Monique Malcolm-Hay | 31
Senior associate
Rethink Education
A senior associate at impact investor Rethink Education, Malcom-Hay has quickly emerged as a leader in the use of AI in edtech. Last year, she leveraged her consulting work for PwC and early-stage building with AI companies to launch Rethink Education’s partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation to advance the responsible use of AI in education. Through the “AI x Education Discussion Group Series,” Malcom-Hay has brought together AI business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators and policymakers to address pressing topics such as the launch of Chat GPT EDU, AI transparency challenges and enhancing AI literacy in schools.
Brian Matesic | 38
Principal
Norwest Venture Partners
A Stanford-trained physician and former Blackstone investor, Matesic is said to have “made a remarkable impact helping lead Norwest’s expansion into biotech VC investing since he joined the firm in 2022.” Teaming with general partner Tiba Aynechi, Matesic has helped grow the firm’s biotech portfolio to eight companies in under three years. Over the past year, he has co-led Norwest’s investments in Engrail Therapeutics’ $157 million Series B, Zenas BioPharma’s $200 million Series C and Nectero Medical’s $96 million Series D. In September, portfolio companies Zenas and MBX Biosciences both filed for IPOs.
Christopher C. McKinnon | 34
Partner
Morrison Foerster
McKinnon had a busy year after being promoted to partner in January. One client tapped him repeatedly to assist with some of its biggest investments: SoftBank Group, where he was an associate general counsel for four years before rejoining MoFo in 2023. McKinnon represented SoftBank in its September investment (of a reported $500 million) in OpenAI, its March take-private acquisition of robotics automation company Berkshire Grey (Nasdaq: BGRY) for $375 million and its June joint venture with Symbotic to build AI-powered warehouses. He also helped an unnamed client invest $110 million in drone delivery company Zipline.
Mariano Payano | 31
Partner
Iconiq Growth
Payano has emerged as one of Iconiq Growth’s AI experts. In October, he helped lead the firm’s participation in a $175 million round at a $4.5 billion valuation for Sierra, an AI start-up founded by former Google and Salesforce execs. The previous year, Payano had a hand in Iconiq’s investment in Pinecone, which makes a vector database to help engineers build AI applications. “Between evaluating high-priority investment opportunities… and hosting multiple AI events with leading CIOs and CTOs, Mariano has ensured that Iconiq Growth is always in lockstep with the breakneck pace of GenAI,” the firm says.
Ali Rohde | 30
Co-founder and general partner
Outset Capital
Rohde co-founded Outset Capital, a $10 million fund backed by founders of Dropbox, Quora and Notion. She has a knack for spotting hot AI start-ups, with several companies she seeded raising follow-on rounds in 2024, including Browserbase, which closed a $21 million Series A led by Kleiner Perkins and CRV; DatologyAI, which raised a $46 million Series A led by Felicis Ventures; and Physical Intelligence, which closed a $400 million round co-led by Jeff Bezos. “Ali Rohde stands out as a visionary early-stage investor reshaping the AI investment landscape,” says Nnamdi Iregbulem, a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Mike Sarchet | 33
Investor
World Innovation Lab (WiL)
Sarchet gets high praise from Sumito “Sunny” Kimura, a director for Suzuki Motor Corporation, a WiL investor. “In 2024, Mike has grown from an investor and corporate innovation guru within WiL into a full leader and investment manager of two key (and new) single-LP CVC funds managed by WiL,” including a $100 million vehicle for Suzuki Motor and $10 million fund for Shizuoka Broadcasting Corp, Kimura says. “This year [2024] alone, he developed global investment theses tied to Suzuki (and Shizuoka) corporate strategy and managed to execute on eight deals across multiple stages, each with financial and strategic underwriting.”
Brian Schwartz | 38
Partner
Proskauer Rose
Schwartz, a partner in Proskauer’s Boston office, has earned a reputation as a go-to attorney for fund formation. He is a member of the firm’s Private Funds Group and leads its venture capital and growth equity sub-sector. In the past year, Schwartz helped growth investor Thrive Capital on the closing of its Thrive IX series of funds, which secured more than $5 billion in commitments. He also led the Proskauer team that advised European VC Atomico on the formation of Atomico Growth VI and Atomico Venture VI, which raised a combined $1.24 billion.
Alex Sharata | 28
Partner
New Enterprise Associates
Sharata joined NEA’s tech investing team in 2020 and has since become the firm’s youngest partner. He helps to lead the firm’s growth-stage investing practice. In the past year, Sharata was instrumental in sourcing and leading NEA’s $900 million Series F for Clio, which is believed to be the largest capital raise for a cloud-based legal software company. Sharata also helped source and close NEA’s investment in Vast Data’s $118 million Series E. When he’s not doing deals, Sharata stays busy as a board director or observer for Brale, Clio, DeltaStream, Grid, Snowplow, SBC and Weaviate.
Kendall Tucker | 34
CFO
Boyd Street Ventures
Tucker made an “immediate impact” at Boyd Street Ventures after she was hired as VP of finance in mid-2023, leading to her promotion to CFO in August 2024, says John Pohl, a venture partner at the firm. BSV had previously outsourced its finance functions. “Kendall’s first priority was to create a financial/reporting division, institute and implement comprehensive controls and identify and employ appropriate service providers to help BSV operate efficiently and in full compliance as a fiduciary fund,” Pohl says. “Her ability to keep BSV finances in order has been crucial as we manage our 16 initial investments and 16 follow-on investments.”
