The following era of New York Metropolis traders are already making their mark within the Large Apple.
They arrive from big-name enterprise corporations like Feminine Founders Fund and Lerer Hippeau and smaller ones like Chai Ventures. They work in areas like development, client, and well being. They canoe, hike, and play pickleball on the weekends. We chatted with a few of the younger traders — suppose, beneath 30 — who’re serving to to form the way forward for enterprise capitalism in New York Metropolis.
Right here’s who’s on the checklist up to now.
(This checklist will probably be up to date periodically.)
Layla Alexander — Feminine Founders Fund
Background: Alexander, 25, first entered the trade by way of an internship with Cleo Capital and Harlem Capital, earlier than touchdown at FFF as an investor in 2022.
Why this VC is notable: She’s excited in regards to the care financial system, enterprise local weather tech, and healthcare (all very buzzy — and profitable — sectors as of late). Her agency’s portfolio consists of the astrology app Co-Star and mannequin Winnie Harlow’s Cay Pores and skin.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Her hobbies embody operating, studying, the sauna, and Pilates. She’s on the lookout for founders who deeply know their market, retain customers, and have analysis that exhibits their firms can scale.
Lori Berenberg — Bloomberg Beta
Background: Berenberg, 29, labored in technical and product administration roles after school till she caught the attention of Bloomberg Beta. Transitioning from product administration to enterprise capital was a danger, however she says her background offers her a singular perspective whereas evaluating startups, permitting her to “bridge the gap between technical innovation and go-to-market,” she informed TechCrunch.
Why this VC is notable: One of many options she led whereas working at MongoDB as a product supervisor is now awaiting a patent.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Her hobbies embody needlepoint and classic trend. She needs to again firms with the potential to be greater than nice. “It needs a shot at the extraordinary.”
Alex Chung — Chai Ventures
Background: Chung, 26, received into the enterprise trade by way of her mentor, Serena Dayal, a associate at SoftBank Imaginative and prescient Fund, who shared recommendations on navigate the ecosystem. “Most importantly, she imbued me with confidence,” Chung informed TechCrunch.
Why this VC is notable: She’s into girls’s well being, figuring out it as an space for a lot potential because the sector — and its want for innovation — steps into the nationwide highlight.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Her hobbies embody operating, racquet sports activities, and needlepointing.
Besart Çopa — Antler
Background: Çopa, 27, began at Antler simply this yr. He beforehand held an internship at a16z, then began Chestr, a web-based delivery platform. The corporate closed and Copa then joined Antler. He considered founding one other startup however felt he didn’t have an thought he was obsessed with, “so the second best thing was to support others who did.”
Why this VC is notable: He’s a founder turned principal investor at one of many hottest accelerator applications round. “If I hadn’t chewed glass myself, I would have found it impossible to truly sympathize with the journeys of the founders I support.”
Enjoyable details and pursuits: He disagrees with the trade’s seeming obsession with younger founders. “Let teens be teens,” he stated. “Fall in love. Watch the stars. You can still build on the side. If you have an idea you feel in your bones that it must exist, then go for it. Otherwise, you can always start a B2B SaaS [company] later.”
His hobbies embody studying historical past and portray. As a pre-seed investor, he has a founder-centric strategy to investing and says he’s on the lookout for those that are constructing targeted options for area of interest consumer issues. “The more niche, the better!”
Ethan Daly — Shine Capital
Background: Daly, 27, began out in funding banking earlier than transferring to Shine, the place he has been for the previous 4 years. He’s now a associate on the agency.
Why this VC is notable: He was just lately promoted to associate at Shine.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Shine Capital’s portfolio consists of the collector neighborhood Flamingo and the office platform Notion.
Marina Girgis — Precursor VC
Background: Girgis, 29, began out on the finance aspect, researching knowledge and semiconductors. She cherished studying about rising tech however stated she needed to have extra of a direct impression on the businesses she researched, so she pivoted and has since turn out to be fairly bullish on investing in firms on the pre-seed stage.
“I chose to become a generalist and invest at the earliest stage possible, idea-stage companies, so I could get to know the people behind the companies and witness their transformation from the very beginning,” she informed TechCrunch.
Why this VC is notable: Recognized for her knack at choosing pre-seed firms, like AI safety startup Edera, and for transferring quick to make the end-to-end funding course of really feel seamless.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Her exterior hobbies embody jigsaw puzzles and studying homicide mysteries. One factor she wish to see change within the trade is inflexible pondering on what kind of founders to again. “There are no hard and fast rules in venture,” she stated, including that anybody can fail no matter background. “You should learn from your past experiences as an investor, but my hope is to stay open-minded.”
Laura Hamilton — Notable Capital
Background: Hamilton, 26, has been an investor at Notable Capital since 2023. She received her begin within the trade by sending many chilly emails and making chilly calls to alumni. She landed her first VC job by making use of chilly on LinkedIn, “proving the hustle strategy works,” she informed TechCrunch.
Why this VC is notable: At Notable, she’s specializing in knowledge, cloud infrastructure, developer instruments, and cybersecurity. “Right now, I’m especially interested in agent infrastructure,” and he or she is seeking to again extra founders with deep ardour and objective.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Her hobbies embody internet hosting a podcast known as Accomplice Path, the place she dives into the success tales of rising traders and founders. She additionally helps run FemBuild Collective, a neighborhood for feminine engineers and technical founders within the Metropolis.
Emily Herrera — Gradual Ventures
Background: Herrera, 25, is an investor at Gradual Ventures, whose portfolio consists of supply service Postmates, girls’s footwear model Birdies, and the social app Citizen. She beforehand labored at Night time Ventures and focuses on client investing and the creator financial system.
