THOSE WHO DARE GREATLY — Welcome VP8s to the Republic Venture Partner Community!
After countless new “communities” or “venture programs” that took inspiration from us, we’ve established a legacy of community building that has led Republic to be the bastion of real community. In our effort to remain curated but also expand our capabilities, we are thrilled to announce the launch of our largest cohort to date: the VP8 cohort. These 44 incredible industry leaders come from around the world and share in our mission of democratizing access to capital.
Each time we recruit a new cohort, we find ourselves drawn to people who deserve to become a part of this community. Many VCs and folks in the industry pay lip service to problems that need solving but aren’t actually doing anything to work on the problems. When you see a Republic Venture Partner in the ecosystem, you know that they are doing the hard work to build the future we believe in. They are passionate about investing, especially for underrepresented founders, and expanding access for the next generation of founders. They mentor new fund managers, leverage their networks and skills to help startups get funding, and challenge the status quo. They see the obstacles first and have the courage to take that head-on.
Their hope and drive to see the solutions through — that’s what keeps us thriving. Amora Miller and Maria Pope, the new leaders of the Venture Partner program, have designed this cohort with mission and vision in mind. This is one of our most diverse cohorts to date, with over half of its members being women and over 30% of VPs located internationally.
This cohort is a reflection of Republic’s own internal metamorphosis. As we think through the next 5 years, we take inspiration from our Venture Partners to recalibrate and make sure we’re building the best version of Republic possible.
Our vision of creating the first full-stack investor ecosystem has come to life. For the first time, our programs have come full circle: two of our former Venture Associates — Adam Grant and Janet Boachie — have returned to the family as Venture Partners in our VP8 cohort. It’s rewarding to see the growth of this community in the short (but long) two years we have been working to provide special programs to contribute to the growth of an inclusive venture ecosystem. After 1 year, every venture partner has the opportunity to become a senior VP to receive funding for investing in startups and preferred status in the ecosystem. We will be announcing our Senior VPs shortly.
With this growth trajectory in mind for all of our community members, we recently announced the 2022 launch of our Venture Fellow and Associates programs. We received an incredible pool of 500+ applications for limited spots and look forward to kicking off that program at the end of March.
This VP8 cohort is special beyond belief, from all over the world united in mission. We love the energy and enthusiasm they have already brought to our community, and we can’t wait for you to get to know them too.
Meet the VP8s:
Adam Grant
Adam is a highly motivated, accomplished & results-driven professional with 15 years of experience across multiple industries. He has experience leading organizational change within government acquisition communities. He has led teams and teams of teams that have deployed more than $2B in capital to assist startups and grow industrial bases. As an investor, he is skilled in creating investment thesis around various industry verticals, conducting quantitative and qualitative deep due diligence, sourcing investment opportunities using a structured approach. He is a self-proclaimed foodie with a passion for family and friends in his free time. He’s a curious mind inspired by the passion for strategically supporting and investing in the most passionate founders who will change the world. He’s currently an Investor with Overlooked Ventures and a Venture Partner with VU Venture Partners. When he’s not investing, he’s managing a $1B space portfolio, providing mission support for range and launch operations.
Adora Elisapeta Lovestrand
Adora is a Senior Associate at Sovereign’s Capital, an investment firm that partners with values-driven, market-leading companies and funds. As part of the VC team, she has worked in both the Asia and US offices. Her current role focuses on Seed and Series A investments into US tech startups that view thriving corporate culture as a competitive advantage. She worked in Southeast Asia for almost 10 years — in finance, business operations, and higher education. She also worked in the UK as a Research Associate at the University of Oxford where she completed postgraduate studies. Her previous degrees are from Pepperdine University and UCLA. As a Pacific Islander from Samoa, Adora enjoys connecting with people from other underrepresented groups and supporting diversity in the tech and finance sectors.
Ananya Chandra
Ananya is the founding Partner of Innopact.vc, an early-stage technology investor seeding the future of high-impact innovation; portfolio companies include Preki (LatAm), Arnie (US), Mahila Money (India), Worq Health (APAC), and Feebris (UK). As an investor, Ananya looks for large underserved market spaces, product-led business models, and exceptional teams. While sector-agnostic, she’s passionate about financial wellness, healthtech, and technologies for women. Prior to investing, Ananya led technology commercialization at AGNIi, the Government of India’s flagship innovation program. She was previously the co-founder and COO of Just Move, India’s first fitness rewards app (led to exit in 2016). She started her career as a finance lawyer with Clifford Chance LLP in London. Ananya completed her Masters in Innovation & Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris and is an alum of Stanford Seed and NLS, Bangalore. She currently resides in Singapore.
