User:Lauren Kolodny/sandbox
Lauren Kolodny
Lauren Kolodny | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | Brown University, Stanford Graduate School of Business |
| Occupation(s) | Co-founder and Managing Partner, Acrew Capital |
| Notable work | Chime, Pie Insurance, Divvy, La Haus, Papaya Payments |
| Website | https://www.acrewcapital.com/ |
Lauren Kolodny is an innovative leader in the venture capital space, distinguishing herself as one of the few female founders and managing partners at a leading venture firm. Lauren made history at the age of 23 by becoming the youngest ever and first female Trustee Emerita on the University's board of directors. Her journey in VC began at Aspect Ventures, where she collaborated with some of Silicon Valley's most influential investors to champion women-led enterprises and define the future of venture. Today, Lauren serves as a co-founder and Managing Partner at Acrew Capital, where she leads the firm's fintech practice.
Early years and Education
Lauren Kolodny holds Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Brown University, Master of Sciences from Stanford University, and MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Career
Early Career
Lauren began her career building tech and finance partnerships for the Clinton Foundation in India.[1] There, she witnessed some of the earliest entrepreneurial activity around mobile money, which developed and solidified her belief in fintech's potential to drive financial inclusion.
She later worked in product marketing at Google, where she played a pivotal role in overseeing numerous launches for Google Workspace, including the introduction of Google Drive. The early triumphs of a product-led growth strategy in the productivity sector intensified Lauren's passion for the potential of a more collaborative fintech landscape.
Aspect Ventures
She started her career in Aspect Ventures[2] in 2015, where she assumed the position of Partner in 2017, before departing to co-found Acrew in 2019.
Over the course of her career, Lauren has led investments in companies such as Chime, Divvy (acquired by Bill.com), Evident ID, Future Family, Gusto, Kettle, La Haus, Papaya Payments, Pie Insurance, and Tara.ai.[3]
Acrew Capital
Acrew invests across three thesis areas, but is perhaps best known for its fintech investing practice, built and led by Lauren. Lauren has led several significant investments in over 20 startups, including the 2016 Series A round in Chime, which today is valued at $25 billion and has millions of users. Her portfolio also includes notable companies like Clara, Divvy (acquired by Bill.com), Gusto, Klar, Nala, and Pie Insurance among others. She has also made growth stage investments in companies like Plaid and Marqeta (MQ).
In total, Acrew Capital, under her leadership, manages a portfolio exceeding $1.5 billion AUM.
Media
Lauren was featured on the 2024 Forbes Midas List and was featured as the face of the Midas Newcomers. Lauren has also been honored in publications including:
- 2024 Forbes Midas List
- #68 The Midas List: Top Tech Investors
- Forbes Midas Brink List 2021
- WSJ: 10 VCs Grooming the Next Generation of Game Changing Startups (2020)
- VCs Who Represent the Future of Venture Capital (2020)
- Forbes 30 Under 30 (2016)
References
- ^ Capital, TrueBridge. "The Midas Brink List: Meet Venture Capital's Up-And-Comers For 2021". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
- ^ "Theresia Gouw", Wikipedia, 2024-05-09, retrieved 2024-07-15
- ^ Capital, TrueBridge. "The Midas Brink List: Meet Venture Capital's Up-And-Comers For 2021". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-07-15.