CHAD BYERS
co-founder & general partner
Chad Byers is Co-founder & General Partner at Susa Ventures, where he focuses on investments in healthcare, fintech and supply chain. Chad led Susa's investments in unicorns such as Robinhood, Andela, Newfront Insurance, Stord, and Mux. Raised in Silicon Valley, Chad was exposed to entrepreneurship and venture capital at an early age. He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 for VC in 2015, Forbes Midas Seed List in 2022 and 2023, and Business Insider's Seed 100 list. Prior to Susa Ventures, Chad has worked at various startups in product and marketing. He attended University of Colorado and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Environmental Science.
CHAD BYERS
co-founder & general partner
LEO POLOVETS
co-founder & general partner
Leo Polovets is Co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures, and also started our deep tech fund, Humba Ventures. Leo focuses on enterprise software and technical products at Susa, and deep tech and critical national sectors like energy and defense at Humba. Leo led Susa's investments in Mashgin, People Data Labs, Scalyr, and Treasury Prime. Having been a software engineer for 10+ years, Leo approaches challenges with an engineering mindset and supports portfolio companies in vetting and hiring technical talent. Prior to Susa, Leo was the second engineering hire at Linkedin, where he worked on the first versions of products like LinkedIn Jobs and LinkedIn Groups. Leo then worked on payment fraud detection algorithms at Google, and was also an early engineer at Factual, where he built data processing software. Leo received a bachelor's degree in Engineering and Applied Science (Computer Science) from Caltech.
LEO POLOVETS
co-founder & general partner
SETH BERMAN
co-founder & general partner
Seth Berman is Co-founder and General Partner at Susa Ventures, where he focuses on investments in frontier tech, logistics, marketplaces & consumer. Seth led Susa's investments in Flexport, Periscope Data and Expanse. Prior to Susa, Seth was an active angel investor. He has invested in 100+ seed stage companies in total, and his portfolio includes Nest, Optimizely, Wish, Omio and Docker. He also served as the VP of Strategic Marketing for The Richemont Group, a publicly traded company (CFR:VX) which owns brands and e-commerce sites Cartier, Net-A-Porter.com, Mr. Porter, Montblanc, and Chloe. Seth graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a bachelor's degree in Business and Finance.
SETH BERMAN
co-founder & general partner
COURTNEY BUIE LIPKIN
partner
Courtney joined Susa Ventures in November 2019. She is responsible for leading new investments, supporting the existing portfolio, and developing new initiatives to deepen our relationship with the broader startup community such as the Susa Venture Fellows Program. Courtney invests across all sectors and verticals, but is particularly interested in companies changing foundational industries like real estate, transportation and logistics, insurance, and finance. Prior to joining Susa, Courtney was at First Round Capital, where she sourced new investments and helped curate programs for emerging angel investors. Courtney studied International Relations as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania and in graduate school at Stanford University.
COURTNEY BUIE LIPKIN
partner
DERICK EN'WEZOH
partner
Dr. Derick En’Wezoh joined Susa in June 2021 as an Investor. He is an entrepreneurial physician and seasoned operator specializing in the cutting edge of healthcare. He is responsible for driving new investments, supporting existing portfolio companies, deepening our expertise in healthcare, and cultivating relationships with the broader startup community. Derick invests across all sectors and verticals, but is particularly interested in healthcare and AI companies with virtuous data cycles. Prior to Susa, Derick led Growth at Viz.ai, built several departments, and was responsible for executing commercial and revenue strategies. He holds a bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from Washington State University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and an M.B.A. and Certificate in Public Management and Social Innovation from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
DERICK EN'WEZOH
partner
HAMMAD ASLAM
partner
Hammad Aslam joined Susa Ventures in 2021. As a Partner, Hammad focuses on leading early growth investments in software and AI. Prior to Susa, Hammad was an investor at Vista Equity Partners, where he invested in and partnered with management teams of software companies at various stages to supercharge their operational and financial transformations. Prior to Vista, he was a tech investment banker at Morgan Stanley, specializing in capital raising and M&A advisory. Hammad graduated with honors from Princeton University with a concentration in Near Eastern Studies and Finance.