Why this VC is notable: Her forward-thinking strategy to creator financial system investing got here as others had been nonetheless pondering the sector’s impression.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: She has a protracted historical past in enterprise, interning in every single place from Harlem Capital to Dorm Room Fund. Quick Firm hailed her as one of many “savviest creator economy investors” in 2022 for her work at Night time Ventures, which backed firms equivalent to influencer advertising platform Pearpop and NFT app Zora.
Bryce Johnson — Major Enterprise Companions
Background: Johnson, 25, hung out working in software program and product at Large Tech. He heard Josh Wolfe from Lux Capital converse at an occasion one yr and have become fixated on the concept of early-stage investing. He pivoted to administration consulting and used that community to land an analyst function at Major.
Why this VC is notable: One of many solely junior VCs at his agency, he’s recognized for being an advocate for range inside VC.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: He loves classical music and backpacked Southeast Asia final summer season. For work, his focus is in healthcare, client, SMB tech, and vertical SaaS.
Will McKelvey — Lerer Hippeau
Background: McKelvey, 29, partnered with a number of classmates and raised a fund to start out backing startups whereas attending UC Berkeley. After commencement, he moved to New York and joined Lerer Hippeau.
Why this VC is notable: Launched a scholar enterprise fund at Berkeley that’s nonetheless making investments.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: One factor he wish to change in regards to the trade is the quantity of ego and conceitedness that persists, which might trigger traders to overlook out on alternatives and expertise. “Many VCs have always been the star student, went to the fancy schools, and got the fancy job, so they misguidedly carry that attitude into this role,” he continued. “This industry could use a heavy dose of humility.”
His hobbies embody softball, basketball, and seashore volleyball. He needs to know two issues from the founders who pitch him. “What is the insight you have that everyone else is missing, and how did you unearth it?” he stated. “What is driving you to take on the titanic effort of building a company from scratch?”
Mason Murray — NEA
Background: Murrary, 28, joined the agency after a short profession in funding banking. He’s principally a generalist however focuses on software program firms promoting to companies or customers.
Why this VC is notable: Unprompted, three individuals on this checklist requested to verify he was included. In response to NEA’s web site, he has made six investments, together with within the solar-powered robotics platform Aigen and the wellness ecosystem The Effectively.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: He joined the agency after a short profession in funding banking. He’s principally a generalist however focuses on software program firms promoting to companies or customers.
He’s bullish on AI and wouldn’t thoughts seeing extra AI founders coming to New York. “We have talent, customers, capital, and great academic institutions,” he informed TechCrunch. “I’m bullish on New York.”
In his private life, he’s a passion collector, musician, singer, and newbie cook dinner. In his skilled life, he’s on the lookout for founders with a transparent imaginative and prescient on how the world may be completely different, “paired with a precise hypothesis on what it takes to get there.”
Zehra Naqvi — Headline Ventures
Background: Naqvi, 25, labored at a number of client startups earlier than formally turning into an investor for Headline final yr.
Why this VC is notable: She’s recognized round city for her standard enterprise capital e-newsletter No GPs Allowed, which provides networking alternatives to traders round New York.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: She loves being an investor and says although the market is down within the client sector proper now, “history has proven time and time again that now is the best time to double down on investing in the future of consumers,” she informed TechCrunch. “Be a contrarian.”
Her hobbies embody going to artwork galleries, touring, taking part in tennis, and watching motion pictures (she’s an AMC Stubs member). She’s on the lookout for founders within the client area, in each tech and client packaged items, between pre-seed and Sequence A.
David Ongchoco — Comma Capital
Background: Ongchoco, 28, has a background in tech, gross sales, and investing, working for locations like Dorm Room Fund, interning at Be taught Capital, and dealing in gross sales and development at Amplitude and Rutter.
Why this VC is notable: Ongchoco is a co-founder of Comma Capital, which invests on the pre-seed and seed levels.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: He, alongside his co-founder Adarsh Bhatt, made Forbes’ 30 Underneath 30 this yr for his or her work in enterprise capital. Comma has backed greater than 50 firms thus far, a few of which have gone on to be acquired by firms like Stripe and Airtable.
Alexandra Sukin — Bessemer Enterprise Companions
Background: Sukin, 27, received her begin within the trade whereas at Harvard, the place she was concerned with numerous on-campus actions like Harvard Ventures and was a founding member of the VC agency Opposite Capital. After graduating, she joined Bessemer.
Why this VC is notable: She’s a vp at Bessemer, and her investments embody the fintech Truebill (acquired by Rocket Applied sciences) and enterprise firms Unito, Rewind, and Contractbook.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Her hobbies embody mountain climbing and snowboarding, and he or she loves spending day trip West, as her father’s aspect of the household is from Montana and Colorado. “While I’m investing a lot these days in vertical and SMB software, I am also really excited about AI enabling a wave of consumer companies,” she stated.
Mark Xu — Lightspeed Enterprise Companions
Background: Xu, 24, is a associate at Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, whose investments, in accordance with his LinkedIn, embody Glean, Stripe, Wiz, and Anduril.
Why this VC is notable: One of many youngest to ever be promoted to associate at Lightspeed Ventures.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: Attended the Juilliard Faculty for the violin earlier than heading to Harvard College to check math. Had a background in enterprise growth and funding banking earlier than becoming a member of Lightspeed Ventures.
Vincent Zhu — Normal Catalyst
Background: Zhu, 25, is an early-stage investor at Normal Catalyst and, in accordance with his LinkedIn, loves working with founders “building for the digitally native generation.”
Why this VC is notable: He’s made a reputation for himself round city, internet hosting occasions and serving to founders get intros.
Enjoyable details and pursuits: After school, he labored as an analyst at Goldman Sachs earlier than becoming a member of Normal Catalyst two years in the past. The agency’s portfolio consists of Stripe, Canva, and Warby Parker.
