Presented by:
The IU Founders and Funders Network exists to develop and activate IU’s global venture network. It is a passionate, supportive membership network of IU affiliated entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and others who are interested in advancing the virtuous circle that nurturing new ventures brings with it.
This exclusive IU community brings like-minded people together. Innovators and entrepreneurs find the industry experts and resources they need to push their businesses forward. Entrepreneurs, innovators and investors get access to the best of IU’s startup community.
The Venture Summit will provide attendees the opportunity to connect, build, and learn from others in IU’s global venture ecosystem. Plus, who doesn’t want an excuse to return “home” to Bloomington? Hope to see you there.
Build start-up investor partnerships
Network with others in your industry
Find industry experts
Find talent to grow your business
Access world-class educational content
Learn about innovative IU affiliated startups
See the schedule and speakers from past Venture Summits.
Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering – Dorsey Learning Hall @ Luddy Hall (700 N Woodlawn Ave, Bloomington, IN)
Validated parking available at the Forest Avenue Parking Garage (1015 E 11th Street, Bloomington, IN)
From better medical care to safer transportation, AI can make our lives better — but only if it is designed with people in mind. The Luddy AI Center brings together faculty, students, and staff from across Indiana University to investigate the opportunities and challenges of AI.
Attend to connect with IU faculty and graduate students, to preview select basic AI research, to hear a fireside chat with Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering leadership and faculty, and to see IU-affiliated early stage AI startup demonstrations.
11:30am – 12:30pm: Welcome Reception and Basic AI Research Poster Session (Lunch included)
12:30pm – 1:15pm: Fireside Chat with David Crandall & Selma Sabanovic hosted by Joanna Millunchick
1:15pm – 2:15pm: IU-affiliated early-stage AI startup demonstrations. Hosted by Ravi Bhatt.
Suresh Marru, CTO of Folia
Theme: Human-centric AI
Charlene Tay, Sr Director of Artificial Intelligence at Engineered Innovation Group
Theme: The future of Human & AI Co-existence
Derek Whitley, Co-Founder and CTO of ViVum.ai
Theme: On-device AI and Computation
2:15 – 2:45pm: Announcing Quarry AI
Quarry AI aims to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence and software projects originating from IU research. Quarry AI is an initiative of IU Ventures and funded in partnership with IU alumni. Ravi Bhatt hosts Jim Brink, Steve Hockema and David Wild for a special announcement, discussion and AI product demonstration.
Capacity for AI @ IU program is limited to 164 attendees.
4.19.2024 UPDATE: SOLD OUT
4.30.2024 UPDATE: Due to popular demand, we have relocated this session to an auditorium with larger room capacity. Registration is now “back” open.
Meet at South Lobby
Join us for a behind the scenes tour of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall opened as Assembly Hall during the 1971-72 season and Branch McCracken Court was dedicated on December 18, 1971. Since then, millions of fans have attended Indiana Basketball games. Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall holds 17,222 fans and is consistently sold out throughout the regular season.
Three NCAA National Championship teams have called the stadium home.
Nick’s English Hut – Meet Upstairs
Join IU Founders and Funders at Nick’s for networking, food, and drinks. Must be 21.
Go Hoosiers!
IU Ventures is proud to welcome Gerry Dick as this year’s Summit emcee. You can watch Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick weekly on 15 Indiana television stations, hear daily business reports on 23 Indiana radio stations, and subscribe to its daily newsletters. All content is available on demand at InsideINdianaBusiness.com and through a mobile app.
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
(Validated parking available for only the IMU surface lots.)
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
Tony Conrad– Hosted by Julie Heath
IU Ventures is proud to welcome Tony Conrad, one of Indiana University’s “iconic” alumni, “home” as part of this year’s Summit.
A partner at True Ventures, Tony collaborates with founders building brands and companies that permeate the cultural zeitgeist. Having founded about.me and Sphere (both acquired by AOL), Tony brings both founder and startup expertise to his role in guiding early stage startup founders. He spent a decade abroad with Groupe Danone where he focused on brand extension opportunities through mergers and acquisitions.