Anitha Vadavatha
Anitha Vadavatha is a founder and venture advisor focused on AI, Blockchain, Biotech companies. She co-founded AB Plus Ventures, Capital Code & Misu Labs. Anitha advises VC, impact funds & family offices, and has served on the advisory council of Shadow Ventures. An alumna of Singularity University (SU), she was named ‘Top Ten Frontier Women’ by UN-5th Element Group in 2018. Anitha is a mentor & advisor at SU Ventures, SU Smart City accelerator, CLSI, MIT Emerging worlds & GSV Labs. Her professional career includes venture-backed technology startups, Fortune 100 corporations, and management consulting in Financial Services, Technology & Non-Profit sectors. A global speaker, she often contributes to technology & innovation at the UN, Novus, REDX, Geeks Without Frontiers, and HOPE Global Forum. In 2018, she was invited to be a member of the FinTech Core, an independent global group that advised the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, to foster smart city initiatives.
Ashleigh Williams
Ashleigh Williams is a native of the Washington, DC metro area. She graduated from Hampton University in 2018, with a degree in Business Administration. Her experience spans finance and technology. She is currently a Business Development Manager on the Global Startup Partnerships team at Microsoft. In this role, she is committed to defining a partnership strategy that supports underserved founders. Ashleigh works with accelerators and VCs to provide resources to founders that have been historically overlooked. Prior to this experience, she worked in investing, corporate finance, and strategic partnerships. Her industry area of focus is fintech but overall, she is committed to creating a more inclusive startup ecosystem. In her free time, she loves to spend time with family and friends, cook, travel, and teach personal finance. She looks forward to connecting with amazing startups and other venture partners!
Cassandra Carothers
Cassandra Carothers invests globally into early-stage frontier and deep tech startups aiming to solve the world’s toughest problems and fundamentally transform markets through moonshot innovation. Investing on behalf of Upheaval Investments of Chicago, she is based in the SF Bay Area and globally. Industries of focus include next-gen computing, quantum technologies, aerospace, robotics, advanced materials, AI/ML, data, privacy and security, techbio, and cleantech. She is passionate about breakthrough innovation grounded in commercial viability, and with a line of sight to massive, platform scale. Cassandra is a former operator with expertise in international market development, sales, business development, and technology commercialization. She hails from an international business background, having lived and worked across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA. She actively contributes through angel investing, strategic advising, mentorship, and community building to breaking down barriers between founders and funders, and is dedicated to supporting diverse and underrepresented founding teams.
Chase Carroll
Chase Carroll serves as a strategist and advisor to a diverse array of clients globally, including Fortune 500 companies, startups, and professional athletes. He is a founder at Amplio Ventures, supporting US-based small businesses by providing access to revenue-based financing and a dependable workforce. Chase enjoys investing in early-stage companies and is actively building a portfolio in North America.
Chima Osuka
Chima Osuka is an early-stage investor, where he invests in game-changing technologies improving education, health, finance, and sustainability. He is particularly interested in underestimated founders & entrepreneurs building breakthrough companies to accelerate advances in all industries.
Diana Lyman
Diana Lyman is a strategic growth advisor to social impact startups across the consumer and enterprise landscapes. She is the Founder & CEO of Traction Advisory, a consultancy that helps emerging brands unlock their next level of growth. Diana has 20 years of sales and marketing experience within the Media & Tech industries at companies including IDEO, StyleSeat, Current TV, and Helio. Diana is passionate about supporting (and investing in) founders daring to build inclusive and equitable solutions addressing women’s health & well-being, the caregiving crisis, and the future of work.
Elani Buchan
Elani has extensive experience working in the startup ecosystem as an operator and investor across the US and UK. She recently made the move back into operating as the Head of Operations at Concured, a content marketing AI startup. Elani is passionate about creating an inclusive and equitable startup ecosystem and supporting founders that believe profit and purpose can mutually co-exist. She is still trying to create a concise definition for what “Operations” is her friends and family outside of the startup world; her toddler thinks it has something to do with podcasts — which is probably the closest definition yet.
