Sustainably Social Dinner: Connecting Startups, Investors, Executives
New York Fintech Week in April brings together an inclusive community of startup ecosystem builders. And at Wallet Max, we are proud to expand this collaboration to corporate leaders and private investors with a goal to increase fundraising access for women-led startups in climate, finance, and technology.
Join us for a small-group intimate gathering that promotes meaningful private conversations and mutual exchange of resources. Request a seat at the table today!
✅ Connect with emerging startup leaders, impact investors, and executives.
✅ Discover how to enhance sustainability practices, and grow your business.
✅ Join a growing community of 500+ ecosystem leaders in climate fintech.
Read more about monthly Climate Forward™ events from Wallet Max throughout 2025:
🎯 www.getwalletmax.com/climate-forward-2025
Your host:
Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max.
Agenda:
5:00 PM to 5:45 PM: Networking Mocktail Lounge
5:45 PM to 6:45 PM: 2025 Fintech Trends and Climate Initiatives Unveiling (Informal Talks and Speaker Q&A)
Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max
Susan Schofer, Partner SOSV & Chief Science Officer HAX
Ashley Ryder, Partner at VamosVentures
Randi Plevy, Partner & General Counsel at Angel Hive
6:45 PM to 8:45 PM: Seated Dinner
8:45 PM to 9:00 PM: Closing
All speaker bios are below. Request a seat at the table today!
Note: Once your seat at the table has been approved, your payment method on Luma will be charged. Please note that there are no refunds for this event given the exclusive nature.
About Wallet Max:
Wallet Max expands fundraising for growth-stage startups in sustainability and climate fintech sectors, and connects them with an inclusive community.
About Bhuva Shakti:
Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the visionary founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of executive women and venture capital investors with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth sustainable startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.
Bhuva’s leadership and risk governance oversight, during the global financial crisis and the pandemic, was pivotal for the success of regulatory compliance and mergers acquisitions at the world's top banks and credit rating institutions. Bhuva is a board director and fractional C-Suite advisor for social impact businesses, and a keynote speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partnerships.
Bhuva is the USA country director for World Business Angels Investment Forum and the Chief Ethics & Culture Officer for Women in AI worldwide. She leads the fundraising strategy and product operations for market expansion and manages investor relations throughout the diligence and investment. Bhuva is the founder of Bhuva’s Impact Global that provides board advisory services and enterprise risk management for public and private corporations.
About Susan Schofer:
Susan works with startups via early stage investment, defining key milestones and go-to-market strategies, and is responsible for scientific oversight to support portfolio companies.
Prior to HAX, Susan served on the leadership team at Modern Meadow as SVP Business Development, developing innovative, sustainable materials, leading product, partnerships, and go-to-market strategy and execution from ideation through to first commercialization. Before that, Susan spent 10 years in Silicon Valley in roles spanning R&D, product development, product management, and business development for Amyris (pioneer of Synthetic Biology) and Symyx Technologies (automated, robotic workflows to accelerate new material discovery & commercialization). Her passion is working with innovators to bring scientific breakthroughs to market to make a positive impact on people & planet.
Susan was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Stockholm University, developing artificial photosynthesis. She holds a PhD in chemistry from Caltech and an ScB in chemistry from Brown University.
About Ashley Ryder:
Ashley Ryder is a Partner at VamosVentures. She started her career at Morgan Stanley in Capital Markets and moved into strategic roles at YC startup Shoptiques.com (now Material Retail), Saks Fifth Avenue, and Estee Lauder focused on the intersection of the consumer and technology verticals. She was previously an investor at Brand Foundry Ventures, Founders Factory, and Dorm Room Fund across Commerce, Health & Wellness, and FinTech. Ashley holds a BA from Brown University and an MBA from MIT Sloan.
VamosVentures is a venture capital fund investing in diverse teams across Health & Wellness, FinTech, Future of Work, and Sustainability. The fund does Pre-Seed to Series A deals with $500K-$2M checks.
About Randi Plevy:
Randi F. Plevy is Partner and General Counsel at Angel Hive, a New York syndicate investing in women led startups that improve the lives of women and girls. Angel Hive is dedicated to supporting women founders and educating investors. Additionally, Randi is a limited partner in Chloe Capital, a venture firm that invests with a gender and diversity lens in early-stage companies solving the world’s biggest problems, and a board member at The Kota Alliance, a Harlem based nonprofit working to provide a more equitable community for marginalized identities using a collaborative feminist approach.
Randi started her career as a broadcast journalist working in small newsrooms in Texas and South Dakota before attending Brooklyn Law School. After a long stint as a homemaker raising her two daughters, she worked as a real estate attorney for 12 years before pivoting to venture.