Brief Bios

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Kumar S: KS is a seasoned investment professional over 20 years of experience in Capital Markets, Private Equity, Venture Capital and B2B Enterprise technology sector. He spent 9 years with Drexel Burnham and Kidder Peabody managing 200+ M&A transactions and recapitalization and provided numerous advisory services for corporate takeover defense. He was a founding member of IBM’s Corp. Development practice and managed 40+ M&A transactions in Enterprise SW and IT Services worth $35B that catapulted IBM's technology leadership. Additionally, he oversaw IBM’s $500M Global Corporate Venture Fund, directly invested in 60+ startups in Cloud, Cybersecurity, Enterprise Networking, Semiconductors and 40+ top VC funds globally. Recently at Cisco, he managed M&A and strategic investments in B2B SaaS domain. As an active investor, KS continues to advise startups in Cloud Computing, IIoT, Enterprise Data Storage and Edge Computing. Additionally, KS also advises several Family Offices and select boutique investment banks on venture investment strategies, SPAC models and provides opinion on specific private equity transactions in USA and Europe. He is also very active in emerging Quantum Computing ecosystems across the globe. KS has a Bachelor's in economics from London School of Economics, Master’s and PhD in Economics from MIT.

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​​​Deb S: DS creates firm's overall investment strategy including VC fund investments and direct startup investments in Enterprise IT, Hardware, Software and Deep Tech, including Robotics, Semiconductors, and Quantum. With a strong technical background in Enterprise IT, business strategy and capital raising experience, he identifies innovative startups with transformative potential to advance breakthrough technologies and create visionary companies. He also advises various government funded technology labs and university research centers on commercializing R&D and successful venture creation with help of private capital. He has 20+ yrs. of experience in Engineering and Product management, Business Strategy, Business Unit P&L, Finance and Corporate Development, Corporate Venture Capital, Innovation Strategy, and Early-stage Startup Investing, having worked at large enterprises such as Cisco Systems, EMC, Lenovo, Rockwell Scientific, Teledyne Technologies, and Persistent Systems. He started as a Semiconductor design engineer and has designed path breaking semiconductor chips for various scientific and space programs such as NASA’s recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and technology products that have won R&D awards. He has executed strategic initiatives of large IT companies to adapt to Cloud and SW centric business models, carried out corporate venture investments in startups, built strategic partnerships with late-stage startups for large corporations, helped early-stage startups scale and exit to strategic industry buyers. He is knowledgeable in the latest IT innovation trends, active in angel investing in Silicon Valley and immersed in various venture ecosystems, startup hubs and innovation centers around the world. DS has a BS in Electronics from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), MS in Electronics from University of Southern California and MBA in Finance from University of Michigan.

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Dave J: DJ is a well-known IT industry veteran, a globally recognized corporate strategist and expert in corporate development and M&A, having successfully completed more than 120 acquisitions representing more than $40B of equity investment, divestitures, and venture capital investments. His breadth of expertise includes Venture Capital, Growth Equity Investments, Fund of Funds Investments, VC Firm Advisory, Public Company Board Advisory and Governance, Corporate Risk Management, Acquisition Integration, Corporate Strategy, Business Strategy and International Business Management. DJ was at Blackstone and led the firm’s investment strategy technology sector. He executed numerous domestic and international acquisitions in Cybersecurity, Cloud Solutions, IT Services, and IT Consulting. Before Blackstone, DJ was SVP of Strategy for Dell Corporation, where he was responsible for ~20 acquisitions, including Exanet, Perot Systems, Compellent, Secure Works (Cyber Managed Services), Force10, SonicWALL, Quest Software and Boomi (Cloud SW). Prior to Dell, DJ was VP of Corporate Development at IBM. Additionally, he has served and currently serves on boards of public companies such as Mphasis, Insights, Cloudreach, Cylance, Pactera, CyGov and VC firms such as Israel based Glilot Capital Partners. DJ currently also leads and manages a industry thought leadership group of Cybersecurity executives with more than 150 top technology executives. DJ has a Bachelor of Arts and MBA from Boston College and PMD from Harvard University.​​​

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