Webinar
Yoshino Ventures: Last Call
The deadline for Yoshino Ventures Fund 2 is around the corner, and the team is beginning to deploy capital and build the portfolio. Join Managing Partner Ray Wu and Senior Principal Sophia Zhao to hear about some past investments and how they will continue to build a fully diversified venture portfolio.
Watch on-demand below.
See video policy below.
This discussion about Yoshino Ventures Fund 2 is open to all alumni and friends of the University of Washington. Yoshino Ventures is Alumni Ventures’ UW-focused venture capital fund.
During the session, we discuss:
- HomeThe goal and structure of the fund
- HomeA review of the past investments
- HomeBenefits of diversifying into venture capital
- HomeMinimum requirements needed to invest in the fund
- HomeThere will be time for open questions and discussion during the call
About Alumni Ventures
Top 20 VC Investors in North America (2024)
#1 Most Active Venture Firm in the U.S. (2023)
#1 Most Active Venture Firm in the U.S. (2022)
World's Most Innovative Companies (2022)
Note: You must be accredited to invest in venture capital. Important disclosure information can be found at av-funds.com/disclosures.
About your presenters
Ray is a seasoned venture capitalist with over 20 years of investing experience across a wide range of industries and geographies. Before joining Alumni Ventures, Ray was a partner and adviser at several global venture funds focusing on AI, Web3, FinTech and SaaS investment opportunities across the U.S. and Asia Pacific. Earlier, he spent more than 10 years in the corporate venture space: He was the managing director of HP’s new business ventures, responsible for startup technology evaluation, new business incubation, VC relationships, and minority investments, and earlier at Cisco Systems, holding several senior positions leading investment, M&A, internal incubation, and global consulting. Previously, Ray was a managing partner of a leading Internet consulting firm working with Fortune 1000 companies across North America. He earned a dual MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University.
Sophia brings a wealth of experience in capital advisory, corporate development, and operational optimization, establishing impactful collaborations with CXOs and Founders. With a diverse industry exposure encompassing cloud computing, mining and minerals, consumer goods, and Web3, Sophia has been at the forefront of transformative technologies. Since 2018, she has been immersed in the crypto universe, working at Galaxy Digital, Huobi US, and Crypto.com. In these roles, Sophia engaged with startups and institutional clients on capital raising and trading across the Americas, EU, and Asia regions.
Actively fostering innovation and mentorship, Sophia serves as a mentor and judge at prestigious institutions such as Yale’s Tsai City for Innovation, Berkeley’s Blockchain Xcelerator, Techstars, and Layer 1 protocols, including Ethereum, Algorand, and Solana. She maintains close ties with the blockchain communities at Stanford and Yale.
Driven by a passion for shaping the future through frontier technologies, Sophia is currently supporting AI data and applications deals within her team. She holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University, an MBA from the University of British Columbia, and an MAM from the Yale School of Management.