DownToDash and NYC Startup Community present a virtual night of networking & learning from Accelerators.

The Zoom meeting link will be emailed to you on the day of the event. If you do not receive it, please email us at marketing@downtodash.com.

Panelists:

1. Lesa Mitchell - Managing Director, Techstars

Lesa is a Managing Director of Techstars Kansas City. Her career has included roles as a corporate executive, entrepreneur and consultant to multi-national corporates expanding their innovation footprints. For 10 years Lesa was VP Innovation & Networks at the Kauffman Foundation where she designed, implemented and scaled models focused on initiating new markets and recovering markets in support of economic growth. Lesa is an advisor for Modern Meadow (NYC), CapLinked (LA), Neighborly (SF), Copia (SF). Lesa is a long time Sr. Fellow Milken Institute and is on the board of directors of the Althea Foundation in San Francisco.

2. Sean Simons - Program Manager of NVP Labs

Sean Simons is Program Manager of NVP Labs, a “bridge-to-seed” accelerator program at Newark Venture Partners. NVP Labs invests in early-traction B2B businesses. He is involved with investment research and NVP Labs portfolio management in addition to working with Labs founders in support of their business development needs. During labs Sean also manages a team of BDRs that are assigned to each startup. Sean received a B.S. in Management from Quinnipiac University. Prior to joining Newark Venture Partners Sean worked various sales roles ranging from SaaS enterprise sales at Photoshelter - a digital assist management startup to door-to-door beverage sales at a beer startup. Sean's investment interests are around blue collar tech specifically the logistics space. Personal interests include ice hockey, history, and the outdoors.

3. Weichang (Grant) - Investment analyst at HAX

Weichang (Grant) is an investment analyst at HAX, working directly with the General Partner Cyril Ebersweiler in San Francisco. HAX is the world’s first and most prolific accelerator program for hardware, robotics, and connected devices. His responsibilities include sourcing deals, evaluating investment opportunities, and managing the portfolio for the fund. In addition, Weichang also works with startups in the HAX program as well as the ones already graduated from the program to support their business needs and fundraising plans.

Previously, Weichang worked at various venture capital firms both in China and in the U.S. He graduated from the University of California at San Diego with a Bachelor of Science degree in NanoEngineering and Columbia University with a Master of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering. As a technology enthusiast, he is passionate about innovations across borders.