Purple Arch Ventures Team

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: 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: 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: Stephanie spent more than 15 years in higher education advancement as a fundraiser and alumni relations professional, getting her start at Tufts University. She also worked at Northeastern University, where she led the programming and engagement for 200,000+ alumni worldwide. Earlier in her career, she had her own consulting practice, which focused on fundraising, board development, and communications strategies in the non-profit sector. A strong advocate for mentorship and networking, she brings those passions to investor engagement at AVG. She holds a BA from the University of New Hampshire, where she was a member of the women’s soccer team, and a MA from Emerson College.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Jordan worked in consumer and commercial lending with New Hampshire based firms. A Massachusetts native, Jordan graduated with honors from Plymouth State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a focus in business law.

Bio: Andy has more than 30 years of executive leadership in both public and private companies. His sector experience includes CPG and for the past 20 years SaaS businesses. For the past 15 years he served as Chief Financial and Administrative officer of CCC Information Services and, as of February 2020, became a Senior Advisor to CCC. During his tenure at CCC the company executed three value creating transactions – from public to private and subsequently two private to private transactions resulting in a 10X increase in equity value. He has demonstrated an ability to effectively balance the needs of customers, PE sponsors, lenders and employees. He serves as a board member of CCC’s China subsidiary and is President of the non-for- profit Lauri Bauer Foundation for Sudden Loss. Andy holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a BSBA from the University of Missouri.

Bio: Rex has spent the entirety of his career in the institutional securities industry. For the last decade, he has served as an investment banker specializing in healthcare M&A. He has advised on ~$10 billion of completed hospital system transactions involving academic (Duke, Northwestern, U. of Chicago), nonprofit (Beaumont, UnityPoint), local-Government (Santa Clara, CA), and for-profit companies (sponsored by Apollo, Blackstone, TPG, Warburg Pincus). Rex spent the early part of his career at Morgan Stanley focused heavily on infrastructure privatization funds. Rex is also an active private investor with a personal portfolio of 20+ angel investments. He is particularly interested in entrepreneurship aimed at bridging social, educational, and economic inequality. He holds an MBA from Kellogg and lives with his family in Winnetka.

Bio: Mellie is a Senior IT/Technology and Management Consultant and Executive Director at CANADA Practice. Working with tech entrepreneurs ranging from Fortune 100 to early stage startups, she manages complex business transformation projects, builds digitally disruptive agile products, and provides growth advisory. She also serves on the advisory board for Electro-Medical Instruments Co. and The Vinetta Project investing in Women Tech Entrepreneurs. Mellie holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from Kellogg and the Schulich School of Business at York University.

Bio: Meena is a multi-faceted executive bringing an enterprise- wide, global approach to business challenges and opportunities faced by companies in various lifecycle stages. She has a broad depth and breadth of experience in the technology, consumer goods, media and entertainment industries having served in executive roles, including as Chief Legal and Administrative Officer for a publicly listed wireless technology company. She has resolved challenging issues while integrating strategy, evaluating enterprise risk while incorporating shareholder consideration. Earlier in her career, she led cross-functional teams to grow and scale business through product launches and increasing operational efficiencies. As a forward-thinking executive, leader and strategist, she serves as an Advisory Board member for Entefy, Inc. Golden Poppy, Inc. and is the First Vice Chair of Legal Momentum. She graduated from Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in classics and from Washington University in St. Louis with a juris doctor and master’s in business degrees, is a Legal Momentum 2016 Women in Achievement honoree, was named by Silicon Valley Business Journal as the “2018 Corporate Counsel – Public Company,” served as a panelist for FEI and other organizations.

Bio: Payal is a hospitality industry executive and has spent the past decade focused on growing the footprint of big brands in the hospitality industry in a variety of investment, acquisitions and business development roles, most recently at Kimpton and Starwood. She offers deep expertise in feasibility and underwriting efforts focused on real estate and advises on hotel development decision-making, contract negotiation, corporate finance and long-term strategic planning. Previously Payal co-founded and built both an early stage property tech startup and a company in the hospitality space. She started her career in the financial services industry in Corporate Strategy & Development and Equity Research roles working at JPMorgan and Lehman Brothers, respectively. Payal invests in early stage companies and has actively sourced real estate development opportunities as well as managed private equity investment assets. Payal is a CFA Charterholder and holds a BA in Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA in Marketing from The Wharton School of Business.

