ST

Sara Thomas Deshpande

General Partner, Maven Ventures

San Francisco, California

Work Experience

  • General Partner

    2014

    Maven Ventures is a seed stage venture firm investing in tech companies addressing emerging consumer behavior and trends. The team identifies and backs bold founders with a vision worth fighting for and helps them unlock their potential to change the world, building iconic brands like Zoom and Cruise.

  • Lecturer In Management

    2019

    I teach Startup Garage, an experiential course on entrepreneurship.

  • Investor

    2016

    Invested in Hello Heart's Seed, Series A (led by BRV), Series B (led by Khosla), Series C (led by IVP), and Series D (led by Stripes). Served as Board Observer through the Seed and Series A.

2019

  • Investor

    2019

    Invested in Wildtype before their Series A (led by CRV) and in their $100M Series B (led by L Catterton)

  • Investor

    2017

    Invested in the Seed, Series A (led by CRV), and Series B (led by USVP).

  • Investor

    2020

    Invested in the Seed and Series A (led by Lightspeed); Board Observer

  • Startup Advisor

    2013 - 2014

    Advised early-stage startups and investors as well as universities and nonprofits focused on entrepreneurship

2012 - 2013

  • Director of Entrepreneur Services

    2012 - 2013

    The Idea Village is a nonprofit organization with a mission to identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans. In this role, my team acted as the front door for all startups. We were responsible for designing and delivering all services for early-stage entrepreneurs, meeting hundreds of companies per year to select the most promising ventures then recruit a team of mentors to help them succeed.

2009 - 2012

  • Manager

    2009 - 2012

    Management consultant focused on healthcare strategy

2009 - 2009

  • Business Associate

    2009 - 2009

    -Recruited and selected entrepreneurs to participate in Idea Village programming -Worked directly with early-stage founders on all areas of their businesses