The subsequent technology of New York Metropolis buyers are already making their mark within the Large Apple.
They arrive from big-name enterprise companies like Feminine Founders Fund and Lerer Hippeau and smaller ones like Chai Ventures. They work in areas like progress, client, and well being. They canoe, hike, and play pickleball on the weekends. We chatted with among the younger buyers — suppose, underneath 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 business by means 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 nowadays). Her agency’s portfolio consists of the astrology app Co-Star and mannequin Winnie Harlow’s Cay Pores and skin.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace operating, studying, the sauna, and Pilates. She’s in search of founders who deeply know their market, retain customers, and have analysis that reveals their corporations can scale.
Lori Berenberg — Bloomberg Beta
Background: Berenberg, 29, labored in technical and product administration roles after faculty till she caught the attention of Bloomberg Beta. Transitioning from product administration to enterprise capital was a threat, however she says her background provides 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 info and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace needlepoint and classic style. She desires to again corporations 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 business by means of her mentor, Serena Dayal, a accomplice 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 ladies’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 info and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace 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 thought of founding one other startup however felt he didn’t have an thought he was enthusiastic about, “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 info and pursuits: He disagrees with the business’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 embrace studying historical past and portray. As a pre-seed investor, he has a founder-centric strategy to investing and says he’s in search of those that are constructing centered 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 accomplice on the agency.
Why this VC is notable: He was lately promoted to accomplice at Shine.
Enjoyable info 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 information and semiconductors. She cherished studying about rising tech however stated she wished to have extra of a direct impression on the businesses she researched, so she pivoted and has since develop into fairly bullish on investing in corporations 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: Identified for her knack at choosing pre-seed corporations, like AI safety startup Edera, and for transferring quick to make the end-to-end funding course of really feel seamless.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: Her outdoors hobbies embrace jigsaw puzzles and studying homicide mysteries. One factor she want to see change within the business is inflexible pondering on what sort 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 business 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 information, cloud infrastructure, developer instruments, and cybersecurity. “Right now, I’m especially interested in agent infrastructure,” and he or she is trying to again extra founders with deep ardour and function.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace internet hosting a podcast known as Companion Path, the place she dives into the success tales of rising buyers 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, ladies’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 have been nonetheless pondering the sector’s impression.
Enjoyable info 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 corporations reminiscent of influencer advertising platform Pearpop and NFT app Zora.
Bryce Johnson — Main Enterprise Companions
Background: Johnson, 25, frolicked working in software program and product at Large Tech. He heard Josh Wolfe from Lux Capital communicate 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 Main.
Why this VC is notable: One of many solely junior VCs at his agency, he’s identified for being an advocate for variety inside VC.
Enjoyable info 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 begin backing startups whereas attending UC Berkeley. After commencement, he moved to New York and joined Lerer Hippeau.
Why this VC is notable: Launched a pupil enterprise fund at Berkeley that’s nonetheless making investments.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: One factor he want to change in regards to the business is the quantity of ego and vanity that persists, which might trigger buyers 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 embrace softball, basketball, and seashore volleyball. He desires 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 quick profession in funding banking. He’s largely a generalist however focuses on software program corporations promoting to companies or customers.
Why this VC is notable: Unprompted, three folks on this checklist requested to ensure he was included. In line with NEA’s web site, he has made six investments, together with within the solar-powered robotics platform Aigen and the wellness ecosystem The Properly.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: He joined the agency after a quick profession in funding banking. He’s largely a generalist however focuses on software program corporations 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 interest collector, musician, singer, and beginner cook dinner. In his skilled life, he’s in search of founders with a transparent imaginative and prescient on how the world may be totally 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 changing into an investor for Headline final yr.
Why this VC is notable: She’s identified round city for her fashionable enterprise capital publication No GPs Allowed, which presents networking alternatives to buyers round New York.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: She loves being an investor and says despite the fact that 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 embrace going to artwork galleries, touring, taking part in tennis, and watching films (she’s an AMC Stubs member). She’s in search of founders within the client area, in each tech and client packaged items, between pre-seed and Collection 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 progress 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 phases.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: He, alongside his co-founder Adarsh Bhatt, made Forbes’ 30 Beneath 30 this yr for his or her work in enterprise capital. Comma has backed greater than 50 corporations thus far, a few of which have gone on to be acquired by corporations like Stripe and Airtable.
Alexandra Sukin — Bessemer Enterprise Companions
Background: Sukin, 27, received her begin within the business 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 embrace the fintech Truebill (acquired by Rocket Applied sciences) and enterprise corporations Unito, Rewind, and Contractbook.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace 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 accomplice at Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, whose investments, in response to his LinkedIn, embrace Glean, Stripe, Wiz, and Anduril.
Why this VC is notable: One of many youngest to ever be promoted to accomplice at Lightspeed Ventures.
Enjoyable info and pursuits: Attended the Juilliard College for the violin earlier than heading to Harvard College to review 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 response to 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 info and pursuits: After faculty, 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.