Tony is a graduate of Indiana University where he worked for the IDS and was co-chair of Little 500 as an IU Student Foundation Steering Committee member. When he’s not seeking new investments, you can find him communicating en français, making drip coffee, traveling, or getting lucky with his enviable good parking karma. He is a proud board member of the Tony Hawk Foundation.
This fireside chat will be moderated by IU Innovates, Executive Director – Julie Heath.
Julie Heath serves as Executive Director of IU Innovates, a new initiative that advances entrepreneurship at Indiana University. She co-chairs the Ecosystem Building Leadership Network, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, catalyzed by a series of initiatives funded by the Kauffman Foundation. Between 2021 and 2023, Heath developed the state of Indiana’s first entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy. Prior to her work at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, she led a community-based entrepreneur support organization with a mission to remove barriers for aspiring founders and early-stage entrepreneurs. Her career has ranged from the launch of a tech startup to intrapreneurship at the Smithsonian Institution. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent fifteen years on the East Coast, and now splits her time between Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana.
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
IU Ventures is proud to welcome IU alum Max Yoder as keynote speaker to this year’s Summit.
Max Yoder is a husband, father, author, musician, and co-founder and former CEO of Lessonly, the Indianapolis-based training software company. He graduated from Indiana University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts through the Individualized Major Program. Max and his friends co-founded Lessonly in 2012. The company grew to 300 employees and $30 million in annual revenue before it was acquired by Seismic in 2021.
Max wrote Do Better Work, a book about communication and teamwork, in 2019.
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
CiCi Bellis, Justin Delaney and Rachel Stillman – Moderated by Emily Atkinson.
Panelists share their tips, strategies and inspiration for startup founders to manage through a VC funding downturn.
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
Spirit of Venture Awards Presentation with Tony Armstrong
The awards celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation across the entire Indiana University community.
The annual awards are given to Indiana University faculty, staff, alumni or student founders and funders, or friends of IU, who have:
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
Angie Grimm, Myles Grote and Dan Herscovici – Moderated by Kate Evinger.
Panelists share their convictions, views and trends they are tracking that will shape their investment strategies for 2024 and beyond.
Alumni Hall – Indiana Memorial Union
Aman Brar, Ting Gootee and Haley Zollo – Moderated by Jason Whitney
Will we see a rebound in VC fundraising in 2024? Will enthusiasm around LLM’s sustain? How can I best position my startup for fundraising success? Bring your questions. Open mic opportunity to ask panelists the burning topics on your mind.
Armstrong helps guide IU’s efforts to further economic development and job creation, to support new business ventures, to transfer IU-developed technologies to the marketplace, and to build partnerships with businesses and universities across Indiana and throughout the nation and the world. In this role, he established the Innovate Indiana Fund and the Indiana Philanthropic Venture Fund.
Prior to this appointment, Armstrong served as Executive Director of the IU Office of Engagement and as Associate Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization at IU’s Advanced Research and Technology Institute. He also served as the Executive Director and General Counsel of the Indiana 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. In that role, he managed a $140 million fund that provided early-stage investments for collaborative research partnerships and cultivated high-tech industries for the state of Indiana.
A native of Madison, Indiana, Tony holds a B.S. from the IU Kelley School of Business, a J.D. from the IU School of Law – Bloomington, and an M.B.A. from Butler University.
Emily is a Venture Analyst at IU Ventures and helps manage the Indiana Philanthropic Venture Fund. She focuses on strategic investments toward promising Life Science and B2B SaaS companies.
With a deep-rooted passion for making a difference, Emily thrives in discovering therapeutics for patients with diseases of high unmet need. Her unique strength lies in seamlessly integrating scientific prowess with business acumen, ensuring a harmonious balance between innovation and market viability.
