On July 18th, join us for another event in our L.A. Tech Initiative’s Sandbox Series! Ivan Nikkhoo, Managing Partner of Navigate Ventures and Professor of Entrepreneurship at USC Marshall School of Business, moderates a panel of tech industry leaders, including Joanna McFarland, CEO and Co-Founder of HopSkipDrive, Monica Klausner, Co-Founder of Veestro, Natalie Serota, SVP of Business Development and Platform Partnerships for SteelHouse, and Lara Jeremko, Founder and Managing Partner of Beyond Ventures, for a discussion of tips and trends in the tech and VC space, from fintech to funding.

We invite L.A.’s Jewish tech professionals — from top founders and CEOs in L.A.’s tech ecosystem to up-and-coming entrepreneurs — to come enjoy delicious food and drinks, network, and create community in a beautiful setting.

For additional information, please contact Zack Lodmer at ZLodmer@JewishLA.org or (323) 761-8326, or Levi Shank at LShank@JewishLA.org or (323) 761-8314.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Mingling/Cocktails: 6:30-7:00 PM
Dinner: 7:00-8:00 PM
Program: 8:00-8:30 PM
Mingling: 8:30-9:00 PM
Clocktower Group
Couvert: $36 per person

The L.A. Tech Initiative engages tech leaders in the Jewish community and serves as a convening to spark philanthropy in support of the Federation’s impactful work.

Ivan Nikkhoo

Ivan Nikkhoo is the Managing Partner of Navigate Ventures, an early growth stage venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs prepare for rapid growth, scaling, and expansion. Nikkhoo is also an Adjunct Professor at the USC Marshall School of Business where he teaches classes on eCommerce & social media, raising capital, venture capital, private equity, entrepreneurship, and creating sustainable technology ecosystems. Prior to Navigate Ventures, Nikkhoo was the Managing Director of N3 Capital, LLC, a catalyst to help entrepreneurs create and grow disruptive technology platforms by providing seed and early stage investing, raising growth capital, and offering guidance and strategic board advisory services. Additionally, Nikkhoo has also served as Managing Director of Siemer & Associates, was the Head of the Technology Practice at Barrington Associates (a division of Wells Fargo Securities), was the EVP & General Manager at SOA Software (Akana), and was the Co-founder & President of Vertex Systems, a leading tech consulting firm.

Joanna McFarland

Joanna McFarland is the CEO and Co-founder of HopSkipDrive, the innovator in youth transportation. HopSkipDrive is a ride service that helps families and schools get kids where they need to go safely and dependably with a network of more than 4,000 highly vetted CareDrivers. HopSkipDrive currently serves seven markets and works with over 160 schools and districts as well as thousands of families every day. Before co-founding HopSkipDrive in 2014, McFarland led product and business development for a wide range of top technology and online brands, including WeddingChannel.com, Green Dot, YP.com, and Oversee.net. She began her career in investment banking and private equity. McFarland earned an MBA from Stanford University and holds a B.S. in Economics from The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

Monica Klausner

Monica Klausner is the CMO & Co-founder of Veestro. Monica is an entrepreneur and sales & marketing executive with years of experience scaling businesses from inception to record-breaking sales. She launched her career in sales at ADP and, shortly thereafter, held lead sales positions with innovative media start-ups, including Bizrate/Shopzilla and LAUNCH Media, which was later acquired by Yahoo! Music. In 2013, Klausner and her brother founded Veestro, a gourmet, plant-based food company that has created major waves in the food technology space with annual sales more than doubling and at a current run rate of several million per year.

Natalie Serota

Natalie Serota is currently SVP of Business Development and Platform Partnerships at SteelHouse, a leading ad tech company headquartered in Culver City. She oversees all contract negotiation, new revenue streams, and API integrations and built an internal incubator for new product development called The Innovation Hub. Prior to joining SteelHouse, she spent seven years at Google managing cross-platform media sales in New York and L.A. In 2017, she launched a passion project called “Shabbat for a Cause” that brings together local nonprofits making global impact with like-minded young professionals for a Shabbat meal and conversation around social impact in the spirit of tikkun olam (healing the world). Recently, she participated in two Reality Israel trips with Schusterman.org and is excited to join the JDC Entwine trip next month to South America.

Lara Jeremko

Lara Jeremko is Founder & Managing Partner of Beyond Ventures, a venture capital advisory and investment firm dedicated to human thriving. Through partnership with the most visionary minds in technology, entertainment, and science, Beyond Ventures tackles emerging challenges threatening collective prosperity. She is an active angel investor with a focus on AI, human-computer interaction, and future of work. She also advises venture capital funds, family offices, and philanthropies on venture strategy, sourcing, and due diligence. Recently, Lara designed and managed the XR Education Prize Challenge funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Previously, Lara co-founded re:3D Inc., a 3D printing hardware company in Austin, TX. Lara was also an institutional investment officer managing a $1.5 billion venture capital fund portfolio at UTIMCO, the investment firm overseeing $35 billion of University of Texas System endowment assets. Prior to UTIMCO, Lara was a private equity analyst at Credit Suisse in New York, NY. Lara graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. from Syracuse University.

With generous support by

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