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 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, BlockFi, Heaven’s Door

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.
Notable Deals: Axiom Space, TheRecount

Bio: Jasmi’s career has covered several stages of the investment lifecycle. Previously, she worked at Healthios, an advisory firm focused on growth equity and venture capital backed companies. Earlier, she worked for Sterling Partners, serving as an Operating Executive within their healthcare portfolio. Jasmi has also held positions at The Carlyle Group, The MasterCard Foundation, and Deloitte Consulting. She began her career in investment banking at Credit Suisse. Jasmi holds a BBA (Honors) from Schulich School of Business, York University, and a MBA (Dean’s List) from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Notable Deals: Willow

Bio: Ayla’s career began in the early-stage investing space in Chicago. Before joining AVG, she was an Associate for the Sustainable Local Food Investment Group (SLoFIG). Ayla continues to be a part of SLoFIG’s mission to identify promising start-up and early stage companies, then provide capital, expertise and a network of contacts to help drive their success. Additionally, Ayla serves on the auxiliary board of Chicago’s chapter of the Italian-based Slow Food Movement. A proud Wildcat, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree Cum Laude and with Honors from Northwestern University.

Bio: Prior to joining AVG, Jenna was an Investor Service Representative at Putnam Investments, where she provided customer support to both clients and brokers. Jenna is a graduate of Merrimack College, Girard School of Business, where she studied Business Administration with a dual major in Management and Marketing.

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: A mover and shaker, keen on bringing together people, ideas, and companies. Sivan thrives on making vision and ideas become reality. There is nothing more exciting to her than partnering with talented and passionate people working on amazing products and services, while forming game-changing strategies. Sivan has over 25 years of global executive leadership in business, marketing, strategy, and product, with startups and Fortune 500 organizations alike, across B2B and B2C, both software and physical tech products. Her sector experience spans Telecom, Consumer Tech Goods, MediaTech, AI, Digital Health/ Med Devices, AgriTech/ CleanTech. Sivan served in the prestigious 8200 unit in the IDF. She holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BSc in Engineering and Management from Tel-Aviv University. Sivan is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society.

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: 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: Prabhakar Bhogaraju (PB), is a Financial Services Technology executive with over 20 years of experience across product development, technology management, customer engagement and management consulting. He is currently Executive Vice-President, Head of Strategy & Product Development at FinLocker LLC, a St. Louis, MO based fast growing early-stage startup. Prior to his role at FinLocker, PB held various executive leadership roles at Fannie Mae leading business transformation and enterprise technology initiatives. He brings deep functional expertise in Financial Technology (FinTech), Real-Estate & Housing Finance Industries, and is a thought leader/collaborator advancing common data standards, consumer privacy, and innovation in financial inclusivity solutions. PB represented Fannie Mae on the boards of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) and the Financial Data Exchange (FDX). He also volunteers time and serves on the board of Dulles South Food Pantry a community organization in Loudoun County, VA.

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: 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: Virl Hill is Head of Worldwide Business Development & Strategy, Media & Entertainment for Microsoft. In this role, he leads the company’s strategic initiatives that leverage all Microsoft technologies and solutions to enable media production, distribution and monetization in the cloud. Throughout his career, Virl has helped create new consumer experiences and profitable businesses at the intersection of media and technology. He has held leadership roles in strategic planning at The Walt Disney Company and served as GM of corporate and business development and GM of several business units at RealNetworks and the Rhapsody music service, including GM of Rollingstone.com. He also led startup games company Blade Games World as CEO. Prior to his current role at Microsoft, he led business development and strategy for Microsoft News in the US and Asia. During his tenure, he co-led the creation and growth of its publishing partner ecosystem to over 1200 companies and 4500 publishing brands in over 140 countries and 31 languages. He also created Microsoft News’ strategy and foundational partnerships in native advertising, generating billions in incremental revenue for Microsoft and the publishing industry. A member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and The Recording Academy, Hill currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Mercer Island Center for the Arts. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University and serves on the Kellogg School of Management Alumni Council.

Bio: Ella is an M&A lawyer, entrepreneur and investor who works closely with startups and companies to accelerate their business and grow their brand. Ella is a board member of MassChallange, and a founder and board member of the Rhode Island–Israel Collaborative (RIIC) as well as an active member on several advisory boards. She is a frequent judge and mentor at Brown University’s Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship and at several other accelerators. Ella has successfully negotiated multimillion-dollar investments and advised on the expansion of portfolio companies. She brings a global perspective and international experience acquired from living and working in various markets including London, Tel Aviv, Chicago, NYC, and New England. Past clients include Benchmark Capital, Merrill Lynch, UBS and HSBC. Ella holds an MBA from Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management) and a law degree from the University of London.

