Meet the people who make it happen.
HARSHUL SANGHI
Global Head
Harshul Sanghi is a veteran venture capitalist with over 30 years of operating experience and a proven track record in delivering financial returns and strategic value. Harshul has a keen sense for the disruption of traditional industries by digital platforms – media, telco, payments, and financial services.
He is the Founder & Managing Partner of American Express Ventures, overseeing global investment activity across American Express. Harshul has led investments in Abra, Boxed, Instacart, Next Insurance, Retail Next, Stripe and Turo.
Harshul has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Oregon and an MBA from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Switzerland.
DANA ELI-LORCH
Managing Director, EMEA
Dana is a Managing Director at American Express Ventures. Dana leads American Express Ventures activity in the EMEA
region, in addition to overseeing the Core Capabilities practice globally. Dana has led investments in and is currently involved with
the boards of BioCatch, DataGrail, Enigma, EverCompliant, Menlo Security, Signifyd, TrueAccord, Trulioo, and Voca.ai.
Dana joined American Express in 2013 and held innovation and marketing partnership roles in New York, prior to joining American Express Ventures in Palo Alto in 2015. Previously, Dana was an Associate at TASC Consulting & Capital, Israel's largest management consulting firm. Dana also spent over six years as an officer in Israel's Elite Technological Intelligence Unit (8200).
Dana holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics and Management, magna cum laude, from Tel Aviv University.
LINDSAY FITZGERALD
Managing Director
Lindsay joined American Express in 2012. Lindsay leads the B2B investment vertical and portfolio partnership initiatives.
Lindsay joined American Express Ventures in 2015, after spending several years in business development and strategy roles at American Express. Previously, Lindsay was a growth equity investor at HealthCor Partners, a healthcare-focused fund in New York, and began her career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley.
Lindsay holds a BA from Amherst College and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
JULIA HUANG
Managing Director
Julia joined American Express in 2011. Julia leads Amex Ventures’ Consumer investment vertical, overall investment strategy and portfolio management practices.
Before joining American Express, Julia worked in Corporate Development at Lloyds Banking Group in London, M&A Advisory at Goldman Sachs in Sydney, and began her career as a Management Consultant at A.T. Kearney in Sydney.
Julia holds a Bachelor of Business from Queensland University of Technology, a Master of Commerce (Finance) and a Master of International Business from the University of Sydney.
ANATOLY KVITNITSKY
Investment Director
Anatoly joined American Express Ventures in 2020. His responsibilities include sourcing and evaluating early and growth stage investments in Fintech and Consumer verticals.
Prior to joining American Express, Anatoly was a VP at Trulioo, a leading global identity verification company, and also an Amex Ventures’ portfolio company. He was responsible for Business and Corporate Development, R&D, Investor Relations and Strategic Sales. Previously, Anatoly was on the Corporate Development and Strategy team at Experian’s consumer business.
Anatoly holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Rutgers University’s Rutgers Business School.
MARGARET LIM
Investment Director
Margaret joined Amex Ventures in 2019. Margaret focuses on investments in the B2B Software & Fintech spaces and also drives strategic partnerships between our portfolio companies and business teams across American Express.
Margaret is an experienced tech investor and startup founder with nine years of international work experience across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Prior to American Express, Margaret spent seven years working across tech-focused Private Equity and Venture Capital at Temasek International and at Credit Suisse’s TMT Investment Banking team. Subsequently, Margaret spent two years as the Co-Founder of HEROdyssey, a startup that connected US talent to innovation ecosystems in Southeast Asia.
Margaret holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Political Science and Economics from the University of Michigan.
KEVIN TSANG
Portfolio Director
Kevin joined American Express in 2011 as a member of the company’s venture capital team. Kevin focuses on investments in Europe and in emerging consumer finance and payment solutions. He also oversees the portfolio reporting and related functions for the team.
Previously, Kevin was an analyst in the diversified industrials investment banking group at RBC Capital Markets, where he focused on M&A and corporate finance transactions. He began his career as an investment banking analyst at New Harbor Incorporated covering the Power/Utilities sector.
Kevin holds a BS in Finance and Accounting from New York University.
SARA BARTYNSKI
Portfolio Manager
Sara joined American Express in 2017. Sara focuses on portfolio management including portfolio reporting, processes and insights.
Sara joined Amex Ventures in 2020, after completing the Finance Job Rotational Program (JRP) at American Express, where she held various roles across Finance. Prior to working for American Express, Sara worked with Linde group and Heurtey Petro-Chemicals as Process and Proposal Engineer.
Sara holds an MBA from Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University.
ALEXANDER GROSSI III
Investment Manager
Alex joined American Express in 2020 as a member of the company's venture capital team.
Prior to joining American Express, Alex was finance manager for Mynd, a property management startup, responsible for managing portfolio acquisitions, FP&A, and strategic partnerships. Previously, he served
as an associate in investment banking at North Point Advisors in their Consumer Group and began his career in structured finance.
Alex holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance from Portland State University.
SARAH KREIFUS
Investment Manager
Sarah joined American Express in 2020 as a member of the company's venture capital team.
Prior to joining American Express, Sarah was an associate in investment banking at Evercore in their Consumer Group, evaluating and advising on M&A and equity transactions in the Food & Beverage and Retail Industry. Previously, Sarah worked at Digitas where she was responsible for managing client portfolios and FP&A.