Before VC, Emily earned her stripes at the IU School of Medicine, where she received a Ph.D. in Anatomy, Cell Biology, & Physiology. During this time, she made significant strides in developing treatments for multiple cross-functional disease areas including musculoskeletal disorders, metabolism, and oncology, showcasing her commitment to advancing medical solutions.
Outside of the office, Emily is a force to be reckoned with in recreational sports where her competitive spirit shines through. A “foodie” at heart, she takes pride in supporting locally-owned coffee shops and restaurants. Her love for storytelling extends beyond business strategies and you can regularly find her at the movies or engrossed in a good book.
CiCi Bellis has an accomplished and diverse background in business, sports, and entrepreneurship. Recently, she completed her MBA degree at the University of Miami. Her studies focus on Business Administration, Management and Finance.
Before pursuing her MBA, CiCi earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with an emphasis on Finance and Entrepreneurship from Indiana University. Alongside her academic achievements, she had a successful background as a professional athlete, competing at the highest level in tennis, reaching #35 in the world on the WTA tour. This experience instilled in her a strong work ethic, determination, and a deep understanding of the sports industry.
CiCi’s passion for finance, business and entrepreneurship led her to a position as an Investment Associate at leAD Technology Partners in Lake Nona, Florida. In this capacity, she contributed her analytical skills to identify and assess investment opportunities, in addition to supporting the growth of the firm’s portfolio companies. After around three years in that position, she made the bold decision to embark on her entrepreneurial journey, founding Cartan Capital in July 2023—a venture capital firm centered around sports and health. On top of her career in venture capital, she also works as a Sports Broadcaster for the Tennis Channel, leveraging her sports expertise to provide insightful commentary and analysis.
Beyond her professional pursuits, CiCi loves cooking delicious meals and spending time with her family, friends, and golden retriever, Kittle.
Ravi’s passion is turning new ideas into reality. Throughout his career, he has adeptly blended his background in law, computer science, and communication to bring a unique perspective to his work.
Prior to his life as a software entrepreneur, Ravi advised clients in high-stakes litigation on trial presentation strategy and effective jury communication. He frequently teaches and speaks on topics including product design, communication strategy, and data visualization.
Ravi completed his juris doctor from Washington University in St. Louis and is admitted to practice in Illinois. His undergraduate studies at Indiana University, Bloomington focused on cognitive science and computer science. Ravi is the 2004 winner of the Lewis F. Powell Medal for Excellence in Advocacy from the American College of Trial Lawyers and the 2015 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University Cognitive Science Program.
Aman is Partner at Ground Game Ventures and has an extensive background in leading technology companies through periods of high growth, M&A, and integration. Ground Game invests in early stage B2B software companies. Previously, Aman launched Canvas, the world’s first text-based interviewing software. The startup was acquired by Jobvite sixteen months after launch. Aman then led Jobvite as CEO and Board Member while acquiring and integrating a variety of recruiting technology companies. As former president of Apparatus, Aman helped lead the company through a strategic acquisition by Virtusa where he subsequently led the global infrastructure business unit.
Aman graduated from Wabash College in ’99 with degrees in Economics and Religion. He also completed his MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University – Bloomington. Aman, Susan (spouse), and Navraj (son) live in Indianapolis, IN. Aman is engaged with a variety of not-for-profit boards and educational institutions boards.
Jim is a skilled software architect and entrepreneur who has spent his career turning ideas into software. His industry career started when he co-founded Determina, where he led the development of an enterprise management product for host security and specialized in reverse-engineering zero-day Windows exploits. Continuing his entrepreneurial journey, he co-founded Aji, and later Branchfire, developing the first PDF and SSH applications for iPhone/iPad; Jim helped Branchfire grow to 25 employees without any outside funding. With over a decade of experience in self-employed software development and consulting, Jim has designed and built software for custom blockchains, security and cryptography, commercial real estate, bioinformatics, machine learning, and medical research. His academic background is equally impressive: he earned a triple-B.S. in Computer Science, Cognitive Science, and Mathematics from Indiana University Bloomington, and followed that with an M.A. in Mathematics from Cambridge University (UK), where he was a distinguished Churchill Scholar. Jim began his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, but chose to leave academia to pursue his first startup.