HAMMAD ASLAM
partner
KATE WALKER
partner
Kate Walker joined Susa Ventures in 2024 as a Partner based in San Francisco. Kate leads early stage venture investments at the Series A stage and beyond. She focuses on enterprise software, including vertical software and AI infrastructure. Prior to Susa, Kate spent the last five years working in venture at Bessemer Venture Partners and Geodesic Capital. She began her career advising and investing in technology companies at Goldman Sachs. Kate earned an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and bachelor's degree in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University. Outside of work, you can find her walking her dog in the Presidio.
KATE WALKER
partner
MISHA GORDON-ROWE
partner
Misha joined Susa Ventures in 2020. As a Partner, Misha is responsible for leading new seed stage investments. Misha invests across all sectors, with a particular focus on AI, enterprise software and vertical software across financial services, supply chain and manufacturing automation. Prior to Susa, Misha was an early employee at Funding Circle US (LSE: FCH). Misha has an MBA from Harvard Business School and studied Economics at Dartmouth College.
MISHA GORDON-ROWE
partner
PRATYUSH BUDDIGA
partner
Pratyush joined Susa Ventures in May 2021. As an investor, Pratyush leads seed and pre-seed investments across all sectors, but particularly focuses on AI-powered applications, vertical software, consumer, and frontier tech. Prior to joining Susa, Pratyush was Chief of Staff at Volley, leading business operations at the popular conversational AI gaming company. He approaches new topics with intellectual open-mindedness, while valuing the discipline and commitment that is required for exceptional results. This skillset led to him winning two national competitions before the age of sixteen, including the National Spelling Bee. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Duke University, followed by a standout six-year career as a professional poker player, where he ranked as high as #2 in the world for tournaments.
PRATYUSH BUDDIGA
partner
BENJAMIN WALLO
office & events coordinator
Benjamin joined the Susa team in January of 2023. He enriches the networks of founders, investors, and the extended Susa family by creating novel opportunities for them to deepen existing relationships and forge meaningful new ones. Prior to joining Susa, Benjamin was at Principal Builders, supporting the construction of headquarters for leading tech and venture firms like Dropbox, Asana, and SignalFire. Benjamin previously spent time in the wine industry, and holds CMS sommelier certification. He remains fascinated by wine, particularly in nearly-extinct varietals grown in forgotten vineyards. Benjamin has an M.A. (Hons) in Ancient History from the University of St Andrews, Scotland.
BENJAMIN WALLO
office & events coordinator
CHLOË LA DUCA
director of operations
Chloë joined Susa Ventures in August 2021. Chloë leads our operations team and is responsible for creating and managing processes that unlock organizational efficiencies, provide strategic support across our firm and to our founders. Prior to joining Susa, Chloë was Chief of Staff at VR company Vantage Point, where she led business operations, recruiting, investor relations, legal and expansion. Chloë's career began in Private Equity, then grew to Tech where she built out leadership teams, created foundational onboarding strategies and managed product conceptualization and development. This experience then led her to Venture Capital. Chloë grew up in northern New York and in her free time, she enjoys fishing, planetariums and horticulture.
CHLOË LA DUCA
director of operations
KENNY JOO
head of finance
Kenny joined Susa's operations team as Controller in June 2021. He will lead all aspects of fund administration and help us build the foundation for a world-class firm. He will also roll up his sleeves and support portfolio companies alongside the rest of the team. Prior to joining Susa, Kenny was at Y Combinator, where he was responsible for the fund’s accounting and investor reporting. Kenny holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from UC Berkeley and is a Certified Public Accountant.
KENNY JOO
head of finance
SHANNON MOONEY
operations manager
Shannon joined the Susa team as Operations Manager in August 2023. She oversees a variety of internal operational processes and works directly with our portfolio to find opportunities to support their growth. Prior to this role, she was on the program management team at Reforge, where she supported the delivery of live online courses taught by top tech experts. She began her VC journey at SignalFire on the Network team, designing programming to connect the portfolio and executive network at scale. Shannon has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UCLA.