EVCA Newsletter | February 2021
Welcome back to the new EVCA newsletter! With the pandemic-induced mayhem of 2020, we may have been hoping for a quieter year, but, of course, life never goes that way. Only a little over a month into the New Year, we’ve witnessed the anarchy of the US Capital riots, the inauguration of a new president, the haphazard beginnings of the national vaccine rollout, and, most recently, the historic Gamestop saga launched by a decentralized network of revolutionary Redditors. It’s certainly been a fun ride, and we at the EVCA are excited for what’s next in store for the world. Until the next event of history-making proportions, we hope you can get a little reprieve from the chaos with this February edition of the EVCA newsletter—hot off the digital press!
EVCA Spotlight: From Teenage Tech Tinkerer to Partner at Lux Capital, Shahin Farshchi Shares His Origins Story and Lessons on Life
We had the chance to interview Shahin Farshchi, who is a Partner at Lux Capital, where he invests in emerging science and technology ventures at the edge of what’s possible. Shahin shares with us his origins story—from tinkering with technologies in his youth, graduating in the dot com bust, and ultimately finding his way into the world of venture capital. Through his story, he shares the lessons about career and life he learned along the way.
Featured Investors
This month we highlight Stephen Chou of Translink Capital and Veronica Gabriele of Munich Re Ventures as our featured investors of the EVCA community.
Stephen Chou, Principal at Translink Capital: Stephen is a principal at Translink Capital, an early-stage fund investing at Seed / Series A. He focuses on opportunities in all things consumer and is most excited about interactive media and wellness. Prior to joining the fund, Stephen worked on software venture investing and M&A at Cisco Investments. He also spent time advising executives on strategic transactions and capital raises at Credit Suisse across internet, gaming, and hardware sectors. Stephen grew up in Los Angeles and Taipei, often splitting his time between Asia and the US.
Veronica Gabriele, Associate Munich Re Ventures: Veronica joined Munich Re Ventures as an associate in 2019 to focus on mobility, life and health, and cybersecurity. She currently sits on the board of ride-share insurance company Inshur. Previously, Veronica was an investor at Anthos Capital and focused on early- and growth-stage deals across the CPG and cyber spaces. Prior to that, she was an analyst at Rothschild & Co. covering the financial institutions group in Italy and also worked at various startups across the US, Europe, and Asia including, eToro, Benivo, and Stensul.
EVCA Leadership Spotlight: Chief of Staff, Kevin Wu
This EVCA Leadership Spotlight Series is intended to help the broader community get to know what's going on behind the scenes at the EVCA, as well as highlight the valuable contributions of the roughly 50 individuals across the venture capital industry who make the EVCA possible. Accordingly, it's a great privilege for us to announce our first ever EVCA Leadership Spotlight on our very own Chief of Staff, Kevin Wu.
Kevin Wu serves as EVCA’s Chief of Staff and is an undergraduate at UC Berkeley in the Haas School of Business. Within the venture ecosystem, Kevin is an investor at Signia Venture Partners, an $85m pre-seed / seed / Series A fund, where he focuses on sourcing and evaluating investments across consumer internet, B2B marketplaces, and e-commerce. Prior to Signia, he spent time in impact investing with Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, supporting early and growth-stage companies in ed tech and the future of work. Outside of work, Kevin enjoys hiking the national parks, exploring Mexican cuisine, and is an aviation enthusiast who hopes to get his private pilot’s license.
What We’re Reading
Reflections on the Last Six Months as San Jose’s Chief Innovation Officer- Jordan Sun, Chief Officer of San Jose, reflects on bridging the digital divide and creating a data-driven city
Waging on the US Sporting Betting Market? Take the Over - Dennis Huang, Venture Partner at Fourth Realm VC, breaks down the market of sports betting.
Four Supply Chain Themes for 2021 - Rick Zullo and Chelsea Zhang of Equal Ventures, give their predictions about the top supply chain trends for the year
Emerging: How Technologies Move from Obscurity to Ubiquity, Justine Humenansky, Investor at Playground Ventures, discusses the evolution of emerging technologies
Systems: Making the World Move, Newton Davis of Assembly Ventures, discusses the growing importance of building the right data infrastructure to enable the next generation of mobility systems
Events
Fireside Chat with Nathan Benaich - EVCA AI/ML Vertical & LG Tech Ventures | February 4 | Hosted by Arjo Mozumder of Point72 Ventures, Kenn So of Shasta Ventures and Michelle Moon of LG Tech Ventures
500 Startups Batch 27 Digital Demo Day | 500 Startups | February 4
Blockchain Trends for 2021 - EVCA Blockchain Vertical | February 16 | Hosted by Kinjal Shah of Blockchain Capital and Lauren Stephanian of Pantera Capital - RSVP in the events channel on Slack
LP Panel with Columbia Endowment, Trinity Church, and Golden Bell Partners - EVCA LP Community | February 16 | Hosted by Dillon Krasnigor of Altos Ventures - Link to RSVP is in the general channel on Slack
Enterprise Vertical Mixer | February 17 | Hosted by Wenz Xing of Emergence Capital, Minn Kim of Bloomberg Beta and Casber Wang of Sapphire Ventures - RSVP in the events channel on Slack
Fintech Vertical Chat with Sheel Mohnot, Better Tomorrow Ventures and Chris Adelsbach, Outrun Ventures | February 17 | Hosted by Zack Rosen, Ribbit Capital and Matt Hafemeister, A16Z - RSVP in the events channel on Slack
Mad Hacks: Fury Code Hackathon | February 5 - 26 | National Security Innovation Network
Jobs
Associate / Senior Associate Role in Menlo Park, CA at Grishin Robotics. If interested, email Spencer Marchel at spencer.marchel@truesearch.com
Principal Role in San Francisco, CA at Singtel Innov8 Ventures. If interested, email Ken Lau at ken.lau@singtel.com
Analyst Role in Santa Monica, CA at Clocktower Technology Ventures. If interested, send resume and cover letter to careers5@clocktowergroup.com with the subject “Investment Analyst candidate - Your Name”.
Analyst/ Senior Associate Role at High Alpha in NYC, NY. If interested, email Seth Corder at seth@highalpha.com
Platform and Ops Associate in NYC or Boston at NextView Ventures.
Associate Role in Cambridge, MA at Rhapsody Venture Partners.
Connect with us: EVCA, Sam & Adam
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