Elizabeth McCluskey
Elizabeth McCluskey is a Director at CMFG Ventures, the venture capital arm of CUNA Mutual Group. She is the head of the Discovery Fund, which focuses on early-stage fintech companies led by underrepresented founders. Elizabeth is passionate about supporting companies that improve consumer financial health and address financial inequality. She has spent her career in financial services, including over 15 years as an investor in private and public markets. Prior to joining CMFG Ventures, Elizabeth was a Principal at Impact Engine, where she helped launch the women-led investment firm’s first venture capital fund. At Impact Engine, she invested in early-stage companies in economic empowerment, environmental sustainability, and health equity. Elizabeth began her career at UBS in investment banking and wealth management. She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Elle Leemay Chen
Elle is the VC Associate at Miami Angels, where she manages the early-stage investment process from end-to-end, including sourcing, due diligence, and execution. Born & raised in Miami, Elle is excited about supporting emerging tech ecosystems and purposefully chose to begin her Venture career in her hometown of Miami. She is passionate about supporting founders from underrepresented backgrounds and believes in the power of capital to catapult change & innovation. Before VC, Elle worked in Investment Banking at Credit Suisse in New York City. Prior to that, Elle has had experience as an Investment Team Summer Analyst at Greenspring Associates, a VC fund-of-fund. Elle received her Bachelor’s degree from Duke University.
Fernando Cabral
Fernando Cabral is a global leader in the Financial Services industry, where he has been driving large-scale digital innovation and transformation efforts for leading institutions across multiple geographies in Europe and Africa. He is a relentless advocate of accessible, affordable, and inclusive Digital Financial Services as a key enabler to reducing poverty, boosting prosperity, and triggering social and economic impact in underserved communities. A true connector and innovator, he has founded FS-360 in 2018 with the goal of building global ecosystems for innovation, by leveraging his expertise as a strategic advisor and investor for global start-ups across multiple sectors. Fernando is also on a mission to empower African innovators and entrepreneurs and build the future of Africa through Djassi Africa, where he currently serves as the Chief Venture Growth. This is the legacy he wants to leave behind for the generations to come.
Fred McGill
Fred McGill is a community connector in the Atlanta startup ecosystem. He co-founded SimpleShowing, a real estate tech company that successfully raised through the Republic platform. Fred is currently the Head of Product & Growth at Toura, a spinoff of SimpleShowing. Prior to Toura, Fred was the VP of Marketing at Redox, a venture-backed health tech startup. Fred has mentored and consulted with dozens of high-growth startups and is a graduate of Georgia Tech (MBA) and Samford University (BSBA).
Hema Vallabh
Hema is an engineer, turned entrepreneur, turned investor. Hema is a founding partner at Five35 Ventures, a pan-African VC fund investing in women in tech. She is also the co-founder & CEO of WomHub, a boutique pan-African incubator and the first co-working space and innovation hub for female-founders in STEM in Africa. WomHub is a spin-out of her global, award-winning non-profit WomEng which provides interventions for girls and women at every stage of the engineering skills pipeline. Over the past 15 years, Hema has built the full ecosystem of interventions supporting women in STEM from talent pipelining, venture building, incubation, acceleration through to investment. Hema is also an angel investor with Dazzle Angels, a female-focused angel fund in South Africa. Hema has recently completed her EMBA from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and is a 500 Startups/Stanford CPD VC Unlocked Alumni (SoGal Diversity Scholarship holder).
Janet Boachie
Janet Boachie is the Impact Investing Fellow for the California Health Care Foundation’s Innovation Fund, where they invest in emerging health tech companies to improve access to and ensure quality care for Californians, especially Californians who are on Medicaid or uninsured. At CHCF IF, she supports the expansion of the investment strategy to include seed-stage companies, where the IF team aims to support the development of companies led by underrepresented founders. Coming from Emory School of Medicine’s Health DesignED, Telosity by Vinaj Ventures, and being a Founder of her own health-tech startup, Janet has supported early-stage founders in laying out equitable tech-enabled solutions to meet underserved patients where they are, developing strategic initiatives for impact, uncovering market trends, assisting with raising venture funding and creating content to increase engagement and visibility. She’s a graduate of USC, UC Irvine, and also studied at Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science.
Justin Hong
Justin is an entrepreneur, operator, investor, and advisor. He is currently building and managing partnerships at Shopify as well as investing in and advising early-stage start-ups (with a specific focus on eCommerce technology, consumer products, and marketplaces). In his entrepreneurial career, he has helped build and lead a digital marketing agency through acquisition and also launched multiple eCommerce ventures, including his most recent eCommerce business selling travel & men’s grooming products. Justin has an MBA from the University of Southern California and a BS from Vanderbilt University.
