Your Window Into the Innovation Economy

Alumni Ventures’ Chris Sklarin, Evy Chen, and Kody Amburgey led a practical walkthrough of how to invest in Castor Ventures — the firm’s MIT alumni-affiliated venture fund — including the thesis, the portfolio, the mechanics, and what accredited investors needed to know before committing capital.

Sophia Zhao, Partner at Alumni Ventures, and Camila Russo, Founder of The Defiant, led a fireside conversation on the state of blockchain, crypto, and fintech venture — where capital was being deployed, what the next generation of on-chain and financial infrastructure companies was building, and how accredited investors could gain structured exposure to one of the most active corners of private markets.

Laura Rippy, Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures, and Patrick Trousdale, Founder and President of The Daily Upside, led a fireside conversation on the state of venture and private markets — where sophisticated capital was being deployed, how individual accredited investors were gaining access to the asset class, and what shifts across private markets meant for portfolios built for the next decade.

Meera Oak, Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures, and Corey Noles, Editor of The Neuron, led a fireside conversation on the AI infrastructure landscape — where private and public markets were placing capital, which companies were building the picks and shovels of the AI era, and how accredited investors could position themselves for one of the decade’s most consequential venture opportunities.

Meera Oak, Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures, and Corey Noles, Editor of The Neuron, led a fireside conversation on the AI infrastructure landscape — where private and public markets were placing capital, which companies were building the picks and shovels of the AI era, and how accredited investors could position themselves for one of the decade’s most consequential venture opportunities.

The Alumni Ventures team broke down the fundamentals of venture capital from the ground up — because understanding how VC worked was the first step in deciding whether it belonged in an investor’s portfolio.

Todd McIntyre, Partner at Alumni Ventures’ Spike Ventures, provided an inside look at the firm’s Stanford alumni-affiliated venture fund—and a clear-eyed view of how accredited investors could gain structured exposure to founders emerging from what was arguably the world’s most productive innovation ecosystem.

Ron Levin, Managing Partner of the AV Seed Fund, and Senior Associate Bozhena Kulchyckyj—alongside special guests Andriy Kolodyuk, Founding Partner of AVentures Capital; Ali Javaheri, Senior Research Analyst at PitchBook Data; and Deborah Fairlamb, Founding Partner of Green Flag Ventures—led a roundtable on how Ukraine’s startup landscape had not only adapted through war but accelerated, producing world-class engineers, deep-tech unicorns, and one of the most consequential venture opportunities emerging outside Silicon Valley.

Alumni Ventures’ Matt Caspari led the launch of the next Strawberry Creek Ventures fund and provided a clear-eyed look at how accredited investors could gain structured exposure to founders emerging from UC Berkeley, one of the world’s most prolific research and innovation ecosystems.