Venture capital's 2025 Rising Stars: G-K

Shikhin Garg | 29
Chief of staff
Inventus Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Quad

Garg does double duty as the chief of staff for early-stage firm Inventus Capital Partners and investor syndicate Silicon Valley Quad. Inventus managing director Manu Rekhi credits Garg with analyzing more than 700 deals in the past year and “securing our most robust and evolution-proof deal in AI: C-Infinity,” which makes AI-powered design software. “Shikhin’s been a solitary multi-dimensional resource, handling the work of a five- to six-member marketing, community, operations and platform team, while also dealing with the entire transom dealflow in the absence of an analyst team,” Rekhi says. “And he has no prior VC/strategy experience in his career!”

Emily Giudice | 34
Principal
Excelestar Ventures

Giudice joined Excelestar as an associate in 2021 and was promoted to principal in February 2024. She has been an unflinching supporter of the Boston area firm’s mission to invest in underrepresented founders building B2B technology and medical device companies. Giudice is credited with “playing a pivotal role in sourcing deals, particularly with female founders and founders of color, bringing over 20 such deals for evaluation in 2024.” She also helped lead due diligence for Excelestar’s recent investment in Neurolutions, a stroke rehabilitation company. When she’s not sourcing deals, Giudice mentors portfolio company CEOs, helping them raise follow-on funding.

Anta Gkelou | 38
Partner
Sofinnova Partners

After working as an immunology scientist at Danone Nutricia, Gkelou made a career shift in 2017. She joined Sofinnova Partners as an analyst in Capital Strategy, its flagship investment strategy, which leads investments in early-stage biopharma and medtech start-ups focusing on groundbreaking therapeutic technologies. The move proved to be providential, with Gkelou quickly rising through the ranks and being named a partner in April 2024. “Anta’s experience as an immunology scientist and her research in respiratory and cardiac diseases allow her to uniquely combine scientific insight with investment strategy,” the firm notes.

Naomi Goez | 30
Principal
Forum Ventures

Goez was hired as a senior investment associate at Forum in 2023 and in less than a year was promoted to principal. The past 12 months have been a blur, with Goez sourcing, diligencing and closing 16 deals while also building a four-person investment team. She also leads thesis development at Forum, co-authoring thought leadership papers with general partners in areas such as healthcare, vertical AI innovation and supply chain. Born in Israel and raised in Canada, Goez has made it a personal goal to mentor founders who are immigrants or from underrepresented backgrounds.

Sofia Guerra | 33
Vice-president
Bessemer Venture Partners

Guerra, who invests in seed to growth-stage healthcare and life sciences companies for Bessemer, has emerged as a thought leader. She co-authored the firm’s second annual State of Health Tech report, which was published in October. Over the past year, she has also sourced investments in SmarterDx, Mural Health and HouseRx and served as a board observer for eight portfolio companies, including AspenRx, Rupa Health and Qventus. Outside of Bessemer, Guerra is a co-founder and serves on the board of directors of Nucleate, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation of biotech leaders.

Jaya Gupta | 27
Partner
Foundation Capital

Gupta caught the start-up bug early, founding CardioBuddy at age 19. The venture didn’t pan out, but she never lost her love for company building. She has quickly earned a reputation for being a hands-on investor, typically making 25-plus customer introductions for each company she invests in. Gupta was particularly pleased to assist portfolio company Fulcrum in landing its largest customer in the past year. Among the five deals she completed in 2024 is a $15 million Series A that she co-led with Mayfield for DocketAI, which uses generative AI to boost corporate sales.

Daniel Isaacs | 37
Partner
Goodwin Procter LLP

Isaacs is the go-to attorney for a host of venture firms and VC-backed companies in life sciences, healthcare, cybersecurity and fintech. Over the past year, he represented Curie Bio in 16 investments in therapeutics companies, advised Foundation Capital as lead investor in the Series A of Sedric AI and the equity financing of Eficio, and counseled LifeArc Ventures on its lead investment in the bridge financing round of Drowsy Digital and Series A for Affect Therapeutics. Isaacs also advised open AI software developer All Hands AI and nursing workforce platform M7 Health on their seed financings.

Roslyn Jin | 31
Associate partner
Antler

Jin is an associate partner for Antler, a prolific early-stage investor with offices in 27 cities across six continents. As head of US Platform, she oversees the firm’s founder-facing operations across sourcing, residency and portfolio platform functions in the US. “Roslyn is a dynamic leader whose impact has been instrumental in the strategy and success of Antler and felt across the broader VC ecosystem,” says Antler senior principal Caroline Healey. She credits Jin with leading a 2024 effort to overhaul Antler’s founder scouting infrastructure, enabling it to screen more than 13,000 applications.

Alexandra “Sasha” Jostrom-Reiser | 37
Principal
Cybernetix Ventures

Jostrom-Reiser has been a “pivotal leader” at Cybernetix Ventures over the past year, advancing the role of robotics and automation in industries such as construction, logistics and manufacturing, says firm founder and general partner Fady Saad. “Sasha has championed investments and fostered collaborations with start-ups leveraging robotics to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon footprints and optimize operations in sectors like renewable energy and sustainable manufacturing,” Saad says. Jostrom-Reiser also demonstrated thought leadership by presenting at the 2024 Drone and Robotics Conference and played a key role at the Robotics Invest 2024 conference.

Ben Kim | 35
Partner
Playground Global

Kim has rocketed up the ranks at Playground. He joined the firm as a part-time venture fellow in 2020 while completing his bioengineering PhD at Stanford, then was promoted three times, culminating in his being named partner in December 2023. Kim is also co-leader of the firm’s engineered biology practice, which now represents one-third of its $1.2 billion AUM. His 2024 accomplishments include sourcing and leading Playground’s $12 million seed investment in drug discovery company Insamo. Kim has an “exceptional ability to bridge science and investing to drive innovation and growth within the engineered biology sector,” says colleague Hadley Wilkins.

Thomas Krane | 33
Managing director
Insight Partners

Krane joined Insight in 2012 as an investment analyst and worked his way up to managing director in 10 years. His most notable achievement of 2024 was the sale of threat intelligence company Recorded Future to Mastercard for $2.65 billion. Krane helped source Insight’s first investment in Recorded Future in 2017, and Insight bought the company for $780 million two years later. Krane was also a busy dealmaker last year, helping to lead investments in six companies, including hotel guest management tech company Canary Technologies and industrial analytics platform Seeq.