Meet the people who make it happen.
HARSHUL SANGHI
Global Head
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Harshul Sanghi is a veteran venture capitalist with over 25 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, commerce 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 and is involved with the boards of Abra, Bill.com, Boxed, Freebird, If Only, Instacart, Next Insurance, Retail Next, Simplee, Stripe, Tradeshift 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
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Dana is a Managing Director at American Express Ventures. Dana leads the Core Capabilities practice, as well as oversees American Express Ventures activity in Europe and Israel.
Dana joined American Express in 2013 and held innovation and marketing partnership roles prior to joining American Express Ventures 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
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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
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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.
KEVIN TSANG
Portfolio Director
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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.
PACKEY CARRIER
Investment Manager
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Packey joined American Express in 2018 as a member of the company’s venture capital team. Packey is responsible for sourcing and executing new investment opportunities that help drive innovation throughout American Express
Prior to joining American Express, Packey was a Vice President at FT Partners where he managed and executed capital raise and M&A transactions in the financial technology and business services sectors. Packey began his career as an investment banking analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the financial institutions group.
Packey holds a BS in Business from Wake Forest University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
ALIM GIGA
Investment Manager
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Alim joined American Express in 2018. Alim focuses on investments across our three investment areas: consumer, B2B, with an emphasis on the core capabilities vertical, which includes enterprise, cloud, security, AI/ML and analytics.
Prior to joining American Express, Alim worked at GE Ventures focusing on enterprise software investments. He started his investing career at Data Collective. Alim also spent time in tech, working at Google, PayPal and Instart Logic.
Alim holds a BS in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Southern California, an MS in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from The Wharton School.
MICHAEL KRASLOW
Investment Associate
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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.
SUGAM SARIN
Investment Associate
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Sugam joined American Express in 2016 as a member of the company's venture capital team.
Previously, Sugam was an investment banking analyst in the financial institutions group at Citigroup, evaluating and advising on M&A and equity transactions ranging from $1BN to $9BN within the consumer finance and financial technology sectors.
Sugam holds a BSc in Finance and Economics from New York University’s Stern School of Business.
PATRICK NEALON
Investment Associate
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Patrick joined American Express in 2018 as a member of the company’s venture capital team after graduating from Harvard Business School. Patrick focuses on investment and partnership opportunities with Consumer and SMB software businesses.
Prior to attending business school, Patrick was a member of the Global Corporate Strategy team at Visa in San Francisco and worked with the Revolution LLC’s growth equity team in Washington DC. He began his career as a management consultant with PwC Advisory in San Francisco.
Patrick holds BBAs in Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
CHRISTIAN VELA
Investment Analyst
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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
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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.
LAURA NIZLEK
Manager, Public Affairs
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Laura joined American Express in 2018 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 PR agencies, including Edelman and Cohn & Wolfe.
Laura holds a BA in English and a certificate in Corporate & Community Relations from the University of Pittsburgh.
MARYJANE (MJ) POWELL
Executive Assistant
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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
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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.