A partner at True Ventures, Tony collaborates with founders building brands and companies that permeate the cultural zeitgeist. Having founded about.me and Sphere (both acquired by AOL), Tony brings both founder and startup expertise to his role in guiding early stage startup founders. He spent a decade abroad with Groupe Danone where he focused on brand extension opportunities through mergers and acquisitions.
Tony is a graduate of Indiana University where he worked for the IDS and was co-chair of Little 500 as an IU Student Foundation Steering Committee member. When he’s not seeking new investments, you can find him communicating en français, making drip coffee, traveling, or getting lucky with his enviable good parking karma. He is a proud board member of the Tony Hawk Foundation.
David Crandall is Luddy Professor of Computer Science, Director of the Luddy Artificial Intelligence Center at Indiana University, and Principal Investigator of the IU Computer Vision Lab. He obtained the Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University. Since joining IU in 2010, he has been PI or Co-PI on over $24 million in research grants and contracts, has published over 200 technical articles in top international venues, and has received several best paper awards and nominations. He is Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence and Program Chair of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) 2024. He has received an NSF CAREER award, two Google Faculty Research Awards, an IU Trustees Teaching Award, a Grant Thornton Fellowship, a Luddy Professorship, and is a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery.
Justin began his career in travel. First as a writer, primarily covering Asia for AOL/Huffington Post, and second for Delta Air Lines in Revenue Management. He is an avid traveler and in the process of visiting every country in the world.
During business school at Indiana University, Justin founded Menguin, a digitally native mens clothing rental service. After receiving investment from well-known entrepreneurs such as Mark Cuban and Scott Dorsey, Menguin grew explosively over three years, exiting to menswear icon and founder of Mens Wearhouse, George Zimmer. After this, Justin lead an investment into an experiential retailer called Buff City Soap. As CEO, Justin Delaney grew Buff City Soap by 2000% in enterprise value in one year – leading to a multi-hundred million dollar transaction with General Atlantic. Today, there are nearly 300 Buff City Soaps nationally.
In 2021, Justin Delaney started a fund called Wabi Capital with Brook Smith and Fred Gustafson. The fund typically does control transactions in consumer businesses and currently has 8 investments. Justin serves as an active Chairman of most of these businesses.
Justin lives in Louisville, KY with his wife Kristin and three children Ayla, Ronan, and Harper.
Gerry Dick serves as president of Inside INdiana Business, a division of IBJ Media Corp.
Mr. Dick created Inside INdiana Business television in 1998 and two years later, along with technology entrepreneur Scott Jones, formed Grow INdiana Media Ventures, an Indianapolis-based multi-media company focused on producing and distributing business news and information. Mr. Dick sold the company to IBJ Media in 2021.
You can watch Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick weekly on 15 Indiana television stations, hear daily business reports on 23 Indiana radio stations, and subscribe to our daily newsletters (about 200,000 emails are distributed weekly). All content is available on demand at InsideINdianaBusiness.com and through a mobile app.
The company’s latest venture into podcasting, including Business & Beyond with Gerry Dick, has quickly grown into one of its most popular platforms.
Gerry has been awarded the state’s top honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash, three times, by Governors Kernan, Daniels and Pence. He has been awarded Ernst and Young’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award and has been recognized by the Small Business Administration as its Journalist of the Year.
Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick has received an EMMY five times for best interview/discussion program.
Gerry is a frequent keynote speaker and moderator on issues related to Indiana business and the state’s economy. He also serves as the business news analyst for CBS4 and Fox59 television and 93.1 WIBC radio in Indianapolis.