Sarah holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of Wisconsin - Madison.
MONA PEZESHKI
Investment Manager
Mona joined American Express in 2020 as a member of the company's venture capital team.
Prior to joining American Express, Mona led business operations at StyleSeat, a
software-enabled marketplace for beauty professionals, where she was responsible for driving corporate planning, strategic partnerships, and special projects. Previously, she underwrote fund-of-fund and direct investments as an associate covering venture capital at Albourne Partners. Mona started her career in investment banking at Duff & Phelps, where she provided M&A and advisory services to software companies.
Mona graduated with honors from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business with a
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
SARAH RENDE
Manager, Strategic Initiatives
Sarah joined American Express in 2019. Sarah leads a variety of strategic initiatives, including overseeing the team’s diversity & inclusion and sustainability efforts.
Sarah joined Amex Ventures in 2020 from Corporate Development, where she was a member of the M&A Integration and Separation team. Prior to American Express, Sarah worked at education technology firm General Assembly, where she drove impact by developing innovative financing options for adults with low-income. Prior to GA, she worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign where she held various organizing & operations roles in battleground states.
Sarah holds a BA from Colgate University.
MICHAEL KRASLOW
Investment Associate
Michael joined American Express in 2019. His responsibilities include evaluating and executing early and growth stage investment opportunities across the US and Europe. He also overseas high-level portfolio functions with an emphasis on improving American Express’ deal execution process.
Previously, Mike worked at Courtside Ventures, where he focused on investing in early stage sports and entertainment companies. Prior to Courtside, Mike launched a mobile recycling platform called RecycleUp, which aimed to solve the current global waste epidemic. He also worked at Lightyear Capital, a mid-market PE firm that invest in financial services companies.
Mike holds a BBA from the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
VINCENZO SALINA-AMORINI
Investment Associate
Vincenzo joined American Express in 2020 as a member of the company's venture capital team.
Previously, Vincenzo worked at William Blair in Chicago and London in the financial institutions group, evaluating and advising on M&A and equity transactions in the specialty finance and financial technology sectors. Prior to William Blair, Vincenzo worked for KPMG in their audit practice focusing on financial services and consumer retail companies.
Vincenzo holds an MBA from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business and a BSc in Accounting from Georgetown University. Vincenzo is also a certified public accountant.
CHRISTIAN VELA
Investment Associate
Christian joined American Express in 2018 and is located at the Palo Alto office. Christian covers opportunities across Consumer and B2B services.
Previously, Christian was a private equity analyst at K1 Investment Management, focusing on growth equity and buyout investments in SaaS. Christian worked on evaluating, executing and supporting software investments across various industries and stages.
Christian holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and a specialization in Computing from the University of California, Los Angeles.
JAMES FRANKLIN
Chief Counsel
Jim joined American Express in 2011 and serves as Chief Counsel. Jim oversees and participates in the structuring, negotiation and execution of American Express’ M&A, joint venture, and venture investment transactions globally, as well as related integration activities.
Prior to joining American Express, Jim worked in the M&A group at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, where he specialized in private equity and public company M&A as well as corporate governance matters.
Jim received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his B.A. with Honors from Brown University, where he majored in History.
M. PATRICIA LI
Counsel
Patricia joined American Express in 2017 and serves as Lead Counsel for Amex Ventures. Patricia works on American Express’s strategic and venture investment transactions globally, as well as on related integration activities.
Prior to joining American Express, Patricia worked in the Mergers and Acquisitions group at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in London and New York, where her practice included a wide variety of cross-border strategic
transactions across numerous industries, including acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, and securities offerings.
Patricia received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her A.B. in Chemistry from Harvard University.
LAURA NIZLEK
Manager, Public Affairs
Laura joined American Express in 2019 and oversees all media and public relations activities related to American Express Ventures.
Prior to joining American Express, Laura worked at the investment bank PJ SOLOMON where she served as the firm’s in-house Communications Manager. Previously, Laura worked for several years at the global PR firm Edelman.
Laura holds a BA in English and a certificate in Corporate & Community Relations from the University of Pittsburgh.
MARYJANE (MJ) POWELL
Executive Assistant
MJ joined the Ventures team at its inception in 2011. She has been supporting the Founder and Managing Partner, Harshul Sanghi, as Executive Assistant/Business Analyst. In addition, she also supports the operations of the Ventures Palo Alto office, including hosting & managing Amex Ventures events.
MJ has worked as an Executive Assistant to high profile executives in Silicon Valley in technology, venture capital and the financial institution industry since 1990. Having worked in Silicon Valley the past 3 decades, she has built a vast network of EAs (a.k.a. Office Ninjas) and Co-Founded EASV, Executive Assistants of Silicon Valley.
MARILUZ VILLA
Executive Assistant
Mariluz joined American Express in 2012 and currently supports Julia, Lindsay and Dana as an Executive Assistant.
Prior to joining the Ventures team, Mariluz was a Project Analyst within the Real Estate team, where she worked on a number of initiatives, including the rollout of American Express’s flexible workplace program “BlueWork”.
Mariluz hold a bachelor’s degree in Multicultural Communications and International Marketing from Baruch College.