Blue Ivy Ventures Team

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: 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: 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: Matthew is the co-founder of Raise Green, a crowdsourced financing company for renewable energy projects. Previously, he spent two years doing statistical programming for the Data-Driven Yale research group while obtaining a Masters of Environmental Management Degree from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Before graduate school, he spent four years as a Senior Staff Environmental Scientist at Landau Associates, Inc. investigating contaminated properties, overseeing clean-up actions, and providing air emissions modeling for regulatory compliance. Matthew holds also holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Science with a minor in Chemistry from Western Washington University.

Bio: Sam began his career as a consultant in Dakar, Senegal, advising investors, foundations, and governments on emerging markets. He’s since helped build early-stage startups in education and renewable energy across the African continent and is currently working on the deployment of decarbonization technologies and solutions. A dual citizen by way of the French Caribbean, Sam holds a BA from Yale and an MA (summa cum laude) from Sciences Po Paris.

Bio: Sophia is currently an energy industry analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where she serves as an expert witness on cost of capital for electric utilities. Prior to FERC, Sophia was a senior consultant in the energy practice at Navigant Consulting, Inc. and a project controller at Deloitte Consulting LLP. She was also an Environmental Defense Fund Climate Corps Fellow at KKR & Co. L.P. Sophia holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Georgetown 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).

Bio: Sarah (YC’13) works in Business Operations at Tesla Energy. Previously, she was a Project Development Associate at SolarCity and head researcher for the CEO of Eurasia Group, where she built energy market investment risk models for Fortune 100 companies. Prior to that, she analyzed energy legislation for Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives. Sarah holds a BA with Distinction in Political Science from Yale.

Bio: Yang (YSPH’17) is an MPH candidate at Yale School of Public Health and investment manager at AngelsGlobal, a funding platform and venture fund. At Yale, he serves as a regulatory analyst at the Institutional Review Board reviewing biomedical research applications. Previously, Yang worked at Zhen Fund, an early-stage investment firm in China. Yang received a bachelor degree in Biology and Asian Studies from Macalester College.

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 Certified 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, 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.