The following era of New York Metropolis buyers are already making their mark within the Massive 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 progress, client, and well being. They canoe, hike, and play pickleball on the weekends. We chatted with a number of the younger buyers — 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 thus far.
(This checklist can be up to date periodically.)
Layla Alexander — Feminine Founders Fund
Background: Alexander, 25, first entered the business via 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 economic system, enterprise local weather tech, and healthcare (all very buzzy — and profitable — sectors today). Her agency’s portfolio consists of the astrology app Co-Star and mannequin Winnie Harlow’s Cay Pores and skin.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace working, studying, the sauna, and Pilates. She’s in search of founders who deeply know their market, retain customers, and have analysis that exhibits their corporations 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 provides her a singular perspective whereas evaluating startups, permitting her to “bridge the gap between technical innovation and go-to-market,” she advised 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 information and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace needlepoint and classic vogue. She needs 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, bought into the enterprise business via her mentor, Serena Dayal, a companion at SoftBank Imaginative and prescient Fund, who shared recommendations on the best way to navigate the ecosystem. “Most importantly, she imbued me with confidence,” Chung advised 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 information and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace working, racquet sports activities, and needlepointing.
Besart Çopa — Antler
Background: Çopa, 27, began at Antler simply this 12 months. He beforehand held an internship at a16z, then began Chestr, an internet 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 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 packages 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 information and pursuits: He disagrees with the business’s seeming obsession with younger founders. “Let teens be teens,” he mentioned. “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 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 shifting to Shine, the place he has been for the previous 4 years. He’s now a companion on the agency.
Why this VC is notable: He was lately promoted to companion at Shine.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: Shine Capital’s portfolio consists of the collector group Flamingo and the office platform Notion.
Marina Girgis — Precursor VC
Background: Girgis, 29, began out on the finance facet, researching information and semiconductors. She liked studying about rising tech however mentioned 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 advised TechCrunch.
Why this VC is notable: Recognized for her knack at choosing pre-seed corporations, like AI safety startup Edera, and for shifting quick to make the end-to-end funding course of really feel seamless.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: Her exterior hobbies embrace jigsaw puzzles and studying homicide mysteries. One factor she wish 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 mentioned, 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 bought 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 advised 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 objective.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace internet hosting a podcast known as Associate Path, the place she dives into the success tales of rising buyers and founders. She additionally helps run FemBuild Collective, a group 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 makes a speciality of client investing and the creator economic system.
Why this VC is notable: Her forward-thinking strategy to creator economic system investing got here as others had been nonetheless pondering the sector’s impression.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: She has an extended historical past in enterprise, interning in all places 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 equivalent to influencer advertising and marketing platform Pearpop and NFT app Zora.
Bryce Johnson — Main Enterprise Companions
Background: Johnson, 25, frolicked working in software program and product at Massive Tech. He heard Josh Wolfe from Lux Capital communicate at an occasion one 12 months and have become fixated on the thought 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 range inside VC.
Enjoyable information 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 just a few 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 scholar enterprise fund at Berkeley that’s nonetheless making investments.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: One factor he wish to change in regards to the business is the quantity of ego and vanity that persists, which may 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 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 mentioned. “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 principally a generalist however focuses on software program corporations promoting to companies or customers.
Why this VC is notable: Unprompted, three individuals on this checklist requested to verify 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 information and pursuits: He joined the agency after a quick profession in funding banking. He’s principally 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 advised TechCrunch. “I’m bullish on New York.”
In his private life, he’s a passion collector, musician, singer, and novice prepare dinner. In his skilled life, he’s in search of founders with a transparent imaginative and prescient on how the world might be completely different, “paired with a precise hypothesis on what it takes to get there.”
Zehra Naqvi — Headline Ventures
Background: Naqvi, 25, labored at just a few client startups earlier than formally changing into an investor for Headline final 12 months.
Why this VC is notable: She’s identified round city for her in style enterprise capital e-newsletter No GPs Allowed, which affords networking alternatives to buyers round New York.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: She loves being an investor and says regardless 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 advised TechCrunch. “Be a contrarian.”
Her hobbies embrace going to artwork galleries, touring, enjoying 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 Study 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 levels.
Enjoyable information and pursuits: He, alongside his co-founder Adarsh Bhatt, made Forbes’ 30 Underneath 30 this 12 months 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, bought her begin within the business whereas at Harvard, the place she was concerned with varied 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 information and pursuits: Her hobbies embrace climbing and snowboarding, and he or she loves spending outing West, as her father’s facet 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 mentioned.
Mark Xu — Lightspeed Enterprise Companions
Background: Xu, 24, is a companion at Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, whose investments, in line with his LinkedIn, embrace Glean, Stripe, Wiz, and Anduril.
Why this VC is notable: One of many youngest to ever be promoted to companion at Lightspeed Ventures.
Enjoyable information 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 line 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 information 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.
