Cindy Berman’s Post

Last night, we had an incredible gathering of the Penn Alum Founders Community - NYC with amazing founders, angels, and VCs. The event brought together Penn Alum Founders, who were actively seeking angel funding from Penn alum and non-alum angel investors. Special thanks to Ben Colman, Reality Defender CEO (YC'22) & Angel Investor, for sharing his invaluable insights on growth milestones, engaging with angel investors, and navigating the startup ecosystem. Reality Defender (Series A) helps organizations identify deepfaked audio, video, images and text. We discussed key topics, including: - The NYC tech ecosystem - Developing relationships with VCs & fundraising strategies - Building strong content and brand presence A huge thank you to Alumni Ventures and Chestnut Street Ventures (an Alumni Ventures Fund) for hosting our latest event at their gorgeous office. Your support is invaluable! Thank you Brian Keil & Meera Nair! Shoutout to Sean Ro of Lunar our drink sponsor. Lunar is a unique and fast-growing hard-seltzer brand offering tasty Asian flavors! You can find them at Whole Foods, H Mart, and more! A big thank you to our fantastic attendees! Founders: Ingrid Hung, Matthew Frankel, Tal Bar-Or, Rob Varady, Rohan Parikh, CFA, Lauren Nadan, Michael Rosenzweig, Martin P. Rufo, Eric Davich, Karen Ancel Investors: Jason Majlessi, Buchan R., Disha Karale, Meera Nair, Margarita Levitt, Juan Carlos Ibarra, Max Luo, Allison Kiang, Brian Keil, Meera Nair Over the past ~4 months, the Penn Alum Founders Community has experienced remarkable growth! From our WhatsApp group and Newsletter to our Founder Support Groups and more, it’s been a thrilling journey. 🌟 📩 Are you a Penn founder or aspiring to be one in NYC? Reach out and join our vibrant community! If you want to get involved as an investor or angel or share your Startup Program, please reach out! Let’s collaborate on events, share opportunities, and continue building a strong hub for entrepreneurship and connection. Let’s keep the momentum going and make the Penn Alum Founders Community - NYC the go-to place for innovation and support. 🚀

Great opportunity for recent MBA founders in NYC to join the amazing Hayley Bay Barna in a small dinner series. We're assembling a small dinner series for a select group of recent grad MBA founders in our First Round Capital NYC office over the next few months

🚀 Attention University of Pennsylvania Founders in NYC! 🌆 I've just sent out the June edition of our Penn Founder Community - NYC newsletter. This month is packed with exciting updates and opportunities: 🌳 Events: Don't miss our Central Park Founder Picnic and an exclusive Angel Investor Networking Happy Hour. Great chances to connect and grow! 📲 Join Us: Access our exclusive WhatsApp group for real-time updates and networking opportunities. 🔗 Resources: Explore various resources, including funding opportunities, product design insights, and potential co-founder connections. 🌟 Founder Spotlight: We're highlighting Mathew Lazarus of Mattermore this month. Discover his innovative journey and recent achievements. 🎉 Celebrations: Congratulations to Eric Davich of Jammy for his pitch at Tech Week AI Demo Day w/ Next Wave NYC, The Council, Lynx Collective. If you're a Penn alum founder looking to engage with our great community, send me a direct message with your email to get involved!

Julie Blanc is an amazing and kind founder who is looking for a Chief of Staff to work directly with her in person in NYC on Rentana (AI-powered revenue intelligence). Comment below or DM Julie Blanc to learn more!

I know a few VCs hiring early-career (pre-MBA associates/analysts). Let me know if you're interested in an introduction! 1. Seed/Series A Generalist VC in NYC 2. Healthcare VC in NYC 3. Pre-Seed/Seed VC in San Francisco 4. Global multi-stage VC in NYC 

Cinder, one of my portfolio companies, is a successful Series A startup in Trust and safety with an incredible team! They're looking for an AE with experience closing six-figure deals in a regulated, high-scrutiny industry and someone who wants early-stage startup experience. If interested (especially if we've worked together in the past), send me a message and I'll make an intro!

Are you an operator looking to join a pre-seed, seed stage, Series A, or bootstrapped startup? I'd love to introduce you to my network, including startups of the growing Penn Alum Founders Community - NYC! Message me your email and role desired, and I'll add you to my email list! 🤲 If you're looking to hire or have a portfolio company looking to hire, please reach out as well! Would love to connect amazing startups and operators!

Recently invested in a new AI healthcare company with an excellent founder Alex Cohen. The founder has a little room left in a Seed round that he's closing. If you're an angel investor with a strong network of provider groups, mid-market healthcare PE, or health systems, DM me for an intro!

Tofu is an exciting startup that helps scale B2B Marketing teams. Many early-stage startups face the challenge of having too few marketing staff but a mountain of tasks, including content. With Tofu, you can effortlessly generate and publish up to 30 high-quality, personalized, and relevant blog posts in just one day—along with any other content your team needs. Interested in learning more? I’d be delighted to connect you with Elaine Zelby, the founder of Tofu, for a personalized demo!