Bio: With over 20 years of telecommunications industry experience, Robert has worked for some of the world’s largest consumer brands, including Sprint, Vodafone, T-Mobile U.S., Deutsche Telekom, and McKinsey & Company. A dynamic and culturally versatile leader, Robert has driven large-scale turnarounds through transformative thinking and relentless execution. In his international career, Robert has delivered substantial industry and organizational change with a track record of creating a step-change in customer satisfaction and financial results. His drive and passion mobilize an organization and its stakeholders to identify and exploit market opportunities through new business models. Robert has developed a unique accelerated approach to identify award-winning consumer innovations, for which he received numerous marketing awards (e.g., Most Effective Launch Campaign of Effective Mobile Marketing Awards). He inspires top talent to join his missions and truly believes in developing leaders vs. followers. As part of the Executive Team at Sprint, where he managed the Handset Insurance and Leasing businesses with annual revenues of $9B, Robert played a pivotal role in driving Sprint’s iconic turnaround and sale to T-Mobile. Robert holds a Ph.D. in Marketing (University of Vienna), an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and a dual Master’s degree in Commerce and International Management (Vienna University of Economics & Business Administration) and is fluent in German (native), English and French.
In addition to his passion for cooking, he is interested in writing, playing and producing music (e.g., You Complete Me, Chloe Gilligan), and book publishing.

Bio: Kurt has over 25 years of experience in Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial leadership, has founded four tech companies, and has sold over $300M in goods and services. He has a background in biotech, hospital supply, IT outsourcing, management consulting, retail, supply chain. He founded K8 Ventures, a unique venture builder studio, and as Managing Partner, leads the organization in investing in and building early-stage companies. Kurt has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BS from the University of Iowa.

Bio: Susan Kim’s career spans executive finance, investment banking and engineering roles. She is currently the CFO of App Annie, the leading provider of data and analytics for mobile app performance. Susan was recently recognized as one of 2019 Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by San Francisco Business Times. Before App Annie, Susan was the CFO at Katerra, a construction tech start-up where she led all aspects of the company’s financial operations during a time when the company’s revenue grew 3x. Prior to Katerra, Susan was a finance executive for KLA-Tencor, a publicly traded $3Bn revenue company, a finance leader at Solexel, a solar energy start-up, and an investment banker in Morgan Stanley’s technology practice. Susan started her career as a manufacturing engineer working for Advanced Micro Devices. Susan holds an MBA and MEM from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.

Bio: Shiraz is a healthcare and pharmaceutical executive with over 15 years of experience bridging clinical, operational and strategic lenses from her time in pharma, consulting and medical group operations. At Davita Medical Group ($6B Revenue and sold to Optum/UHG), she managed a $0.5B P&L and led clinical pharmacy strategy and operations across more than 15,000 providers and 3,000,000 patients nationally. In her role, she drove product selection to optimize clinical outcomes & price, led negotiations with suppliers and delivered the change management process necessary to ensure successful adoption by all stakeholders. Prior to Davita, Shiraz worked for Deloitte Consulting where she led a team interpreting new federal legislation and creating strategy for her clients across the healthcare industry. Shiraz began her career working in health economics and outcomes research at Abbott (Abbvie) where she led the global market access strategy of Humira for its treatment of psoriasis. Shiraz currently serves as the head of Healthcare Investment Strategy for K4 Capital, a boutique investment firm focused on disruptive innovation ventures. Shiraz got her Master in Public Health (Epidemiology) from the University of Illinois, School of Public Health and her Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the University of Illinois College of Pharmacy in Chicago, IL. Investments areas of expertise or interest: Pharmaceuticals, Specialty Pharmacy, Healthcare, Biotechnology, Consumer Retail, Health and Wellness, eCommerce

Bio: Vijay has more than 20 years of healthcare experience in consulting, operations, and development of new healthcare business ventures, including over 15 years of experience developing and managing value-based payment models for providers and payors. As the Chief Value Officer & Chief Financial Officer for DaVita Medical Group, Vijay was accountable for strategy, finance, M&A, contracting, performance, operations and board oversight of joint ventures. Vijay served in numerous roles starting and operating government programs managed care insurance companies nationally. He has experience in start-ups as a founder and as a key executive driving business development, strategic partnerships, investor relations and capitalization. Currently, he serves as the Executive Vice President of Physician Services at R1 RCM. R1 RCM is a leading provider of technology-enabled revenue cycle management (RCM) services across hospitals, health systems and physician groups. In addition, Vijay is a Co- Founder and Senior Advisor for K4 Capital, a boutique investment firm focused on disruptive innovation ventures. Vijay got his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Management from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and his Master of Business Administration from Kellogg University at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Investments areas of expertise or interest: Healthcare Technology, Healthcare Services, Insurance, Managed Care, Medical Groups, Hospitals, Offshoring/Outsourcing & Analytics

Bio: Craig is an innovator, leader, advisor, and educator. Technologist by training, human-centered designer by nature, and business professional by experience, Craig is founder of TBD Innovation and professor at the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern. He spent much of his career at IDEO, founding and leading the firm’s Chicago office and later their Global Health practice. Craig advises senior leaders and entrepreneurs, and his expertise ranges from the details of engineering and interactions to the big picture of strategy and brand purpose.