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: John has over twenty-five years of CFO and financial executive experience encompassing private equity backed, high-growth, multi-state companies. John has experience in the complete life cycle of mergers and acquisitions, analyzing the financial performance of business operations and establishing the financial infrastructure needed to support operations, growth, and profitability. John has been CFO of multiple private equity healthcare companies and assisted in leading multiple strategic transactions and successful exits. Prior to that John held financial leadership roles at both public and private companies. John began his career with KPMG where he served as audit manager. John is a Certified Public Accountant and received his MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern and his accounting degree at the University of North Texas. John lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Andrea.

Anoop brings a unique perspective from synthesizing his contrasting experiences across startups/ entrepreneurship and large global corporations. Most recently he has held leadership roles in the US healthcare industry for over a decade with experience that stretches across all three major subsectors – Payer, Provider and Lifesciences. His work involved innovation, new product development and strategy at leading companies such as UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, and AdvisoryBoard. Prior to his foray into health care, he spent several years starting or growing a series of successful analytics services companies (including one funded by Sequoia Capital) that saw exponential revenue growth. Anoop began his career in the engineering industry including a stint helping DaimlerChrysler (Mercedes Benz) establish their R&D center in India. Anoop academic background includes an MBA from ISB (co-founded by Kellogg School of Management) and a bachelor’s in engineering. Anoop is passionate about partnering with entrepreneurs and providing guidance to help sustainably scale innovation.

Bio: Louis is a physician who has spent over 25 years training and working in the field of academic general surgery. His clinical and academic concentrations have been in the areas of operative general surgery, medical student and resident education and healthcare quality assurance. During his career, Louis has had extensive experience in area of educational program development, as well as the application of innovation and technology in surgical training and practice. In addition, he has worked as a biotechnology analyst in the venture capital sector and remains active in collaborative translational immunology research. Although his interests in venture advising are wide, his primary focus has been in biotechnology with specific interests in gene therapy, immunotherapy, innovative surgical devices and big data for healthcare safety. Louis received his medical degree at Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed both a General Surgery residency and research fellowship at Northwestern University.

Bio: Dr. Clinton Purtell is an experienced investor, Fortune 500 executive, and entrepreneur who now serves as a full-time faculty of the University of NorthTexas in Frisco, TX. In addition to teaching entrepreneurship, strategy, and conducting cutting edge research with firms across the globe, his role includesUniversity advancement by developing external relationships for UNT at Frisco with regional, national and global firms and industry partners. Dr. Purtell’s research interests lie in entrepreneurship, particularly early stage venture strategy (such as fundraising), industry disruption, and corporate entrepreneurship. As an aviation enthusiast and industry veteran, he also often consults and conducts research in autonomous vehicles, smart cities, advanced urban air mobility, air taxis, drones, and traditional airline aerospace. Prior to his role in academia, Dr. Purtell held executive roles in strategy, corporate development and corporate entrepreneurship in a number of firms, such asCracker Barrel restaurants (CBRL Group), Dr Pepper, Cadbury Schweppes, Essilor/Luxotica, Vetoquinol, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. His roles in strategy and corporate development led to opportunities where he served as the lead in numerous mergers and acquisitions. He received his PhD inEntrepreneurship from Oklahoma State University. He is an alumni ofNorthwestern University (Kellogg), Belmont University, the University ofOklahoma (OSLEP) and Oklahoma City University.

Bio: Ryan has a decade of experience in the enterprise technology space, holding customer-facing roles in consulting and sales capacities. Currently at Salesforce, Ryan guides organizations through digital transformation by leveraging technology expertise (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS), value selling competencies, and influential leadership skills. Born and raised in Detroit, Ryan holds a BSE in Industrial Engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as a minor in music, and volunteers on the Board of Directors of the UM Alumni Club of Greater Chicago. He is completing his MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, majoring in finance and strategy, and serves on the student association to optimize the program’s career services. Ryan lives in Chicago with his wife, Brooke, and dog, Bruce.

