ND

Neil Devani

Investing in what the world needs.

Los Angeles, California

Skills

Research
Legal Research
Legal Writing
Public Policy
Non-profits
Policy Analysis
Public Speaking
Community Outreach
Social Entrepreneurship
Data Analysis
Intellectual Property
Stata
Nonprofits
International Relations
Leadership
Spanish
Strategy
Leadership Development
Human Rights
Politics

Education

Work Experience

  • Founder and Managing Partner

    2020

    We invest in what the world needs, primarily leading pre-seeds and also investing as a non-lead from pre-seed to pre-IPO. Necessary companies inherently have authentic and articulable missions. We help founders leverage their missions to outcompete the market for talent, capital, and attention.

  • Advisor, formerly Investor

    2016

    Early-stage VC, investments include Solugen, Wayve.ai, and Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXRX). Transitioned to an advisory role as I started Necessary Ventures.

2019

  • Advisor

    2019

    The largest and leading nonprofit helping families file for bankruptcy in the United States. Upsolve is the winner of Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Award in 2019 and the New York Times Good Tech Award in 2018. Backers include Y Combinator, Eric Schmidt, Vinod Khosla, Jim Breyer, Chris Sacca, the Robin Hood Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, Fast Forward, BlackRock, Harvard, and the U.S. Government.

  • Advisor

    2016

    At Comar Law, I advise the firm on investment and corporate issues from both a company and investor perspective, especially as related to early stage financings, fund formation, and other related corporate transactions.

  • Advisor

    2016

    Working with publishers and advertisers to drive valuable content.

2016 - 2023

  • Advisor

    2016 - 2023

    A robotics company on a mission to revolutionize the way humans clean - starting with Rosie - the very first housekeeping robot for hotels.

2015 - 2023

  • Investor and Advisor

    2015 - 2023

    Build Better User Onboarding Without Coding

  • Mentor

    2017 - 2022

    Mentoring founders of enterprise startups.

2016 - 2021

  • Venture Partner

    2016 - 2021

    $1B+ AUM VC firm investing globally.

  • Board Director, Board Observer

    2015 - 2021

    ($RBOT) Surgical robotics company working to provide global access to minimally invasive robotic surgery. Investors include Bill Gates, Khosla Ventures, Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors, Jerry Yang's AME Cloud Ventures, and Marc Benioff.