Meet Your Investment Team
These are your classmates who wake up every day on your behalf to assemble a great venture portfolio
Rob Bibow
Managing Partner
COLUMBIA MBA '96
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.
Marco Casas
Principal
Columbia MBA '17
Investment Committee & Advisors
Classmates and fellow investors who help create your venture portfolio
David K. (Bob) Edmonds
Bob is Senior Vice President for Growth at Elbit America, a global aerospace and defense provider for the defense, homeland security, commercial aviation, and medical instrumentation markets. He leads the integration and alignment of business development, strategy, corporate development, and strategic communications. He also leads the International / FMS business and manages the early-stage business of commercial unmanned aerial systems digital agricultural.
Bob served in the US Air Force, retiring with the rank of Brigadier General, and also served in multiple senior operations and policy positions in the Pentagon. In addition, he worked as a White House Fellow and as the lead for Air Force congressional affairs for both the House and the Senate.
Bob graduated from the Air Force Academy with a BSCE, then earned a MSCE as a Guggenheim Fellow from Columbia University. He also received a Masters in National Security Strategy from National War College, and completed an executive education program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Bob is a Falcon Foundation Trustee and a past president and board member of the White House Fellows Foundation and Association.
Eva Garland, Ph.D.
Eva is the founder and CEO of Eva Garland Consulting, LLC, which specializes in helping early stage technology companies tap into over $100 billion of federal, state, and private grant funding sources. Eva is also Director of the LiftOff Program at First Flight Venture Center, which assists North Carolina’s scientific entrepreneurs in obtaining early funding for their companies. She has published a book on winning grants through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, and serves on several scientific grant review panels. Eva was Vice President of Research & Development for Agile Sciences, where she oversaw the development of a new class of molecules for treating drug-resistant bacterial infections. Eva holds a BA in Chemistry from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Caltech. She previously served on the faculty at North Carolina State University.
Michael Collins
CEO of Alumni Ventures Group
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 Chairman and CEO of Alumni Ventures Group, and launched AVG’s first alumni fund, Green D Ventures, where he oversaw the portfolio as Managing Partner. 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. He holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Tom “TK” Kuegler
Chief Investment Officer at AVG
TK is Chief Investment Officer at Alumni Ventures Group, helping launch new funds, recruit deal teams, and oversee portfolio management. He also serves on the AVG Board of Directors. In addition, TK is the Co-founder and General Partner of Wasabi Ventures, a venture capital incubator and consulting firm that builds and advises early stage tech companies. Wasabi Ventures has launched, financed, and advised more than 200 startups. In his 25 years of startup activity, he has been a part of over 1,500 rounds of financing as an investor, founder, or adviser. He is also the author of Web Advertising and Marketing and dozens of articles about startups and software, as well as a frequent lecturer. TK earned a BS in Economics from Loyola and is a former member of the Board of Sponsors of Sellinger School of Business at Loyola.
Venture Fellows
Select group of young Columbia alums participating in our Venture Fellow Program
Justin Brown
Community Engagement Fellow
JC is a tech strategist, specializing in Internet and FinTech technologies. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area where he performs advisory services to early-stage tech companies. His nearly decade career includes numerous roles in strategy, product management and research. JC’s previous work experiences include corporate strategy & development team at Verisign, strategy consulting at Strategy& (formerly Booz & Co.) and the investment bank at JPMorgan. JC has an M.S. in Information and Knowledge Strategy from Columbia University (’14) and a B.S. in Business Administration from Morris College.
Lauren Zanedis
Venture Fellow
Columbia University
Lauren is currently an MBA Candidate at The Wharton School studying Multinational Management, and is a visiting board member of the Pennsylvania Ballet. She is spending her summer as a Senior Management Associate Intern at Bridgewater Associates, LP. Prior to Wharton, Lauren worked in business development at the international art auction houses Sotheby’s and Phillips. Lauren received her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Columbia University in 2011.
Casey Klippel
Venture Fellow
Columbia University
Casey is a Managing Strategy Consultant in IBM’s Chief Analytics Office. At IBM, she combines data, strategy, and cutting-edge machine learning to improve IBM’s top and bottom lines. Casey has prior experience in both financial services and in applied math research. She has an MBA from NYU Stern, an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, and a B.A. in Music from Yale University.
Chirag Sachar
Venture Fellow
Columbia University
Chirag is currently a PhD student at the department of Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University, where his work focuses on engineering the immune system. Beyond research, Chirag has industry experience in the medical technology industry both in the U.S and in Hong Kong, having worked at various stages of product development and assessment. Additionally, Chirag has entrepreneurial experience, currently working on a project recently funded by Columbia’s Translational Therapeutics Resource Accelerator. Chirag received his B.A. in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago and a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University.
Alumni Ventures Group Support Staff
The team behind the Fission Investment team - freeing them to build you a great venture portfolio
Chris Sacharuk
Investor Relations Manager
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.
Anne Miller
Investor Relations Manager
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.
Hilary Ncala
Director of Investor Relations
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.
Jamie Eitel
Community Relations Manager
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.