Kelly O’Connell
Kelly O’Connell is an Innovation Strategist, Venture Capitalist & Social Impact Advocate. She is the Managing Director of Impact VC firm 360 Venture Collective and a leader at award-winning Innovation Consulting Firm, ON ITS AXIS. With an early professional background in Mergers & Acquisitions & Global Professional Services Consulting, Kelly currently serves clients through expertise in change agility, diversity and inclusion initiatives, growth strategy, and employee engagement. She is Co-Chair for StartOut’s Investors Forum and an Advisory Board Member for the University of California, Riverside’s Design Thinking Program, and for the Simmons University AAEB. Kelly also serves as an advisor & board member to several early-stage impact startups and as a mentor to university students studying STEAM and Entrepreneurship. She is an active member of The National Society of Leadership and Success and is the founder of GuideStar Platinum rated 501(c)3 nonprofit, Start Giving Local.
Kenneth Jeng
Kenneth Jeng is a venture builder and startup advisor with a background in early-stage startups, innovation, and corporate venture capital advisory. He currently helps build 0–1 ventures Moon Creative Lab, an international venture studio with offices in Palo Alto and Tokyo, while moonlighting as an advisor to Delight Ventures and international startups. Having worked in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and Mongolia in a variety of roles, Kenneth is passionate about building international startup ecosystems and connecting startups and investors across borders.
Michele (Michael) Schueli
Michele is the founder and GP of Armyn Capital, a fintech-focused investment group. Prior to Armyn, he was the director of Moonshot in Switzerland, which bridges the gap between private investors and off-market investment opportunities in Europe. Michele is passionate about democratizing access to financial services and investments. Though Swiss by birth, he has lived, worked, studied, and invested in five continents. Currently, Michele is a lecturer at the University of Italian Switzerland where he teaches the course Launching Fintech Ventures to MA candidates.
Mike Sherbakov
Mike Sherbakov is CEO of Greatness Ventures, supporting impact-driven leaders and brands. He has led the business accelerator to thousands of investor members and hundreds of companies in their impact portfolio. Their venture philanthropy arm has built homes in underdeveloped communities since 2014 and continues to lead impact trips open for the community to join. He serves as General Partner at The Veteran Fund, a pre-seed venture capital fund in Silicon Valley, and Director of San Diego’s Founder Institute, the largest early-stage startup accelerator in the world. Mike has previously founded three startups, helped grow two companies from 0 to $20M+ valuations, and consulted with large companies including Fitbit, Lululemon Athletica, Equinox, and Qualcomm.
Naim Ur Rashid
Naim Ur Rashid is the CEO and Founder of Lenden, a fintech startup, that unlocks credit for the unbanked and underserved for the first time in emerging economies. He’s focused on financial inclusion for the unbanked, with a mission to put a bank in the pocket of everyone. Besides working on the startup, he is deeply involved in investing and making fundraising easier for underrepresented founders from emerging economies.
Nathan Kinch
Nate’s spent most of his career helping leaders and practitioners design products and services that are worthy of trust. He’s a 2x founder and CEO, 2x Entrepreneur in Residence, and since 2016, has made 75 impact-focused investments. He lives in Melbourne with his family. In a previous life, he thought he was going to be a professional athlete.
Nicholas Reasner
Nick Reasner is the Director of Innovation and Customer Experience at Simon Property Group. He is a 2x startup founder and he has invented over 20 patents in sports/technology. He spent time working in strategy at Burberry and has more than five years of management consulting experience in corporate innovation and digital transformation. Nick also serves on George Washington University’s advisory board for their customer experience program.
Nick Birnbaum
Nick Birnbaum is the Portfolio Manager at Alpha Sigma Capital. He is a dedicated and detail-oriented entrepreneur with a diverse background in both finance and film. Prior to joining Alpha Sigma Capital Nick worked for Prudential Financial where he developed key relationships with individuals and business owners to understand their financial goals and risk tolerance. While at Prudential Nick also passed his Series 7 and Series 66 licensing exams. Earlier in his career, Nick ran a successful media production business for five years where he oversaw the scheduling and production of commercial and documentary projects for both regional and Fortune 500 companies. His advisory experience in financial services and management consulting helped to shape his unique perspective. A native of Los Angeles, Nick earned his MBA from California State University, Monterey Bay.
