Strategy

Because of the enormous potential of blockchain technology and the speed at which the market is moving, we are starting to raise Blockchain Fund 4. It will continue to be led by our full-time investing team: Managing Partner Ray Wu, Senior Principal Jack Statza, and Senior Principal Sophia Zhao.1

Laura Bordewieck Rippy, Managing Partner of Green D Ventures (Alumni Ventures fund for the Dartmouth community) shares her venture journey, including her first job, lessons learned, exciting investments, and more.

Larry Warnock, Managing Partner of Ring Ventures (Alumni Ventures fund for the Texas A&M community) shares his venture journey, including his first job, lessons learned, exciting investments, and more.

Justin Strausbaugh, Managing Partner of Lakeshore Ventures (Alumni Ventures fund for the UChicago community) shares his venture journey, including his first job, lessons learned, exciting investments, and more.

Brian Keil, Managing Partner of Chestnut Street Ventures (Alumni Ventures’ fund for the Penn community) shares his venture journey, including his first job, lessons learned, exciting investments, and more.

One of the core pillars of Alumni Ventures’ investment strategy is working closely with other established VC partners. To date, we’ve co-invested with well-known VCs specializing in a wide variety of sectors, stages, and regions. We are strictly a co-investor, following other well-regarded lead investors into rounds. We don’t negotiate terms or take Board seats, allowing us to focus on identifying promising opportunities. This strategy also affords us the latitude to build diverse portfolios while investing alongside VCs with deep experience in a given area.

One of Alumni Ventures’ most crucial assets is our broad network of venture capital partners. We are strictly a co-investor, following other established lead investors into rounds. That means we don’t negotiate terms or take Board seats, giving us more time to source promising opportunities. It also affords us the latitude to build diverse portfolios while investing alongside VCs with significant domain experience.

Alumni Ventures’ spring Blockchain Fund will offer a portfolio of high-potential, venture-backed companies innovating in areas like decentralized finance (DeFi), Web3, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other blockchain-related products. The spring fund is actively managed by three experienced investment professionals, Managing Partner Ed Tsai, Principal Yiwen Li, and Analyst Drew Wandzilak. In this video, Managing Partner Ed Tsai introduces himself and discusses how the team sources and evaluates blockchain opportunities.1

Alumni Ventures recently sat down with three key executives at Alumni Ventures to get their thoughts about the macro environment, venture, and the firm’s development.