Heli is a Start-Up Investor & CX Designer. As the first and only woman of color in the tech start-up space, Heli offers fantastic perspective on how innocent decisions can lead to unintentional exclusion and disrupt productivity. She shares her lived experiences with culture fails, leadership wins and suggestions on how to create an inclusive culture that gives people space to make mistakes, reconcile and strengthen team cohesion. 

Heli Rodriguez Prilliman is an entrepreneur, investor, writer, and experience designer with over a decade of experience in the Silicon Valley startup scene. She was part of the founding team at Fivestars – recognized by Y Combinator as one of their Top 100 YC Startups, Fivestars was acquired by SumUp in late 2021. She's the founder of Lacquerbar U, a venture-backed online education platform for nail technicians to get the entrepreneurial skills they wont get in today's antiquated beauty school systems. Out of more than1900 applicants, Lacquerbar U was one of the first 24 startups selected to participate in the inaugural Backstage Capital Accelerator led by Arlan Hamilton. Heli also serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Fourthwave, a startup accelerator for women-led tech companies, 

 Raised in Stephenville, Texas, she is a graduate of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. 

Heli is the proud daughter of a Mexican immigrant business owner and a college educator, and she is also the granddaughter of Pauline Gasca Valenciano, a Fort Worth civil rights activist.

 Following in her Abuela’s footsteps, Heli is currently running for US senate in Texas in 2024.