Venture with Grace

Gaurav Bhogale is a Principal at Mantis Venture Capital. Mantis VC, the venture capital firm co-founded by Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of the electronic DJ group The Chainsmokers, has raised $100 million in commitments for its third fund. Mantis VC is an early stage technology investment firm supporting the most innovative companies across enterprise software, AI / ML, cloud and data infrastructure, healthtech, cybersecurity, gaming and other emerging technologies. Prior to that he was a VP at Galaxy Interactive and Managing partner of Chakra Capital. Notable Private Investments at Chakra Capital including Shield AI (Series F), Machina Labs (Series B), Saronic (Series A), Anthropic (Series B), Modern Intelligence (Series A), Bastille Networks (Series B), Uniswap Labs (Series B), D-Graph Labs (Seed), Qunnect (Seed), Anduin (Series B), and Humanly (Seed).Topics: Backing the Builders of AI, Infra, and Cyber from Day ZeroBetting on the Infrastructure Behind the AI RevolutionFrom Gaming to Generative AI: Lessons from Galaxy to Mantis#VentureCapital #AI #DeepTech #Startups #Cybersecurity

Mason Lender is the CEO of Vantager. Disclosure: Grace is an investor in Vantager.Vantager is an AI-powered platform that supports LPs representing $100B+ in AUM internationally with their pre-trade diligence, analysis, and reporting processes. Vantager has processed thousands of private funds, and over 50,000 underlying investments.Topics: How AI is transforming LP due diligence workflowsHow to build trust with institutional clients who are naturally risk-aversePredictions for how private markets infrastructure will evolve over the next decade#VCPodcast #PrivateMarkets #LimitedPartners #AIinFinance #DueDiligence

Arpit Mittal is a partner at Threshold. Based in the Bay Area, he is responsible for leading new investments in enterprise SaaS and B2B software companies and supporting Threshold’s existing portfolio. Arpit was named a 2024 Rising Star by the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Previously, Arpit was a principal with Google’s Gradient Ventures, where he helped lead investments in Gigs, Mural, and Writer, contributing to both their go-to-market and long-term business strategies. Arpit was also an associate at IDG Ventures India Advisors (Chiratae Ventures). Prior to working in a venture firm, Arpit co-founded a tech-enabled B2B marketplace startup serving the auto industry in Bangalore, India. He began his career as a Quant at Goldman Sachs. Arpit holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Delhi University and an MBA from the Wharton School. Topics: The evolution of enterprise SaaS investingGo-to-market strategy evolution in B2B softwareAI's impact on B2B software investing#VC #Investing #Startups #Tech #SaaS #B2B #Venture #Funding

Tanay Jaipuria is a partner at Wing VC where he focuses on investments in AI-powered applications and data and AI infrastructure. He is passionate about supporting highly technical teams in the earliest stages building delightful experiences to tackle challenging problems. Prior to Wing, Tanay was a product manager at Meta, where he led teams building products to improve newsfeed ranking and ad experiences on Facebook and to help creators make a living on Instagram. Before that, he was a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where he served clients across the financial services, media, and technology industries. Tanay brings a wealth of experiential knowledge to Wing, and shares his thoughts on startups, technology, and business in his popular weekly newsletter. Tanay holds a BS in computer science from Columbia University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he graduated as a Baker Scholar.Topics:AI Apps and Infrastructure Investment ThesisRed flags versus green flags in AI startup pitchesThe make-vs-buy decision process for AI companies choosing partners#vc #ai #startup #tech #investing #entrepreneur

Nancy Wang is a Venture Partner at Felicis, where she backs early-stage founders building in infrastructure, cybersecurity, and AI. As a product and engineering executive, Nancy brings a builder’s mindset to investing: helping startups refine their product-market fit, land their first enterprise customers, and scale production-grade systems. She complements this investor perspective with her operational role as VP and Head of Engineering at 1Password, leading all product engineering teams and spearheading the company’s next-generation initiatives in generative AI security and identity access management, architecting systems for an agent-first future.Prior to 1Password, Nancy served as Director of Product & Engineering and General Manager at Amazon Web Services, where she owned P&L and led product, engineering, and design for AWS’s $1.5B+ data protection and data security portfolio. Earlier in her career, she built cloud SaaS products at Rubrik, network infrastructure products at Google, and helped launch HealthData.gov for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Nancy extends her cybersecurity expertise by serving on the Cyber-Resilience Advisory Council for Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT), advising the C-suite on enterprise security trends and product strategy, and bridging early traction with durable growth for both Fortune 10 companies and startups.Passionate about expanding access to technical leadership, Nancy founded and serves as board chair of Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT), a global 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has educated over 45,000 learners on Coursera. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also serves on the Board of Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship (BoTIE).Topics: What it takes to land your first enterprise customerWhat founders get wrong about enterprise salesHow to lead technical orgs through hypergrowth#StartupTips#ProductLeadership#EnterpriseTech#FounderAdvice

