By VCJ Staff
For the third year in a row, Venture Capital journal presents our list of 40 Rising Stars under the age of 40.
Many of our Rising Stars over the past three years have been up-and-comers and many are under-the-radar types. But one thing is certain: they are skilled professionals to get to know and network with if you can.
We’ve tracked the previous Rising Stars and how they change jobs, launch new ventures, get promoted and continue to inspire those around them while leading their peers and learning the business.
It was a challenging task to produce just 40 professionals, culled from a list of more than 170. But we hope you not only peruse the list and read about their journeys, but reach out to them on Linkedln. This matrix of 40 Rising Stars contains someone you should tap into and get to know; chances are, they’ll be around for years to come.
And we are certain they will shape the venture community as the next generation of rising stars.
Soraya Darabi I 38
Co-founder and GP
Trail Mix Ventures
At the early-stage firm Trail Mix Ventures, Darabi looks for interesting and impactful technologies. Her resume includes such notable investments as Figs
(NYSE: FIGS), Casper (NYSE: CSPR), Lightwell
(acquired by Twitter), Cityblock Health, Parsley Health and Gimlet (acquired by Spotify), among others. She previously co-founded Foodspotting, one of the first geo-location apps. At TMV, she and her co-founder, Marina Hadjipateras, have been working to close Fund II as their team has aided in the raise of $400 million in follow-on capital for Fund I portfolio companies.
In October, we asked readers of Venture Capital journal to send us their nominations for our third annual Rising Stars list, which recognizes up-andcoming professionals in the venture community. You overwhelmed us with more than 170 candidates, 13 percent more than last year. In determinging our list, we looked whether candidates accomplished something notable over the last year.
Our Rising Stars’ average age was 33.4, with the youngest 24 and the oldest 39, with 24 females and 16 males. The list includes up-and-comers, who we call ‘Next generation VC.’ Other categories are ‘Founder VC,’ ‘LP,’ ‘Attorney’ and ‘Platform/Talent star’ to recognize those who focus more on talent acquisition or other value-add services. By geography, 32 are from the US, with 15 of them calling San Francisco home. But they also come from New York, Washington DC, Miami, Cincinnati, Boston, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Seattle. A total of eight are from outside the US, including Budapest, Helsinki, London, Montreal, Toronto, Paris and Vancouver.