Olga Yermolenko
Olga Yermolenko is an experienced investor (ex-Insight Partners) and exited entrepreneur (ee #1 at Rigetti Quantum Computing, NYSE: RGTI). For the past 8 years, Olga has been advising family offices and strategic investors on venture deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio management and has diligenced over $1.2B worth of deals.
Preeti Adhikary
Originally from Nepal, Preeti is an accomplished executive & operator with over 10 years of experience in startups and other diverse sectors such as banking, non-profits, and digital assets investment banking. Having lived in Canada, Singapore, and the US, she believes that great companies can be formed anywhere but they don’t always have the same access to capital. She hopes to be a bridge between underrepresented founders and funding; and is an advisor at several startups. She is a Venture Fellow at Alumni Ventures and Laconia Venture Cooperative and a Scout at Sweater Ventures. Her passion for impact has led to her current role at Innovations for Poverty Action, an evidence-based research and policy nonprofit.
Robert Nock
Robert Nock is the founder of Cartooli Capital, an investment firm focused on early-stage Georgian technology startups. Cartooli Capital also invests in developer tools that make startup life easier for emerging market founders.
Rumbi Makanga
Rumbi Makanga is a globally minded tech-optimist. She is interested in how as societies we can reshape how we think and do things to meaningfully serve and support all of us. A seasoned strategist, Rumbi has worked at the intersection of tech, impact and investment for several years. She is an active investor and advisor, backing early stage founders in Africa and beyond. She is currently — and always — building the collective infrastructure to enable anyone, anywhere, to succeed.
Sameed Musvee
Sameed is an active investor focused on the consumer technology, software, marketplaces, FinTech, and Web3 sectors. Select notable investments include: Alto IRA, Atoms, Bolt, BlockFi, Boom Supersonic, Bungalow, Pipe, Chipper Cash, Carta, Calm, Circle, CoScreen, Density, Lunchbox, Jarvis.AI, FalconX, Mercury, MUD\WTR, MainStreet, Notion, OnDeck, Republic, RoofStock, Reforge, Roam Research, RudderStack, Relativity Space, Sorare, SendBird, Standard Cognition, Tonal, Turing and Workstream. Sameed currently works on the Strategic Finance team at Chime, a FinTech company whose mission is to offer better, lower-cost basic banking services for everyday Americans who aren’t being served well by traditional banks. Sameed previously was an early employee at DoorDash and AppNexus and an investing associate at Victory Capital. Sameed started his career as an investment banker at Citigroup. He holds a BA in Economics from Columbia University and a Masters in Information & Data Science from the University of California Berkeley. He is also a CFA charterholder
Seisei Tatebe-Goddu
Seisei is the Founder and CEO of Tandem Consulting Group, providing strategy and org dev consulting, training, and coaching to clients across the US, Africa, Middle East, and Europe. She is also an angel investor, Entrepreneur in Residence at Inclusive Capital Collective, coach at The Grand, faculty at Glasgow Caledonian New York College, and a Phillips Exeter Academy General Alumni Association Director. Seisei spent 2016–2021 as COO to Run for Something and Future Now/States Project. WIth degrees from McGill and Columbia, she is a Dreamers & Doers, Chief, NationSwell, Smash Squad, Asian Boss Ladies member, and alum of Environmental Leadership Program, UPenn/Columbia Social Impact House, Sandbox, and StartingBloc. She tries to find time to sail, rock climb, run, free dive, and sing with the international choir Coro Mundi, and is a mom to Loki, her 13-pound rescue dog.
Shannon McCabe
Shannon spent the majority of her career in AdTech startups but recently pivoted to venture capital and never plans on looking back. She currently handles portfolio recruitment and investor relations at 43North — the $5M annual startup competition that attracts and retains high-growth startups in Buffalo. Shannon has always had a passion for startups and economic development through entrepreneurship and funding underrepresented communities.
Shaydi DeJesus
Shaydi DeJesus is a stealth GP, utilizing her non-traditional insights to open new conversations in the investment community. She is a first-gen, Puerto Rican Texan, underrepresented operator, and socio-economic diverse emerging manager. She is a 2020 PAAMCO Prisma/100 Women in Finance/CAIA Scholar (1 of 20 selected globally), former Dept. of Defense Management Consultant, and Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr. Scholar with special studies in wealth, asset building and economic development. Ms. DeJesus was part of the early team of NALCAB — National Association for Latino Community Asset Builders. Since 2008, NALCAB has been a catalyst for more than $300 million in investment in minority communities. Federal intermediary work included collaborations with White House Initiatives, SBA, NAACP, LULAC, LISC, ACCION International, World Bank & various Federal Reserve Banks. She holds a Masters from McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin and a Dual Bachelors from UTSA.
