4/30/20 Pitch Your Deep Tech Startup to VCs and Angels (on Zoom)

Are you a tech startup looking to pitch your company in front of an audience and panel of expert VC and Angel judges? This is your chance. Meet, field questions, and get immediate feedback from investors. Our judges will come from a variety of industries but with a special interest or tie to deep tech (AI, AR, Blockchain, Biotech, etc). Network with other investors and founders in the crowd.

This event will have a special focus on Deep Tech startups, with 4-5 slots reserved for Deep Tech startups and 1-2 slots for Generalist, non-Deep Tech startups.

Agenda:
2:30pm PST - 2:35pm PST: Opening Remarks
2:35pm PST - 3:45pm PST: Pitch Your Startup to VCs & Angels

Judges:

Shayna Modarresi - Founder, Managing Partner, Lodestar Ventures; Head of Venture Investments and Strategy, Atrium (Justin Kan's current startup); Deal Flow and Digital Disruption SiG, Band of Angels; Investment Advisory Member, Correlation Ventures; Women of Influence in Venture Capital, Women of Influence in Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Shayna Modarresi is Founder and Managing Partner of Lodestar Ventures, a seed stage fund. She is also Head of Venture Investments and Strategy at Atrium and an Investment Advisory Board Member at Correlation Ventures. Prior to that, Shayna was a Partner at XG Ventures, where she helped back nearly 40 early stage companies (19 of whom have been acquired by the likes of Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Box). Prior to XG, Shayna managed DLA Piper's Venture Group; at DLA she focused on making investment recommendations and enhancing the funding prospects of early stage companies as well as actively managing portfolio companies. Earlier in her career, Shayna was with Probitas Partners. At Probitas, she was responsible for raising more than $3B from institutional investors for venture funds such as Scale Ventures, IDG, and Shasta Ventures. She started her career in Investment Banking at Lazard, in mergers and acquisitions. Shayna was named a Women of Influence in Venture Capital by the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Shayna is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. She holds degrees in Molecular Cell Biology and Mass Communications.





Alic Chen, Ph.D - Partner, Blue Bear Ventures; Co-Founder, Advisor, CITRIS Foundry

Alic Chen is Partner at Blue Bear Ventures, a seed stage fund investing in founders working on the frontiers of science and technology from top tier research institutions. Alic previously co-founded the CITRIS Foundry deep tech incubator at UC Berkeley shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in Mech. Engineering from UC Berkeley in 2012, where he grew a diverse portfolio of startups working in health, therapeutics, cleantech, novel sensors and AI. Over the last 6 years, he has advised or invested in 50+ science and technology startups, 68% of which have cumulatively raised $200M+ in funding.


Alexander Piskunov - General Partner, Ruvento Ventures; Investor, ElectroNeek RPA (YC W20); Investor, xRobotics; Investor, Alcatraz AI; Investor, UpCodes

Alexander is a partner of a San Francisco based deep-tech venture capital fund Ruvento Ventures specialising on investments in emerging markets. Previously, Alexander studied finance at the University of Cambridge and worked in technology-focused IB, cross-border PE and growth-stage VC funds across Europe, Asia and the USA, participating in 10 investments and 3 exits.


Luke Pusejovsky - Founder, LAP Ventures; Co-Founder, CEO, Curian; Former COO, Delta Separations (Acquired 2/2020); Member Board of Advisors, Booxby; Member Board of Advisors, ALL Power Labs

Luke is a Bay Area entrepreneur focused on hardware and IoT, energy and climate, digital health, cannabinoid therapeutics, and neuroscience medicine startups. Startup preferences include complex and ambitious 7 – 10+ year projects, B Corps, IP-intensive ‘hardtech’, cultures that value mindfulness and resiliency. Luke is an original co-founder of Curian, an extraction hardware design company in the cannabis sector. He acted as its founding CEO from April 2018 to April 2020.

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