Chris Protasewich and Mike Wystrach are the Co-Founders and General Partners of Cutting Horse, a growth equity firm for exceptional consumer companies. ~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Verivend. If you’re a GP or LP looking to simplify the capital raising and deployment process, Verivend is here to help. Trusted by over 800 funds and managing more than $2 billion in transactions, Verivend offers a secure, streamlined payments platform designed specifically for private capital markets. Say goodbye to manual reconciliation and repeated follow-ups - raise and deploy capital faster and with greater transparency. Ready to make your fund operations smoother? Visit https://bit.ly/3GrB4Qj and see how easy it can be. ~~~~~The firm backs emerging consumer product and service businesses across food & beverage, health & wellness, pet & animal health, and home & lifestyle categories. Cutting Horse focuses on bootstrapped, profitable, founder-led businesses in the $1–15 million revenue range, typically investing $1–5 million while providing hands-on operational support to help scale the businesses. Chris and Mike have been building and investing in consumer businesses together for over a decade. They first met in 2015 when Chris backed Mike’s company Freshly, the healthy prepared meal delivery service that scaled nationally and sold to Nestlé for $1.5B, while he was an investor at Highland Capital Partners. Since then, they launched and scaled Petfolk, a rapidly growing veterinary services platform now operating 35 locations across 7 states.Topics: The Consumer Brand Growth Playbook No One Talks AboutThe Next Wave of Investment in Wellness, Pets & Everyday GoodsWhat It Takes to Raise Growth Capital#ConsumerVC #FounderLed #BootstrappedBrands #GrowthCapital #PetTech

Nait Jones is the founder and CEO of AdTwin.ai, a venture-backed generative AI platform that empowers marketers to create and launch high-performing audio ads in minutes. A three-time founder and former partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Nait brings a rare dual perspective as both operator and investor. At a16z, he led go-to-market and cultural partnership strategies and spearheaded the firm’s Talent x Opportunity Fund, investing in underrepresented founders. He also helped build Royal, a Web3 music rights startup backed by artists like Nas and The Chainsmokers. Known for bridging culture and technology, Nait’s career spans audio, AI, crypto, and consumer tech—with a deep commitment to expanding access and reshaping how stories are told through media.Topics: Why Audio Advertising Is the Next Big ChannelThe Truth About Fundraising as a Former VCThe Rise of Voice AI in Performance Marketing#AI #VoiceAI #GenerativeAI #StartupLife #VentureCapital #MarketingTech🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/66438438...

Cody Coleman is the co-founder and CEO of Coactive AI. He is also a co-creator of DAWNBench and MLPerf, a founding member of MLCommons, and his work spans developing standards and benchmarks for high-performance deep learning to data-centric AI. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford and MEng and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.Topics: AI-Powered Search & AnalysisEnterprise-Grade Visual Data SolutionsStrategic AI Infrastructure#AI #MachineLearning #DeepLearning #Benchmarking #TechInnovation

Jesse Marble is the Founder and General Partner of Wildwood Ventures. ~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Verivend. If you’re a GP or LP looking to simplify the capital raising and deployment process, Verivend is here to help. Trusted by over 800 funds and managing more than $2 billion in transactions, Verivend offers a secure, streamlined payments platform designed specifically for private capital markets. Say goodbye to manual reconciliation and repeated follow-ups - raise and deploy capital faster and with greater transparency. Ready to make your fund operations smoother? Visit https://bit.ly/3GrB4Qj and see how easy it can be. ~~~~~Wildwood Ventures is an early-stage venture firm and studio investing in startups at the intersection of wellness, the outdoors, and healthy living. After bootstrapping and exiting his growth marketing agency, Magneti, Marble transitioned from operator to investor in 2023, launching Wildwood in partnership with VF Corporation (parent of Vans, The North Face, and Timberland). Wildwood combines hands-on company building with venture capital, backing companies like Out&Back, Kinsa Active, and Roots. Topics: Consumer tech investing in the wellness and outdoor economyHow to build a wellness or outdoor startup that actually scalesPartnering with VF Corp: What It Means to Have a Strategic LP#VentureCapital #WellnessTech #FounderJourney #EarlyStageStartups

Ryan Breslow is the founder and CEO of Bolt, a one-click checkout company he launched to make fast, secure online purchasing accessible to retailers beyond Amazon. After leaving Stanford to pursue entrepreneurship full-time, he scaled Bolt to an $11B valuation and helped popularize “Conscious Culture,” a workplace philosophy that blends high performance with mindfulness and transparency. He’s also the founder of Love.com, Eco, Prism, The Family Accelerator, and The Movement—ventures that reflect his broad interest in wellness, fintech, and purpose-driven innovation. Known for his ambitious vision and direct communication style, Ryan continues to push boundaries as one of tech’s most unconventional young founders.Topics: How to Build Mission-Driven Companies That Scale FastResetting Startup Culture: What Needs to ChangeCreating Companies That Balance Speed and Values#startups #founderjourney #entrepreneurship #techinnovation #fintech #wellness