07 Jan IU Ventures Announces 2025 IU Venture Fellows Cohort
IU students don’t need to move to Silicon Valley to begin their careers in venture capital. The first step is much closer to home.
IU Ventures, Indiana University’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm, recently welcomed their newest group of IU Venture Fellows. The IU Venture Fellows Program immerses students in the venture capital industry through National Venture Capital Association curriculum, real time projects, and deal exposure.
The fourth cohort, the largest to date, includes thirteen graduate and PhD students. For the first time, the program has expanded to include a student from the Indianapolis campus. Logan Bedford, PhD Candidate, IU School of Medicine, will join 12 students from the Bloomington campus in participating in the program.
“I am very excited to have the opportunity to expand the scope of my graduate education as a Venture Fellow,” said Bedford. “As a researcher interested in advancing innovations in neuroscience, I think it is important to understand venture capital as one of the key economic drivers of these innovations. I am excited to be able to work with experienced business people to gain real world experience in an industry that can be difficult to break into. I hope that the education received, and the experience gained through this fellowship, will prepare me for a career as a scientist, well positioned to bring innovative medicines to the market to help patients who need them.”
This cohort also marks the first time that the IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis has partnered with the IU Venture Fellows Program.
“The IU School of Medicine in Indianapolis is excited to support Logan’s participation in this excellent opportunity to learn more about the world of venture capital,” said Thomas D. Hurley, Associate Dean for Graduate Education at the IU School of Medicine. “Logan’s faculty supervisor is a former employee at Eli Lilly and Company. The pairing of his mentor’s experiences in the large pharmaceutical industry with the IU Venture Fellows curriculum centered on understanding the landscape of venture capital in the biotechnology industry will give Logan a broad base of knowledge in workings of the private sector.”
The year-long IU Venture Fellows program runs from January to December 2025 and brings together entrepreneurial students who share an interest in venture capital career paths. This year’s program will be led by Mark Need, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at the Maurer School of Law.
I am thrilled by the exceptional diversity and talent in this year’s IU Ventures Fellows class,” said Need, who is also a venture legal analyst in residence with IU Ventures. “The program’s growing partnership with new and existing campus entrepreneurship programs continues to enrich the Fellows’ experience, providing unparalleled opportunities to engage with real-world venture investing and issues facing scalable startups. The strength of this class underscores the program’s momentum and the expanding reach of our venture ecosystem.”
The 2025 Fellows represent eight different schools at IU. The other IU Venture Fellows in the 2025 program include:
- Solomon Abang; DM Candidate (Jacobs School of Music)
- Carlos Aoqui; MBA Candidate (Kelley School of Business)
- Jared Da Cruz Griffin; MPA-MIA Candidate (O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs)
- Tanka Dhakal; MS Candidate (The Media School)
- David Dillon; JD+MBA Candidate (Kelley School of Business / Maurer School of Law)
- Klaus Griesemer; JD Candidate (Maurer School of Law)
- Michael Kumcu; PhD Candidate (College of Arts and Sciences / University Graduate School)
- Moein Mahmoudi; MBA Candidate (Kelley School of Business)
- Rohi Matondo; MS Candidate (Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies)
- Isioma Mwayor; PhD Candidate (College of Arts and Sciences / University Graduate School)
- Kofi Preko; MBA Candidate (Kelley School of Business)
- Rebekah Yang; DM Candidate (Jacobs School of Music)
IU Ventures continues to develop the Ventures Fellows program in partnership with IU’s Elmore Entrepreneurship Law Clinic at the Maurer School of Law; Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs; University Graduate School; Walter Center for Career Achievement at the College of Arts and Sciences; Jacobs School of Music; the Kelley School of Business MBA Program; and the School of Medicine.
The program will once again partner with the National Venture Capital Association to offer NVCA’s VC University online certificate program to all of its fellows. Completion of the certificate signifies mastery of the fundamentals of venture capital.
Additional information about the IU Ventures Fellows program, including the 2025 Ventures Fellows roster, program requirements, partnering organizations and application process, is available online.
About IU Ventures:
IU Ventures invests in and supports IU-affiliated early-stage companies. Its investment programs include the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, IU Angel Network, Shoebox Fund and Innovate Indiana Fund. It further supports IU founders through the Executive in Residence Program and IU Founders and Funders Network. Student support is provided through a variety of engagements, including the new IU Venture Fellows Program. Each program takes unique approaches to accelerate and support the positive impacts that entrepreneurs affiliated with IU already achieve across the world. IU Ventures is a recognized leader in increasing opportunities for diverse and historically underserved entrepreneurs and investing in Indiana startups with a shared commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.