Richard Dulude, Co-Founder and Partner @ Underscore VC

Richard is Co-Founder and Partner of Underscore VC. His life is built around balance. At Underscore VC, he brings a constant balance of broad thinking and narrow focus to his work, architecting the long-term investment discipline for the firm while also digging in deep – and we mean deep – to develop leading-edge investment thesis areas that guide our approach to deploying capital.

Balance also guides Richard’s professional passions. Richard leads investments behind bold entrepreneurs commercializing emergent and technical technologies such as crypto, XR, AI/ML, and cloud infrastructure.

Paul English, Founder @ Boston Venture Studio & Kayak

Paul is the founder of Boston Venture Studio. Paul has previously co-founded and successfully sold six startups – Kayak, Lola, Moonbeam, GetHuman, Boston Light and Intermute.

Paul is also the founder of four nonprofits – Summits Education in Haiti, Embrace Boston, The Winter Walk for Homelessness, and the Bipolar Social Club.

Paul is the subject of Tracy Kidder’s book “A Truck Full of Money”. You can hear an interview with Paul on “How I Built This” with Guy Raz, and you can see his video from TEDxBoston in 2022.

Jamie Goldstein, Founding Partner @ Pillar VC

Jamie Goldstein is the Founding Partner at Pillar VC. Jamie founded the firm with the ambition to build the next generation of lasting companies in Boston. He has spent over two decades working in venture capital, and his investments include Algorand, PathAI, Abridge, and Jellyfish, among others. Prior to Pillar, Jamie was an investing partner for 18 years at North Bridge Venture Partners.

Irena Pereira, CEO and Founder @ Unleashed

Irena Pereira, who is the CEO and Founder of Unleashed, a cutting-edge technology firm that is redefining the boundaries of digital innovation. With an impressive background in technology and strategic development, Irena founded Unleashed to harness the potential of emerging technologies in empowering businesses and enhancing consumer experiences. Under her leadership, Unleashed has achieved remarkable growth, becoming a leader in its field. Irena's leadership style, marked by a focus on creativity, inclusivity, and sustainability, continues to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs.

Jules Pieri, Co-Founder & CEO @ The Grommet

Jules Pieri is a founder, CEO, an investing partner at XFactor Ventures, an author, and a board member.

Jules serves on the boards of the University of Michigan Alumni Association and the Access to Markets initiative of The American Economic Liberties Project. She is author of “How We Make Stuff Now,” named one of the “11 Must Read Books for Entrepreneurs by Inc. Magazine in 2019. Jules is co-founder and former CEO of the product launch platform The Grommet. Jules started her career as an industrial designer for technology companies and was subsequently a senior executive for large brands, such as Keds, Stride Rite, and Playskool. The Grommet is her third startup, following roles as VP at Design Continuum and President of Ziggs.com.

Karl Sun, Co-Founder @ Lucid Software

Karl Sun is co-founder and board chair at Lucid Software, the leading provider of visual collaboration solutions, and served  as founding CEO for a dozen years. Prior to Lucid, Karl held several leadership roles at Google, including starting Google’s patent department and setting IP strategy, starting Google's China office and leading business development for the Greater China region, and leading Google's investments in advanced wind and battery technologies. Karl holds an SB/SM in Course 6 and an SM in Technology and Policy from MIT, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He was also honored as a 2017 EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

Justin Buck, Head of the BioMaker Space at MIT | CleanTech Innovator

Dr. Buck currently heads the Huang-Hobbs Biomaker Space at MIT with a joint appointment between the Departments of Biological Engineering and Chemical Engineering, where he applies engineering processes and design to biological problems and mentors student teams on technology development and commercialization.

Justin co-founded, was CTO and sat on the Board of Cambrian Innovation, a leader in commercial and industrial water reuse and energy-recovery-as-a-service, which was acquired in 2023 by an infrastructure investor. Justin’s responsibilities as CTO included oversight of Cambrian’s Research and Development priorities, Intellectual Property portfolio, and Engineering and Operations activities at various points during his tenure.