Shirley Schoenfeld
Shirley is an operator turned investor turned back to operator based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Prior to her current role as the Director of Strategy at Yotpo, she was an investor with 83North where she helped with investments in Snappy, TIS, Foretellix, and Ibex Medical. She is also an active angel investor focusing on preseed through early growth teams in fintech, applied AI, SaaS, and space. Shirley is a Kauffman Fellow (class 23), SISTA Fund scout, and mother of 3. She holds a BA from Harvard, MBA from NYU Stern.
Susie Pan
Susie is the Director of Ventures at SHEEO, a radically generous organization supporting women + non-binary people working on the World’s To-Do List. In her role, she supports the community of Ventures and Activators by helping them thrive in the ecosystem on their own terms. Prior to SHEEO, Susie was an early-stage startup PM and operator, having joined as the first 10 employees 3 times to help companies get to product-market fit. In September 2020, Susie quit her job, packed up her life in Canada, and jumped on a 1-way flight to New Zealand to take some time to deeply reflect on what’s next. Transitioning out of sabbatical, she decided to dedicate the next chapter of her career to helping build a more inclusive and accessible entrepreneurial ecosystem, especially for non-traditional founders.
Tim Granter
Tim Granter is the Founder and General Partner of Outstander, a seed-stage venture fund committed to diversity and inclusion and advisory agency in business strategy, startup acceleration, and fundraising. He is a Venture Partner at Gaingels, the leading diversity and LGBTQ+ syndicate driving social change, and NextGen Venture Partners, a network-driven fund. As an advocate and community volunteer, he supports founders and mentors at StartOut’s growth lab accelerator. Before this, Tim spent 12 years building billion-dollar global consumer brands in Beauty and Personal Care at L’Oreal and Coty. Tim holds M.B.A.’s from Columbia Business School and London Business School and a Bachelor of Business and Commerce from Monash University in Australia. He champions democratizing access and envisions a world where equity equally represents society.
Vanessa Villaverde
Vanessa Villaverde is an award-winning innovator, activist, mother, and strategic advisor for startup organizations. She is a first generation Mexican American who started her career in healthcare as a policy entrepreneur driving innovation in healthcare programs. Known throughout healthcare policy circles, she leveraged her expertise outside of government to structure private public partnerships that drove up health tech valuations and began angel investing in health and fem tech organizations led by minority founders. She is a passionate investor committed to cross-pollination amongst founders and long term roadmapping across multiple areas of tech. In addition, she is serving a 3 year appointment as an appointed board member for the Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies, a WomenWhoTech Grant Judge, and a Latinas In Tech Supporter. Her mission is to democratize access to startup success for both founders and funders.
Vattan PS
Vattan is a startup influencer involved in multiple aspects of the startup community, from founding Founderly to angel investing to mentoring to writing for various startup publications. He’s passionate not just about his own growth, but the growth of others too, and he works hard to inspire tech talent to create new products that solve problems.
Victoria Kennedy
Victoria Kennedy is the proud founder of Seed to Harvest. Seed to Harvest is a venture studio and pre-accelerator program focused on partnering with wildly underestimated founders to build human-centered companies and products. Victoria has over 10 years of experience building products and great teams mostly within early-stage startups. She is passionate about making a new tech and venture ecosystem that is intersectional as the foundation and creates wealth for all stakeholders — investors, founders, employees, and the communities they serve. She also loves to travel, dance, and is on a constant quest to find good food. She is from Atlanta, GA but currently spends most of her time in NYC (when it is not cold).
Willie Williams
Willie is the CRO of Decameron Technologies, a pioneering Fintech platform focused on fixed income portfolio management. The platform is derived from two pioneering hedge funds and integrates unique alternative data sets, AI/ML as needed, with best-in-class quantitative market analysis. Willie is also a Co-Founder of FTW Ventures, a group of business developers & managers, technologists, and investment strategists leveraging their expertise to help founders succeed. Willie serves on the board of Black Girl Ventures (BGV), dedicated to creating access to capital for Black and Brown women founders. BGV has built an expansive network of diverse founders across verticals. He also serves on the board of GU Patrick Healy Fellowship. Willie spent years trading currency derivatives and building sales teams across large premier and specialist institutions. His career has led to a natural gravitation towards crypto and blockchain where he focuses on opportunities in trading, gaming, and development.