Bio: Aarathi Singh is a senior executive in the medical device industry with 15+ years of strategy and operating experience. She has a strong background in marketing, sales force optimization, and the commercialization of innovative technologies. Aarathi is Chief Operating Officer of MedGyn, a global manufacturer and distributor for women’s health products. Through Aarathi’s leadership the company has expanded into international markets and new product lines to address the unmet needs in women’s health throughout the world, including partnerships with governments, NGOs, and leading healthcare organizations. Prior to joining MedGyn, Aarathi held positions of increasing responsibility at Deloitte Consulting and at Johnson & Johnson. Aarathi has a BS in Finance from Boston University and a MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Bio: After years of working as a consultant in the Big Five, on Wall Street, and for a Fortune 500 Company, Eric founded Vergys in 2008 to have a positive impact on how the government operates. Over the years, he and his team have built a boutique multi-million-dollar consultancy focused on delivering strategic and project management services to federal civilian agencies. He has advised multiple early and seed stage ventures in HealthTech, ecommerce, SAAS, and manufacturing, and served as the Chairman of the Board for a major non-profit organization. Eric has an MBA from the University of Michigan and a BS from Northwestern University.

Bio: Kat is the founder of the Aspire Agency, a behavioral science-based Insights and Behavior Design consultancy where she helps the world’s leading brands create better customer engagement and drive behavior change. Kat has spent 15+ years in marketing, strategy and sales roles across industries, developing a keen understanding of customer acquisition and engagement. She has worked for such iconic brands as Pepsi and The North Face and consulted for countless others. Kat lives in Charlotte, NC and is active in supporting the startup ecosystem through angel investing, mentoring and teaching brand building workshops to startups. She holds a BBA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Bio: Amelia has close to a decade of professional experience in technology, SaaS, media, finance, prop trading and entrepreneurship. Having launched her own tech-enabled startup after her time in finance, Amelia is passionate about all things entrepreneurship and specializes in business development and operations. Amelia holds a B.A in Economics from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing her M.B.A from Kellogg.

Bio: Sanjeet is a Lead Product Manager at dscout where he leverages his business acumen and human-centered design skills to innovate and spur growth for the B2B2C qualitative research startup. He has a variety of experiences in startups and new ventures that span the hotel e-commerce, healthcare, 3D printing, and nanotechnology industries. Sanjeet is double purple and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Manufacturing & Design Engineering (MaDE) plus a Master’s degree in Engineering Design Innovation (EDI) from Northwestern University.

Bio: Joe is a Sales Solution Engineer for the Health Tech start-up, Lumere, and Head of Product for an early-stage start-up focused on recruiting services for women and minorities. Joe has been immersed in healthcare and technology for the last 10 years, from supporting Fortune 500 companies as a Consultant in Accenture’s healthcare practice, to working as a Product Manager and Sales Solution Engineer in several early and growth-stage health tech companies in Chicago. Joe earned his B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University and is excited to help grow Northwestern’s start-up community.

Bio: Marco currently works as an Assistant Director at Northwestern University, where he manages an international technology commercialization program sponsored by BICI-USA. The program aims to bring to market and fund research from across Northwestern by cofounding and investing in early-stage tech startups that spin-out from the academic setting. Before his current role, Marco pursued his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Production Engineering and a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, in Italy.

Bio: Lisa Litherland has been focused on the ever-evolving world of disruptive technology, most recently specializing on the Internet of Things (IoT). She has helped multiple organizations imagine the “World of the Possible” and then execute a strategic plan to implement their business goals. Lisa is known for having a genuine interest and commitment to coaching and mentoring, driven by a passion for building leaders and guiding people on how to handle tough business situations. She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an Executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Bio: Nikodem is a third year Law student at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law studying the impact of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and frontier technologies on privacy, intellectual property and other legal issues. He holds a Master’s in Management from Harvard University with a concentration in strategy and finance. Currently, he is working in Business Development and Strategy at a multinational engineering firm where he develops the go-to-market and growth strategy, oversees partnerships, and consults on Digital Transformation.

Bio: Sarita is currently pursuing an MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Prior to Kellogg, Sarita was a Senior Consultant in the Analytics & Cognitive practice at Deloitte Consulting. She guided Fortune 500 clients in defining and executing strategies around innovation and emerging technology such as AI and blockchain. Sarita earned her B.A. from Columbia University.

Bio: Nish is a Sr Innovations Specialist at Exelon‚ a corporate accelerator where he is involved in launching and scaling start-ups. Nish has five years of engineering, R&D and product management experience that spans the energy, manufacturing, IoT and defense sectors. Nish holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and Master’s in Engineering Management from Northwestern University.

Bio: Xiao has a background in healthcare and entrepreneurship. She has developed business strategies and commercial plans at Eli Lilly and Company and Biogen while taking care of patients at Walgreens as a Clinical Pharmacist. Xiao has a PharmD from Rutgers University Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy and an MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.