As summer draws to a close, students across the USA and around the world prepare for the start of a new school year, I’m reminded of the journey that began over ten years ago when I founded the Simon School Venture Fund in partnership with the University of Rochester – Simon Business School University of Rochester.
The fund – driven by a dynamic team of students, alumni entrepreneurs, and faculty – evaluates and invests real capital in early-stage ventures.
Think of it as a mini–Shark Tank in action.
I strongly believe that combining real-world street smarts and academic book smarts via experiential learning is essential to truly enrich an individual’s education. The Simon Venture Fund is a pathway of teaching others “how to fish.”
It’s no surprise to me that Simon Business School has been ranked as the #9 Business School in the USA and #19 in the World for Entrepreneurship.
This past year was particularly thrilling for the fund, highlighted by a significant $$ exit from its investment in Satelles (https://satelles.com/), which was acquired by Iridium in March 2024.
To date, the fund has made:
21 investments
12 follow-on investments
3 successful exits
Congratulations to our Simon graduates who led the Venture Fund this past year! Here’s who they are and where they’ve begun the next phase of their careers:
2024 Team
Pavan Gadde (Bank of America)
Sahil Gupta (Blue Owl Capital)
Cleveland White, MBA (Vanguard)
Disha Unadkat (Honeywell)
LONEEJA TALUKDAR (Condé Nast)
It’s also a great pleasure to announce the leadership for the upcoming school year for the fund:
2025 Team
David Gvelesiani
Snigdha Sabharwal
Akshay Singhania
Sidney Leon
Ammar Shoqair
Kevin Tzaka
Nonna T.
The Venture Fund would not be possible without the dedication of the current Simon leadership – Dean Sevin Yeltekin, David Oliveiri, and Roberto D. Colangelo, MA.
I’m also grateful for alumni and successful entrepreneurs – Joe Abrams, Arunas Chesonis, Chris Schiavo, Mark Ain, Brad Banikowski, Philip Fraher, Gregg Steinberg, Brennan Mulcahey, Rami K. and Danielle N. Beyer as well as the past leadership including Mark Zupan and Christian Gordon for the birth, stewardship and support of the Simon Venture Fund.
I am excited and looking forward to working and learning with them all through the next year!
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