Kate Evinger serves as Senior Venture Analyst with IU Ventures. Kate holds a B.S. in Finance with a Co-Major in Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
Kate has over 6 years of experience within venture, having previously worked with nationally-ranked startup accelerator, gener8tor, throughout her undergraduate career at IU and into post-grad. In total during her time with gener8tor, Kate worked with 45 startup companies, helped to allocate over $1.4M in venture investments and was a two-time recipient of the Twin Cities “Inno Under 25” for her work in the Twin Cities entrepreneurial ecosystem. Kate also led the development and launch of a scale up program for Seed and Series A sports technology startups with Houston-based sports holding company, Pokatok, where she created programming to share resources and provide introductions to investors, advisors and subject matter experts for participating companies.
Kate looks forward to pairing her passion for entrepreneurship and IU to help support and uplift IU affiliated entrepreneurs.
Ting Gootee is a seasoned venture development and community builder with in-depth experience leading and managing impact-driven programs across public, private and academic sectors. She joined TechPoint, as president and CEO in May 2022.
Gootee co-developed the original vision and strategy for Elevate Ventures in 2011 and served as the organization’s vice president of investment until 2014, when she was named chief investment officer. In addition to focusing on investment funds formation and evaluating and supporting pre-seed to later-stage investment opportunities at Elevate Ventures, Gootee played an instrumental role in standing up all aspects of its operations from day one. Prior to Elevate Ventures, Gootee was the deputy director of the Indiana 21st Century Research & Technology Fund. She came to that position from Lionhart Investments Limited, Office of Global Counsel, where she served as a business and legal analyst from 2003 to 2006.
A native of China, Gootee earned her Masters of Business Administration from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, Ind. after earning a Master of Arts degree from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. She earned her undergraduate degree from Peking University in Beijing.
Angie Grimm serves as Head of Sustainability for the FIF Collective and is a member of the Global Corporate Venturing Sustainability Council. She is the former Head of IBM Ventures and VP, Corporate Development and Strategy for IBM Corporation.
Angie is a forward-thinking executive with 20+ years of proven leadership in turning strategy into data-informed strategic acquisitions, investments, partnerships, and innovation programs. She combines enterprise business, startup innovation, and investment to drive growth and high-impact results. Angie has a global network of established investor and innovator relationships. She has repeated success in identifying mega-trends, scaling emerging opportunities, and establishing investment programs. She has been recognized by the Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist 100 (2020-2023).
Most recently, Angie led the formation of IBM’s $600 million corporate venture capital arm, focused on investing in AI, security, sustainability, and quantum. Additionally, she transformed IBM’s approach to harnessing external innovation by instituting dedicated portfolio development roles – partnering business units with the investment team – to drive innovation for IBM and its portfolio companies, and by establishing innovation hubs to serve as insight engines. She also managed in-bound M&A opportunities and oversaw IBM’s Alpha Zone Accelerator in Israel.
Previously, Angie served as a Director in IBM Investor Relations, as a Director of M&A Strategy and Investments in IBM Corporate Development, and in various leadership roles within IBM’s Market Insights organization. While in these roles, Angie launched IBM’s $100 million Watson Ecosystem Fund, managed IBM’s LP investments in venture funds, and co-created IBM’s inaugural Green Services business with the European team.
Angie started her career as an investment banker at Donaldson, Lufkin, & Jenrette (“DLJ”), where she was involved in numerous financings and M&A activities with an emphasis on the technology services industry and in establishing DLJ’s European M&A and technology group.
Angie holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and is a Berkeley Law and NVCA VC University alumnus.
Myles Grote serves as Partner at Elevate Ventures. He is focused on supporting Elevate’s investment processes and assisting in the continued refinement of our investment architecture.
Myles is an Indy native hailing from the IU Kelley School of Business and has spent all 16 years of his career in both building and investing in technology companies. Most recently, he served as the Head of Portfolio Success at High Alpha Innovation and launched Omnidollar, the first ever global syndicate in the State of Indiana where he has participated in early stage investing & advising. In addition to building and investing, he has spent 4 years as an EIR & Mentor at one of the most successful Techstars programs in the World. For fun, Myles enjoys spending time with his wife, daughter and son, watching Indy sports and running.