Ian Johnston, Director of Emerging Ecosystems @ The Engine

Ian Johnston is the Director of Emerging Ecosystems at The Engine Accelerator where he focuses on innovation ecosystem development and supporting the NSF Regional Innovation Engines. Prior to the Engine Accelerator, Ian spent time at Engine Ventures as a Senior Investment Associate and at Putnam Associates as a Life Sciences Consultant. Ian also worked at the Penn Center for Innovation, assessing technologies for their patent and market potential. Ian holds a PhD in Pharmacology from University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University.

Bob Mason, Managing Partner @ Argon Ventures

Bob Mason is a Managing Partner at Argon Ventures, leading pre-seed, deep tech investments with a mission to amplify founder energy to launch cutting-edge products and build impactful, global businesses. He has been a Managing Partner at Project 11 Ventures and was previously part of the Techstars Boston investment committee. His portfolio includes dozens of startups and access to a network of hundreds of founders.

Vickrum Nabar, VP @ JP Morgan Startup Banking 

Vickrum Nabar has spent his career investing in or building technology companies from the Boston area. He is currently a VP on J.P. Morgan’s startup banking team. 

Previously Vick spent time as an operator with technology companies ranging from pre-seed to public:

1. Serving as General Manager at Shiftsmart, a Series B technology company. 

2. Leading a dozen consulting engagements for ProfitWell (acquired in 2021), and

3. Implementing a modern pricing, packaging, and contracting stack for Amwell -- a telehealth company that went public during the pandemic. 

Vickrum has also raised special purpose vehicles to invest in 6 pre-seed and seed stage companies and started his career as a private equity associate with New Heritage Capital. 

Anna Palmer, GP @ Flybridge

Anna is a General Partner at Flybridge, an early stage firm investing in companies powered by AI. Her investment interests include commerce 3.0, consumer, and complex systems. Prior to joining Flybridge in 2020, Anna co-founded XFactor Ventures in 2016 in partnership with Flybridge, a seed-stage fund backing female founders and gender diverse teams where she personally led investments in Chief, Zubale, MixLab, Venus Aerospace and more. XFactor has grown to be one of the most active early stage funds investing in women with over 100 companies in its portfolio.

Alongside her investing roles, Anna is a founder and Managing Partner of the National Women's Soccer League team in Boston, which will begin play in 2026.

Jason Mackey - cofounder/managing partner at athenian capital

Jason Mackey is a serial entrepreneur, strategy consultant, and venture capitalist with over a decade of experience in business formation, growth strategy, and early-stage fundraising. Most notably, Mr. Mackey is co-founder of CXOHQ (formerly Venturitas Consulting Group), Occam Strategy Group, and Advanergy Consulting.

He has extensive experience advising startup founders and small business owners - across multiple industries - on growth strategy and operations management. He has successfully raised tens of millions of dollars for emerging and established ventures worldwide. As Managing Partner at Athenian Capital, Mr. Mackey is responsible for all aspects of the firm’s investment strategy, positioning, and day-to-day operations.

Jifei Ou - founder & ceo at opt industries

Jifei Ou (欧冀飞) is an inventor, researcher and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of OPT Industries. Prior to OPT Industries, Jifei worked at the MIT Media lab as a researcher. His work focuses on developing mechanical metamaterials through additive manufacturing. He has been leading projects that study biomimicry and bio-derived materials to design stimuli-responsive packaging, garments and furniture.

Jifei was born and raised in southwest China and has brought his design practice and scientific research to Asia, Europe and the U.S. His works have been published in numerous academic conferences; awarded by design competitions. He has been granted over 10 US patents on his research inventions.

