Purple Arch Ventures Team

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: Grant is Co-founder and CTO of Vodori, an enterprise marketing solutions company providing SaaS software to help life science companies create, review, and distribute marketing and sales collateral. As an entrepreneur, a deep technologist, and chief product architect, he has led the commercialization of Vodori’s enterprise product portfolio, working across customer and product development while supporting sales and marketing efforts, partnerships, and pricing. Grant is the President of the Board for Equality Illinois, involved in NUVentionWeb, a mentor at Junto Institute, and an active Chicago angel investor. He also holds a BA from Northwestern University.

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. His expertise is in biotech, hospital supply, IT outsourcing, management consulting, retail, supply chain. He is currently the CEO at K8 Ventures, which invests in and accelerates early stage companies that address the human condition. He is also Managing Director at K8 Solutions, a consulting firm focused on building growth. Kurt has an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, MBA from Chicago’s Booth School of Business, and a BS from the University of Iowa.

Bio: Daniel is a product leader with experience in the video game industry, e-commerce, and streaming. He is currently a product manager at Google developing the Stadia video game streaming platform. Daniel has over 15 years of experience in software development and engineering ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small startups. He is passionate about designing amazing experiences through efficient iteration. Daniel holds a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from Florida Tech and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Bio: Sally is a Director in the Corporate Finance & Investment Banking group at Eli Lilly where she evaluates and advises on multi-billion dollar M&A and licensing transactions, as well as pharmaceutical & biotech venture capital investments. Prior to this role, she led financial controllership for the $2B+ Oncology Business Unit in North America amid substantial portfolio expansion and new drug approvals. Before getting into the healthcare space, Sally led sell-side equity coverage of the telecoms sector in the Middle East and North Africa region, publishing investment research to institutional buy-side clients globally. Sally holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a BS in Finance from the American University in Cairo.

Bio: Mike has 25+ years of experience in management and investments within financial services and technology industries. He currently leads the Strategic Transactions Group at Guardian, which includes M&A and its corporate venture capital fund, which is focused on fintech and infotech. Prior to Guardian, Mike was EVP, Corporate Development for Crump Group, Inc., the largest wholesale insurance distributor in the U.S. He was on the Executive Committee, had responsibility for several businesses and completed numerous acquisitions and dispositions across life insurance, P&C insurance, financial technology and retirement services. Before Crump, Mike was on the executive team of Worldinsure, an insurance technology start-up. Prior to WorldInsure, he had various leadership positions in financial services and manufacturing sectors. Mike is a CFA Charterholder. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern and an MBA from Kellogg.

Bio: Kristin is a tech executive with 20 years’ experience who has been named as one of HBS’s Top 100 Distinguished Alumnae of Northern California. She is Managing Partner of Menlo Group, an advisor working with companies on growth strategies. She also serves on Northwestern’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board and as mentor to NUvention’s startup teams. As a venture-backed CEO, COO, and CMO, she has worked with Fortune 100 corporations to startups and led teams who have raised $150M+ in VC. She was CEO and Co-founder of LimeLife, one of the first mobile software companies. Kristin has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Bio: Vanessa has built her career at the intersection of technology and consumer in both strategic and operating roles for over 10 years. She has played key management roles at innovative and disruptive consumer companies such as global luxury fashion platform Farfetch, beauty content & commerce retailer Violet Grey, and early subscription model company Shoedazzle. Vanessa has advised multiple early and seed stage ventures in e-commerce and digital media. Vanessa began her career in strategy consulting at LEK Consulting where she specialized in Retail & Consumer Products. She holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a BS from Northwestern University.

Bio: Mary Jo has been an active entrepreneur and investor for 30 years. She has invested in a variety of entities, but is now focused on healthcare. She is currently Managing Partner of Healthcare Angels and a GP in Keiretsu Capital. She has held executive positions with BDC Advisors, Highperlink, Sibson, and Omega. Her clients have included Kaiser, Partners, Trinity Health, WEBMD, Sutter, and Genentech. Mary Jo has a bachelor’s degree from Siena Heights University, a Master’s from Northwestern where she is on the School of Education and Social Policy Board, and completed an Executive program at Stanford in India.