Julie Heath serves as Executive Director of IU Innovates, a new initiative that advances entrepreneurship at Indiana University. She co-chairs the Ecosystem Building Leadership Network, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, catalyzed by a series of initiatives funded by the Kauffman Foundation. Between 2021 and 2023, Heath developed the state of Indiana’s first entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy. Prior to her work at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, she led a community-based entrepreneur support organization with a mission to remove barriers for aspiring founders and early-stage entrepreneurs. Her career has ranged from the launch of a tech startup to intrapreneurship at the Smithsonian Institution. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent fifteen years on the East Coast, and now splits her time between Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana.
Dan’s two-decade journey through Fortune 50 giants reflect his passion for founding, building, and growing innovative businesses within larger ecosystems. As an investor and Partner at Edison since 2018, Dan brings his expertise to growth-stage tech companies. He sources deals and leads investments with companies like Anonos, MacroFab, Recycle Track Systems, and RapidDeploy.
An entrepreneur at heart, he’s led internal ventures in consumer technology and services. Dan holds four patents, and was the CEO and co-founder of Xfinity Home. Notably at Comcast, he played a pivotal role in bringing Wi-Fi to tens of millions.
Dan is a proud child of Romanian immigrants whose sacrifices provided the foundation for his success. Dan holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University, an MS from Drexel University, and an MBA from Wharton.
Steve Hockema’s career is a blend of deep technical expertise and a passion for innovation and teaching. His professional journey in the tech industry began at Intel, where he helped develop early Pentium processors and MMX features, fundamental to modern GPUs. His innovative spirit led him to co-found Branchfire, creating a widely used, highly optimized PDF processing SDK and several popular mobile applications. At BlueDot, Steve excelled in leading big data science and engineering efforts, for clients like WHO and CDC. As a technical lead for an autonomous driving project at a major international company, he made significant advances in low-power GPU solutions and sensor architecture. Complementing his industry achievements, Steve holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and a joint Ph.D. in Computer Science & Cognitive Science from Indiana University Bloomington, and he inspired many as a professor at the University of Toronto, teaching a range of courses from programming to information security.
Suresh is passionate about leveraging the power of emerging technologies and distributed systems to drive commercial impact. At Folia, he leads our technical strategy, guiding our efforts to be secure, resilient, and scalable.
In his role as Director at the Georgia Tech Center for Artificial Intelligence in Science and Engineering (ARTISAN), Suresh and his team are at the cutting edge of incorporating AI into various scientific fields. They focus on narrowing the divide between theory, practical experimentation, and computation, promoting open-source frameworks. These initiatives automate research activities, refine complex models, and merge diverse scientific data with simulation technologies.
Additionally, Suresh holds the position of Vice President at the Open Source Apache Airavata project and is a Member of the Apache Software Foundation.
Previously, Suresh was a chief architect and Deputy Director of the Cyberinfrastructure Integration Research Center at Indiana University. As the Principal Investigator for the Cybershuttle project, he led the development of a comprehensive, secure, and user-friendly platform. This platform integrates a scientist’s various research tools and data, whether located on personal devices, cloud systems, or university supercomputers.
Joanna Mirecki Millunchick is the Dean of the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Millunchick earned her Bachelor of Science in Physics from DePaul University in Chicago and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University. She was a post-doctoral fellow in Semiconductor Physics at Sandia National Laboratories and then moved to the University of Michigan. While at Michigan, she had two distinct areas of research: materials science of semiconductors and engineering education. For the former, Millunchick developed nanoscale semiconductors for optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. For the latter, she studied how to teach the physical sciences more equitably by examining pedagogical approaches and developing new virtual and augmented reality tools. Millunchick became the associate dean for undergraduate education in 2017, focusing on enhancing experiential learning opportunities for students and fostering academic creativity for educators. She continues this work at Indiana University, expanding it to make Luddy a force for socially responsible scientific and technological innovation.