JADYN BRYDEN - VP AT XFUND

Jadyn is a Vice President at Xfund. Prior to Xfund, she was the Chief Strategy Officer of Harvard Student Agencies (HSA), the largest student-run company in the world, with 12 separate business units, over 600 employees and over 50 managers. Leading up to her role as the CSO, Jadyn was the Chief People Officer of HSA. In her years in the C-suite, she led the strategic development of the company, updated the compliance standards of the business, and drove innovation at the company which resulted in the creation of new agencies.

IAN JOHNSTON - SENIOR ASSOCIATE AT THE ENGINE

Ian Has a background in biomedical engineering and life sciences consulting. Coming from his prior position at Putnam Associates, Ian brings experience in addressing key business and therapeutic development questions for biopharmaceutical and health-care clients. Before this, Ian worked at the Penn Center for Innovation, assessing technologies for their patent and market potential. He also holds a PhD in Pharmacology from UPenn and BS in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University.

Anna Palmer - Flybridge Capital Partners

Anna Palmer is a General Partner at Flybridge Capital and the Executive Chairperson at Dough Collective. Anna’s investment interests include commerce 3.0, marketplaces, mobile, consumer and e-commerce.

Prior to joining Flybridge in 2020, Anna co-founded XFactor Ventures in partnership with Chip Hazard and Flybridge, a seed stage fund focused on backing female founders and gender diverse teams where she personally led investments in Chief, Zubale, MixLab, and more.

Habib Haddad - E14 Fund

Habib is the founding Managing Partner of the E14 Fund, the MIT Media Lab affiliated venture fund. Prior to E14 Fund he was part of multiple startups in the Boston and the Middle East.

From 2011 to 2016 he was the founding CEO of Wamda, a platform of entrepreneurship programs, networks and venture fund focused on the Middle East and North Africa region.

John Harthorne - Two Lanterns Venture Partners

As the Founder and decade-long CEO of MassChallenge, John is obsessed with entrepreneurship and has worked with thousands of startups since 2010. MassChallenge is the most-startup-friendly and largest startup accelerator on the planet, and has graduated nearly 3,000 startups which have cumulatively generated billions of dollars of revenue and have created over 160,000 jobs.

While launching and running MassChallenge, John generated a vast network of new and established founders, corporate partners, investors, and innovation talent. Furthermore, John gained unrivaled experience working to support startups as an advisor and connector, learning which teams, models, and partners create sustainable success  most consistently. John left MassChallenge in 2019 to launch Two Lanterns in 2020.

Jon Bloom - Podimetrics

Dr. Jon Bloom is the co-founder and CEO of Podimetrics, the creator of the FDA-cleared SmartMat™ and integrated clinical care services that can help save the limbs and lives of complex diabetic patients.

Jonathan Ng - Iterative Scopes

Jonathan Ng is the CEO and Founder of Iterative Scopes, a pioneer in the application of artificial intelligence-based precision medicine to gastroenterology with the aim of establishing a new standard of care for the detection, and ultimately, treatment of gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Iterative Scopes is a startup that spun out of MIT, recently raised $150 million in Series B financing to accelerate development of its core algorithmic innovations. Funding has been raised from top venture firms across the country and the company has been featured in various publications and research awards globally.

Lily Lyman - Underscore VC

Lily has a background as an operator, founder, and investor. She is currently a General Partner at Underscore VC, a Boston-based early stage firm focused on B2B software.

Lily leads Underscore’s investments in the areas of vertical SaaS, including Insurtech, Digital Health, Commerce, as well as the Future of Work. She is a founding member of the leadership team of the All Raise Boston chapter, a NEVCA board member, as well as on the MIT Sandbox funding board. She was named a 2021 Rising Star by Venture Capital Journal.

Prior to Underscore VC, Lily worked in product strategy at Facebook focused on international growth, working across the core products of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. Prior to Facebook, Lily held a variety of strategy, operational, and entrepreneurial roles. She was an early Investment Committee member of Yard Ventures, Harvard’s alumni angel investing fund.