Episode description

After years of investing in early-stage companies in the SaaS, robotics, internet of things, health & fin tech spaces, Ven Raju has taken his talents from New York to Pittsburgh where he now heads Innovation Works as its president and CEO, while also holding the position of managing director of Riverfront Ventures. The two organizations have a symbiotic relationship — Innovation Works invests at the earliest stages of a venture while Riverfront provides follow-on capital to those companies that gain traction. Ven compares and contrasts his investment experiences between the two cities, and offers the perspective he's hearing from investors he's talking to as he works to grow Southwest Pennsylvania's startup stature in the market.