Selma is Professor of Informatics and Cognitive Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. She founded and directs the R-House Laboratory for Human-Robot Interaction research at IUB. Her work combines the social studies of computing, focusing particularly on the design, use, and consequences of socially interactive and assistive robots in different social and cultural contexts, with research on human-robot interaction (HRI) and social robot design. Selma’s main research goals are threefold: (1) developing a critical understanding of the development and use of socially interactive robots in society; (2) studying how social and cultural factors influence robotics science and technology development; and (3) using critical perspectives and insights from the social study of interactive robotic technologies to design, implement, and evaluate socially and culturally situated robots.
Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Institute of Electric al and Electronics Engineers, and Indiana University.
Selma received my PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2007. She was a visiting guest professor at Bielefeld University’s Cognitive Interaction Technology — Center of Excellence in Summer 2014. In 2008/2009, she was a lecturer in Stanford University’s Program in Science, Technology and Society. She was also a visiting scholar at the Intelligent Systems Institute in AIST, Tsukuba, Japan and the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in 2005.
Rahul Shrivastav [Shree-vah-stahv] is Executive Vice President of Indiana University and Provost of the Indiana University Bloomington campus. He was honored with the Colonel Allan R. and Margaret G. Crow Term Professorship at the University of Florida and was named a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, as well as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2020.
Since he began serving as provost in 2022, Shrivastav has guided initiatives designed to create innovative accelerated master’s degree paths, advance staff well-being and satisfaction, make strategic faculty hires across campus, optimize physical learning spaces, and coordinate research and entrepreneurial strengths. He has also convened groups to improve the graduate student experience, actively support marginalized communities across campus, and meaningfully honor Hoosiers who have passed.
Shrivastav directed the highly collaborative IUB 2030 strategic planning process, in alignment with the universitywide IU 2030 strategic planning effort, which calls for leading boldly in student success and opportunity, research and creative activity, and service to the state and beyond.
Rachel Stillman currently serves as Chief of Staff at Transcarent, a healthcare technology benefit solution offering employees and their families easy access to high-quality affordable health and care. She has stepped into Transcarent, a 7wireVentures portfolio company, in conjunction with her role as Vice President at 7wireVentures. At 7wireVentures, Rachel focused on investments in digital healthcare and technology. She is was a Board Member of Carebox (exited). She was a member of the deal team for CirrusMD, Jasper, MedArrive, Brightline, Payzen, Vivante and Folx.
Rachel’s prior experience in venture capital includes her time at Qure Ventures, Israel’s first exclusively focused digital health fund. Prior to Rachel’s career in venture capital, she worked in the Healthcare Group at MB Financial Bank where she advised and supported healthcare organizations and healthcare service providers with their financing and risk management needs. There, she gained copious amounts of transaction experience structuring acquisition financings, leveraged financings, private syndications, and credit derivative products.
Rachel is a co-founder of Dropping Claims, a content platform written by women in HealthTech, powered by the HealthTech Grind. She is a new resident of Los Angeles where she enjoys the yearlong outdoor activities offered by the city including surfing, hiking, and most recently, pickleball.
Charlene Tay is the Sr. Director of AI & Data Science at the Engineered Innovation Group (EIG), an innovation and development agency specializing in partnering with founders to help companies of all sizes create meaningful products and build their software organizations. An Indiana University Luddy School alumna, Charlene has worked across the High Alpha portfolio, supporting startup founders in developing their ML/AI initiatives and building data products. Before joining EIG, Charlene also led data science at Pattern89, a marketing AI company later acquired by Shutterstock, where she expanded her expertise in predictive and generative AI solutions.
Derek Whitley is a United States Navy veteran, IU Luddy alumnus, visiting assistant professor at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and the CTO and Co-founder of Vivum [vee-vuhm]. His research focus in the application of evolutionary artificial intelligence to reconfigurable hardware systems has been funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Office of Naval Research. As a serial entrepreneur, Derek’s use-inspired research approach uniquely aligns urgent industry problems with first-principle scientific research yielding immediately applicable, high-value results. He has developed AI solutions for the design of radiation-hardened microelectronics for the Missile Defense Agency, military-hardened virtualization containers for modern data science workflows for the Air Force, and deployed hyperscale FPGA-accelerated neural cores through a funded partnership with Amazon Web Services.
