We are now well into the Information Age and more and more entrepreneurs are tasked with coming up with the next great idea. Fortunately, they have help in the form of young, tech-savvy venture capitalists. Forbes’ list of 30 under 30 venture capitalists includes many up and coming investors who are interested solely in technology and are looking to change the landscape of many industries. In 2019 there will be some fresh, young, new faces vying for the chance to invest.
The 2019 list reflects changes that have impacted the whole concept of a venture fund structure. Young investors are now coming from more diversified backgrounds and maintain a variety of interests. At Andreessen Horowitz, Jeffrey Low isn’t just a partner of the firm. He also holds a doctorate from Yale and seeks investments from the firm’s bio fund in order to discover the next breakthrough in anything from food waste to artificial intelligence. Vik Chawla is a Principal for the firm Fifth Wall, a fund dedicated to real estate ventures. As a Principal with SignalFire, Stephen Trusheim is also an engineer who specializes in hybrid AI & human systems. In recognition of some of his achievements in research, NASA even named a minor planet after him.
Two of the other new names on the list are Adina Tecklu and Hootan Rashidifard. Tecklu also has the distinction of being one of the 14 female investors who will be joining the 2019 class of investors. Together, Tecklu and Rashidifard run a $20 million seed program called Canaan Beta, and their mission is to find the next great tech idea before their competition does. Because of their young age, they appeal very well to Millennials.
Priya Saiprasad is a founding member of Microsoft’s investment fund known as M12. Masha Drokova began her career in tech public relations but has since launched her own VC firm called Day One Ventures. The name was inspired by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, whose philosophy is to treat every day as if it’s day one of your business. This mentality helps to avoid stagnation and complacency.
Arielle Zuckerberg, the younger sister of Facebook’s founder, joined Coatue Management in May 2018 and has supported many successful startups since then. Teddy Citrin focuses on consumer and software products and works for Greycroft as an investor. Blake Robbins may be only 23, but he has sourced more than 18 investments in entrepreneurs as a partner at Ludlow Ventures.