Bio: Joe is a financial executive with a career spanning over 30 years primarily focused on audit and financial reporting process as well as financial and tax advisory work for start-up, high growth and established companies in the Renewable Energy, High Tech, Telecommunications and Manufacturing industries. Earlier in his career he worked in the high-tech audit practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers focusing on helping companies prepare for and complete initial public offerings and then meet performance requirements in a public company environment. In addition to his public accounting experience, Joe has served in CFO roles for start-up, turnaround and high growth situations, most recently with a renewable energy company where his experience as CFO has included financial and governance responsibilities for a public company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and subsequently under private equity ownership. He holds a BA from Indiana University and an MBA from Kellogg and is a CPA. Joe lives in Chicago.

Bio: Ravi Prasad is a technology executive and digital transformation leader who believes in data-driven business re-invention.  Throughout his career, Ravi has relied on his passionate entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to spearhead change via focused collaboration across some of the world’s most well-known organizations. In the last 5 years, Ravi is focused on renewable energy and cleantech investments and mentors’ startups on product strategy, market growth and raising capital. Ravi holds a management degree from Kellogg School of Management and engineering degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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: Michael has spent the past 20 years working in Financial Service positions. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Michael was a Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners in Chicago, and ran their Midwest Institutional Equity Sales effort. Prior to his time at Guggenheim, Michael was in senior Institutional Equity sales roles with Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. In those roles, Michael sourced relationships with corporate leaders, money managers and financial professionals and helped Corporate clients raise money in the Capital Markets. Michael also spent time working in money management at PPM America and as a tax professional at Arthur Andersen. Michael received his BA from DePaul University and a MBA, with concentrations in Finance and International Business, from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Michael is a CFA Charterholder, and is currently working towards a CPWA designation. He has resided in LaGrange for the past 16 years with his wife Stefanie and 3-children, Andrew, Cooper and Camille. In his spare time, Michael can be found on the golf course or as a spectator around a wrestling mat.

Bio: Mat’s career spans more than 20 years helping companies grow revenues and value, both in senior advisory and internal operational roles. As a management consultant, including as a Partner with OC&C Strategy Consultants, he’s led a range of strategic and diligence initiatives for corporate and private equity clients including Visa International, G-star, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Advent International and American Capital. His consulting background is complemented with senior operating experience, where he most recently led (based in Singapore) the international business for a private equity-owned energy storage company, ending in a successful exit at the end of 2018. Mat now brings his experience together in an advisory practice focused on strategy, commercial due diligence, and international business development. Mat has a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.

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: James has over 20 years’ experience as a leader in global healthcare companies including Baxter Healthcare, Roche Diagnostics, Medline, AmerisourceBergen and Aramark, and IBM Watson Health, where he has consistently transformed industries and companies using technology, processes and people. James has multi-brand expertise in biotech, medical device, lab diagnostics, surgical products, dental, pharmaceutical distribution, pharmacy automation, diagnostics imaging, hospital supply chain, and lean/six sigma operational transformation. As an operations and growth executive, James has unlocked over $400M+ in new business development, product commercialization, geographic market expansion, and M&A transactions. James serves as Vice Board Chair of the University of Oklahoma School of Biomedical Engineering, and Board Member for the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME). James began his career in the USMC, serving as an Artillery Officer. He holds a BS in Marketing from the University of Oklahoma, and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University. From Kellogg, he also completed the mergers and acquisitions program.

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: Todd divides his time between the tech industry and entrepreneurial educational ventures. He is a Managing Director at Divergent Ventures, focusing on early stage computing infrastructure companies. He is also an Adjunct Professor in computer science at Northwestern and co-teaches NuVention Web, a top entrepreneurship course in the country. Previously, Todd worked at Microsoft for 21 years in product management, general management, and product development. He is a past member of the Northwestern board of trustees, and currently serves on several school advisory boards. He holds a BA in Computer Science and Economics at Northwestern.