Jason Whitney serves as Vice President of Venture Development and Executive Director for the Indiana University Angel Network, supporting and developing Indiana University affiliated entrepreneurial ecosystems nationwide.
Whitney’s responsibilities include managing the operations of the IU Angel Network, leveraging new and existing partnerships to fully benefit IU entrepreneurs, and conducting business development and due diligence activities for the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund.
Prior to his appointment, Whitney served as Vice President for Launch Indiana at Launch Fishers where he was responsible for the development and execution of the statewide innovation-driven entrepreneurial capacity building.
Jason holds a B.S. in management from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.
David Wild is an expert in the application of data technologies including Artificial Intelligence (AI) into complex areas including healthcare, drug discovery, emergency response & management, risk assessment, and cybersecurity & privacy. He is Professor in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at Indiana University. There he has founded and directed research initiatives and educational programs including the Integrative Data Science Laboratory (IDSL), the IU Data Science Program, the IU Cheminformatics PhD Program, the Crisis Technologies Innovation Lab (CTIL), and the First Responder Smart Tracking (FRST) Challenge. He has founded several companies including Data2Discovery, an AI drug discovery company solving complex healthcare problems with an advanced stack of scalable graph technologies, AI and machine learning; and Konnex.AI, a company that uses AI to automate the creation of current event reports and briefings. His current research interests include generative AI, crisis technologies, digital resilience, integrative data science, data privacy, security and ethics, and biomedical data science.
Max Yoder is a husband, father, author, musician, and co-founder and former CEO of Lessonly, the Indianapolis-based training software company. He graduated from Indiana University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts through the Individualized Major Program. Max and his friends co-founded Lessonly in 2012. The company grew to 300 employees and $30 million in annual revenue before it was acquired by Seismic in 2021.
Haley is a partner at Starting Line, an early stage consumer tech focused fund based in Chicago. Prior to getting onto the VC side of things, Haley spent a majority of her career scaling retail startups, leading strategy, data analytics and business operations at Trunk Club (acquired by Nordstrom) and Mac & Mia (acquired by Stitch Fix).
If you need a place to work while you are in Bloomington in conjunction with IU Founders and Funders Network, The Mill is your spot. Sign up via the button below to request a free day pass at The Mill. The Mill is Bloomington’s center for coworking and entrepreneurship. Members are startups, freelancers, techies, remote workers, creatives, side hustlers, and small companies.
A block of rooms is reserved until April 16 for Venture Summit attendees at the Biddle Hotel – Indiana Memorial Union. Please select the hotel block reservation “group code” below when making your reservation.
Hotel Block Reservation “Group Code”
Other travel and lodging resources available at visitbloomington.com
IU affiliated (faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends) entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, founders, funders, and other friends of IU who are interested in advancing the virtuous circle that nurturing new ventures brings with it.
The Venture Summit will provide opportunities for attendees to connect, build, and learn.
Connect
Build
Learn:
Venture Summit registration fee includes all Thursday and Friday summit programming, Thursday lunch, networking at Nick’s, Friday breakfast, and Friday lunch.
Guests are welcome to join during the athletics facility tour and Networking at Nick’s. Find out what else is going on in Bloomington at visitbloomington.com.
The Venture Summit registration fee is fully refundable if made seven days in advance. Hotel cancellations must be made directly with the Biddle Hotel management.
Yes. Please contact us directly at ventures@iu.edu.
Recommended dress throughout the Venture Summit is “smart casual.”
IU Ventures is pleased to offer a limited number of “first come, first served” full scholarships to attend all Venture Summit activities. Scholarship is for the student only. Any student guest must register/pay. Students interested in accessing the scholarship please email Jon Barada (jbarada@iu.edu) directly.