February Funding Pathways: Republic, Vamos Ventures, Larta Ventures, Homeboy Capital 💸

​​When it comes to money for startups, there's no shortage of options - from crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter, equity funding models such as convertible debt, friends & family rounds, smaller VCs, grants and even angel investment networks. 💰 Join us for our funding pathways event series for a panel with industry leaders so you can find out which path is right for you! 🚀

Read more about this month's speakers below. ⬇️

​Zehra Naqvi is a Head of Founder Community at Republic; speaking to founders is her favorite thing to do. At Republic Zehra also kickstarted Rise: Republic's founder community, works on Republic's diverse founder initiatives, and strategic partnerships with accelerators and VCs. She's a 2x founder, a Columbia alum with a B.A. in Financial Economics & Art History, angel investor,  and an experienced operator having worked at over 14 different startups. Ask Zehra all about how to fundraise efficiently or her art historian perspectives published at Yale and UChicago. 

​Valeria Martinez is an investor at VamosVentures, a venture capital fund investing in diverse founders, particularly Latino/a founders. Valeria started her career with Deloitte Consulting, where she focused on the intersection of human capital and technology. After almost half a dozen years in consulting, she made the pivot to the investing world, gaining experience at funds like Harlem Capital, PayPal Ventures, Avivar Capital, and Stanford’s Impact Fund. Valeria holds a BS from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. As the daughter of Mexican immigrant parents who started their own small business in the U.S., Valeria is proud to be investing in and empowering the communities she comes from.

​As the Senior Manager of Larta Venture Fellows, Christina Lila Wilson manages the urban sustainability program at Larta Ventures. Previously, she built female entrepreneurship and social impact programs at AngelHack in over 12 countries. She was on the launch team of the New York Fashion Tech Lab, expanding innovation in the creative and retail industries. She loves working with passionate visionaries around innovation gaps.

​Todd Hitomi is the Fund Manager at the Homeboy Industries Venture and Jobs Fund. Before to joining Homeboy Industries, Todd served as the Program Manager at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), where he managed a portfolio of 40 startups in the Cleantech Incubation Program and developed entrepreneurship programming and business acceleration through the Founders Business Acceleration program. He is driven by the belief that work rooted in purpose creates more enduring change and a sustainable society. Todd attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his bachelor’s degree in the interdisciplinary studies of Socioeconomics of Technology and Architectural Design.