partner at Impact Consulting, where she assisted venture-backed health tech and life sciences companies with business development, market strategy, and pre-market planning. She also worked as an Associate in Pinnacle Ventures, evaluating venture investments in med tech, digital health, and life sciences startups. Reshma has a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Yale and an MBA from Stanford.

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: 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: 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: 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: Raymond is a successful entrepreneur and active angel investor. He is also a Lecturer in the Practice of Entrepreneurship at the Yale School of Management and Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship at Babson College. He founded GigaMedia, the first broadband internet company in Asia (its US$280M IPO was one of the largest for an internet company prior to 2000). He also founded Luckypai, a leading TV shopping company in China (sold to Lotte Home Shopping for US$160M). He received his BA from New York University, MBA from Yale School of Management, and MPA from Harvard JFK School of Government.

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:Michael has extensive operating experience within the technology industry, spanning early, growth, and IPO-stage ventures in the Video Gaming, Mobile AdTech, Software-as-a-Service, and New Media sectors. His versatile interests highlight integrated expertise across Operations, Sales, Finance, Marketing, and Product Development and Design. Notable accomplishments include building a US-China startup that was acquired by The9, orchestrating post-acquisition integration initiatives while at Fyber, and designing various award-winning New Media projects. Michael received his MBA in International Management and Entrepreneurship from UCLA Anderson, and dual majored in Art and Computer Science for his BA from Yale.

Bio: Nirvi is currently pursuing her MBA at Yale School of Management where she leads the Social Impact Consulting Club. She has over 5 years of experience working in the Mergers and Acquisitions team at KPMG, where she successfully advised on multiple transactions. She is a CFA and holds a Bachelors in Business and Finance from the University of Mumbai.

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: Lauren Graham is the founder of Velvet Frame, a social change strategy and communications consultancy based in New York.  She works with nonprofits and social enterprises on capacity-building and change management challenges by applying an ecosystems approach.  Lauren’s background encompasses environment and sustainability, strategic communications, international development, and creative media for public engagement.  She’s an alumna of Stanford University, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice.

Bio: Brent is a first-year MBA student at Yale focused on tech and entrepreneurship. Prior to school, he was at Uber for six years and saw the company grow from 400 to 20k+ employees. He worked in product development and strategy and most recently helped launch a new team out of Uber’s Incubator focused on integrating ride-hailing, bikes, and scooters with public transit. He is originally from Virginia, loves being active outdoors, and swam across the English Channel in 2019.

Bio: Caroline Pringle is an Associate at Y Analytics, an organization launched by TPG’s Rise Fund to guide capital allocators towards more socially-responsible investment decisions. At Y Analytics, Caroline specializes in education investments, including EdTech and adult learning in developing economies. Previously, Caroline worked for the Boston Consulting Group and helped launch the Education Outcomes Fund for Africa and the Middle East with Sir Ronald Cohen. Caroline holds a BA in Global Affairs with a focus on International Development 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: Lina is currently an MBA student at Yale SOM, where she will be graduating in 2021. Prior to that, she worked in the P&C insurance industry for 10 years. She held various management positions and worked in multiple states. She has her CPCU (Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter) designation. She graduated from Penn State University where she obtained a B. of Sc. in Marketing with a minor in International Business and a B. of Arts in Economics with a minor in Spanish. She has also provided analytical and consulting support to some African start-ups in the areas of marketing, fundraising and finance management. She is fluent in French and English, and conversational in Spanish.

Bio: Sophia comes from a venture advisory background where she worked with entrepreneurs and CXOs on their business and financing strategies. Her technology exposure includes Cloud Computing, Mobile apps, AI/ML and since 2017, took a deep plunge into the world of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency. She built a network of investors and deal flows and strives to be a positive node in everyone’s network. Outside of work, Sophia pays it forward by being a mentor at Yale Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking. She pursued Master of Advanced Management at Yale School of Management, and during her studies, she was a competitor on the Yale Ballroom Dance Team.

Bio: Mackenzie Lee (YC’16) is a consultant at McKinsey &Company, where she specializes in digital strategy and emerging technologies across. Currently, she is seconded to Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation firm started by Melinda Gates, where she manages a coalition of leading tech companies that have committed investment dollars to close the gender gap in tech. Mackenzie received a B.A. in Global Affairs from Yale and was a four-year coxswain on the men’s varsity heavyweight crew team.

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.

Bio: Will has been in the biological sciences for over a decade, specializing in metabolic disorders and antibody production. As scientific officer at Proteintech, he has worn many hats in marketing, R&D, and strategy, including hosting a podcast on career development for scientists called The Incubator. Will has a B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan and a PhD from Yale University (’15).