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: Chris has more than 17 years experience in corporate finance and institutional investing. He spent the last 13+ years investing across a wide range of industries, with a specialization in highly leveraged capital structures. Chris served in both senior analyst and portfolio management roles at Balyasny Asset Management from 2009-2019 before launching an energy and industrial focused fund as a founding partner. Previously, Chris was an investment analyst with DKR Wolf Point Capital and began his career with Citigroup Global Markets in their corporate investment bank. Chris holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University, where he also played varsity baseball. He holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is also a CFA Charterholder. Chris lives in Elmhurst, IL with his wife and three children.

Bio: Lisa works in Brand Management at Molson Coors Beverage Company. She is a recent MBA graduate of the Kellogg School of Management where she was a Kellogg Board Fellow, Asian Management Association VP, and Kellogg Career Peer. Prior to business school, she was a Senior Marketing Manager at American Express where she managed onboarding communications across the Consumer portfolio. Previously, she was an internal consultant at Amex working on projects across the entire business. Lisa graduated from The Wharton School with a BS in Economics.

Bio: Atindra is a Quality and EH&S Manager for Ashland Chemical, with over 7 years of experience in the Oil and Gas and Specialty Chemicals Industry. During that time, Atindra has led large scale sustainability projects, including commissioning an solvent recycle system to help provide power to the plant through the use of Solar Panels, as well as implementing a continuous methane gas detection system through the use of UAV’s, which got expanded towards other applicable hazardous material. Atindra also co-founded a company at Northwestern that looked to provide a wireless Vehicle to Grid (V2G) solution for EV’s to provide energy back into the local grid in the Chicagoland area. Atindra is currently a Masters of Engineering Management (MEM) student at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering.

Bio: Jessica has 5+ years of consulting experience in the Healthcare and Life Sciences industry. Her focus has been in strategy development, process improvement and M&A across a wide array of healthcare and life science clients. Jessica holds a BS in Chemistry from Purdue University, MS in Biotechnology from Northwestern University and a MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Bio: Jenifer has close to a decade of experience in tech and manufacturing industries across Asia, Europe and North America, and has led strategic initiatives leveraging SaaS, supply chain tech, Blockchain, and future of work in both enterprise and start-up settings. Jenifer has a Master in Supply Chain Management from Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands and MBA in Finance from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. When she is not working, you’ll find her hiking, running, reading, and trying out different cuisines with her family.

Bio: Aaron has an extensive background in marketing, branding, and media. Most recently, Aaron was Global Chief Client Officer for Wavemaker, a WPP media, content, and technology agency where he advised large, multinational companies on their media programs and digital transformation efforts. Prior to Wavemaker, Aaron was a Partner at Prophet (a growth consultancy) where he helped companies build modern, purpose-driven brands and experiences to drive relevancy. His expertise areas include customer-driven growth strategy, brand purpose/positioning development, brand architecture, customer experience innovation, and digital and cultural transformation. Aaron has worked across a variety of industries for clients such as Target, Best Buy, U.S. Bank, Kimberly-Clark, Pentair, Landis+Gyr, and ExxonMobil. Aaron has an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University in Finance and Marketing, and a B.S. from Colorado State University. He also has completed certificate level work in Digital Marketing Strategies at Northwestern University, and Business Design course work through IDEO University.

Bio: Avi Vaid currently works as a Product Manager on the Microsoft Edge team in Seattle. He joined the team when Microsoft Edge was adopting Chromium and led the product story to develop the Identity platform and authenticated features in the new Microsoft Edge. In his role, he has managed key enterprise partnerships and is working on innovative improvements to enterprise browsing paradigms. Prior to Microsoft, Avi has interned in San Francisco at two unicorns – Nextdoor and Docker. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science and Economics from Northwestern and a certificate in Financial Economics from the Kellogg School of Management.

Bio: Josh is a recent graduate of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. As a sponsored consultant, rather than recruiting, during his time at Kellogg Josh explored different functions and industries, including venture capital investing through a quarter-long internship.  Prior to pursuing his MBA, Josh was a Senior Associate in KPMG’s Deal Advisory practice, focusing on various transaction-related consulting engagements such as financial due diligence, synergy capture assessment and analysis, post-acquisition integration, and business unit carve-outs. Before KPMG, Josh was a Senior Auditor at EY where he provided assurance and attestation services to some of Boston’s largest hedge funds, mutual funds, and private equity funds. In the Fall of 2021, Josh will return to KPMG, joining the Consumer & Retail Strategy practice as an Engagement Manager.  In addition to his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Josh holds a Master of Accountancy, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting–both from the University of Miami (FL). He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA).