Growth Investor with GrowthCap‘s RJ Lumba

Creating Sustainable Value for Innovative Companies: Norwest’s Sonya Brown

In this episode, we speak with Sonya Brown, General Partner and Co-Head of Growth Equity at Norwest. Norwest is a leading venture and growth equity investment firm managing more than $12.5 billion in capital. Since its inception, the firm has invested in more than 650 companies and currently partners with over 200 active companies in its venture and growth equity portfolio.

Sonya is focused on growth equity and buyouts investing across a wide range of sectors including consumer, retail, internet, education and business services. Her current investments include Babylist, Forum Brands, Jolyn, Junk King, Kendra Scott, Madison Reed, Senreve, and SmartSign. Before Norwest, Sonya was at Summit Partners for almost a decade.

Sonya was recognized by GrowthCap as one of the Top Women Leaders in Growth Investing of 202.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

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Full Stack AgTech: Absolute Founder and CEO Agam Khare

In this episode, we speak with Agam Khare, Founder and CEO of Absolute, a bioscience company leveraging the best of nature, science and innovation to build a better future for people and the planet.

The company’s AI-driven operating system can be implemented across vertical farms, greenhouses, open farms, and other areas, enabling farmers to grow crops without using synthetic enzymes and GMOs.

Based in Delhi, India, Absolute operates across 16 countries and is backed by Sequoia, Tiger Global, and Alpha Wave.

Prior to Absolute, Agam ran India's leading Industrial Robotics & Factory Automation company working across various sectors - Food & Beverage, Pharma, Auto, Oil & Gas, Steel & Cement.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

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Delivering A Better Healthcare Experience: Everside Health CEO Chris Miller

In this episode, we speak with Chris Miller, CEO of Everside Health, one of the largest direct primary care providers in the U.S., operating over 375 health centers in 34 states.

Chris is a recognized leader and entrepreneur known for building and scaling companies. He offers a unique blend of business acumen, strategic vision and service delivery to achieve organizational success.

Everside Health, headquartered in Denver, Colorado, offers patients direct and convenient, 24/7 access to their physicians by combining increased physician involvement with a data-driven approach focused on delivering better health outcomes.

The company started as four companies that came together to create a different kind of healthcare experience. It is backed by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Oak HC/FT, Alta Partners, Greenspring Associates and other strategic investors.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

If you like the episode, click to subscribe and drop us a comment.

Investing in Human Capital: Two Sigma Impact’s Warren Valdmanis

In this episode, we speak with Warren Valdmanis, Partner at Two Sigma Impact, the impact investing business of Two Sigma exclusively focused on workforce impact.

Two Sigma Impact combines active, principled ownership and data science with the goal of achieving superior returns and positive social outcomes. It invests in industries that rely heavily on human capital such as education and training, healthcare, consumer, and business services.

They believe improving employee engagement and creating more good jobs can improve business performance and create a model for other companies to emulate.

Previously, Warren was a Managing Director at Bain Capital, where he helped launch the firm’s first dedicated social impact fund and develop the firm’s strategic approach to social impact investing.  Warren worked at Bain Capital from 2005 to 2019.

I am your host RJ Lumba. We hope you enjoy the show.

The Finance Platform for SaaS Founders: Arc Technologies’ Don Muir

In this episode, we speak with Don Muir, Co-Founder and CEO of Arc Technologies. Founded in 2021, Arc provides a better way for software startups to raise capital without incurring costly dilution and risky debt. 
 
Arc converts a startups’ future revenue into upfront capital, provides a cash management account to store, manage and spend funds, and delivers financial analytics to drive growth. 
 
The Company is backed by Left Lane Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, NFX and Atalaya Capital, among others.
 
I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

Unlocking the Power of Big Data to Transform Mobility: INRIX’ Bryan Mistele

In this episode, we speak with Bryan Mistele, Co-Founder and CEO of INRIX, the global leader in connected car services and mobility analytics. The Company is at the forefront of connecting cars to smarter cities in more than 60 countries around the world.

Founded in 2004, INRIX pioneered the practice of managing traffic by analyzing data not just from road sensors, but also from vehicles.

Prior to INRIX, Bryan was an executive at Microsoft. He built HomeAdvisor into the #1 ranked business-to-business and business-to-consumer company in both the online mortgage and real estate industries. The company was a joint venture between Microsoft and five leading mortgage banks.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

Reengineering Online Advertising: Seedtag Founder Albert Nieto Riera

In this episode, we speak with Albert Nieto Riera, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Seedtag. Seedtag is the leading contextual advertising company in Europe and Latin America. With AI technology based on machine learning algorithms, the company powers the most relevant and engaging communications in a privacy-first world through contextual advertising.

The company has raised over $300 million dollars from leading investors including Advent International and Oakley Capital.

Seedtag was founded in 2014 by two former Googlers with a clear mission: to change how online advertising is done. Today, Seedtag has a large international presence with over 400 employees across offices in Europe, the United States, and Latin America.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

Building Value in Financial Services: Lovell Minnick Partners’ Steve Pierson

In this episode, we speak with Steve Pierson, Managing Partner at Lovell Minnick Partners. Prior to joining the firm in 2016, Steve was at UBS where he served as Head of Financial Institutions Investment Banking Americas and Global Head of Financial Technology & Services.

Lovell Minnick Partners is a middle market private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, financial technology and related business services.  Since its inception in 1999, the firm has raised $3.5 billion of committed capital from leading institutional investors.

Lovell Minnick Partners was recognized by GrowthCap as a Top 25 Private Equity Firm of 2022.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

Bringing Online Products to Life: nfinite Founder and CEO Alexandre de Vigan

In this episode, we speak with Alexandre de Vigan, Founder and CEO of nfinite. nfinite is the leading e-merchandising platform for online merchants to create, display and manage product visual experiences to increase their online sales.

The company has raised over $100 million dollars from leading investors including Insight Partners and U.S. Venture Partners.

nfinite is all about helping the world usher in the post-shoot era in which product visual availability is no longer reliant on costly, logistical, and carbon-heavy photoshoots.

Visual production is shifting to computer-generated 3D imagery (CGI) — which facilitates higher performance and resource efficiencies and has less environmental impact.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.

Scaling Software Companies: Invoca CEO Gregg Johnson

In this episode, we speak with Gregg Johnson, the CEO of Invoca.  Gregg is a seasoned software leader who previously led Salesforce Marketing Cloud’s social marketing product line, where he integrated $1 billion of M&A investments into the Salesforce product portfolio.  He is also a successful entrepreneur.

Invoca is the cloud leader in AI-powered conversation intelligence for revenue teams that enables marketing, sales, customer experience, and eCommerce teams to understand and immediately act on the information consumers share via conversations.

The company has raised $184 million from leading venture capitalists including Upfront Ventures, Accel, Silver Lake Waterman, H.I.G. Growth Partners, and Salesforce Ventures.

I am your host RJ Lumba.  We hope you enjoy the show.