Raiven Capital hires two new partners

Early-stage venture capital firm Raiven Capital has announced that Laurie Fuller and Anna Shen have been appointed as partners. In their new roles, the pair will utilize their extensive experience to identify and build promising Series A companies.

“We are delighted to welcome Laurie Fuller and Anna Shen. They fit Raiven’s DNA well and bring rich cross-cultural, management and marketing experiences that enhance how we select and manage our portfolio,” said General Partners Paul Dugsin and Supreet Manchanda.

Ms. Fuller brings more than 30 years of experience of scaling companies as a strategic advisor and investor across North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. She comes to Raiven Capital from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business’ “Seed” program, where she was a business coach for entrepreneurs in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Raiven Capital fits my desire to inspire and drive change in this time of disruption. I’m excited to bring emerging market start-ups to Raiven,” said Ms. Fuller.

Ms. Shen is a seasoned strategic advisor, with experience working with startups in Silicon Valley, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. A former journalist and producer, she is a respected commentator in the field of women’s entrepreneurship, and has worked with organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue.

“I joined Raiven because of its leadership, team, and global mindset. I am deeply impressed by the firm’s perspective, diversity, geographical reach and depth of experience,” said Ms. Shen.

More announcements from Raiven Capital

Funding announcement

Raiven Capital Invests in Turnkey Headless E-Commerce Play Shopistry

TORONTO & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Raiven Capital, a Canada-US, early-stage venture fund, today announced its investment in Shopistry, a headless e-commerce platform that provides merchants highly scalable and customizable solutions to fast-growing companies, without heavy engineering. “Raiven is excited to invest in Shopistry, which solves major customer pain points experienced by retailers with current e-commerce offerings that won't scale without significant re-design and engineering” Tweet this “Raiven is excited to invest in Shopistry, which solves major customer pain points experienced by retailers with current e-commerce offerings that won't scale without significant re-design and engineering,” said General Partner Supreet Manchanda. “Shopistry creates high value by enabling easy customization and scalability while lowering both complexity and expense. Raiven’s investment supercharges growth,” he said. Shopistry provides retailers a complete end-to-end toolkit, delivering modern, mobile-first customer experiences across channels while reducing development costs and time to market. Retailers increasingly are moving away from monolithic platforms. Shopistry’s plug and play solutions stand out from other headless solutions that require significant development and investment. At Shopistry’s helm is an entrepreneur with deep ecommerce experience. “We are impressed with CEO Jaafer Haidar, a five-time serial entrepreneur and former VC who has built and exited multiple companies successfully. Jaafer has operated in the e-commerce space for 20 years and understands how to solve real problems with solutions the market needs. This is the type of passionate founder our firm looks for,” said Paul Dugsin, General Partner of Raiven. “I am excited Raiven Capital has invested in us. As a Canadian company with clients across Canada and USA and international expansion plans, Raiven's diversity of knowledge and global perspective, as well as their hands-on supportive environment is instrumental for our growth. I expect great things going forward,” said Haidar.

Funding announcement

Raiven Capital Announces $25M First Close Amid Global Pandemic

TORONTO & PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Raiven Capital, a new cross-border early-stage venture capital firm, today announced their first close. Despite last year’s tumult, the globally focused fund, which invests in early-stage Series A tech companies, exceeded its first closing target of $25M USD. With a final target of $100M USD, Raiven is one of only a handful of first-time Canadian funds and amongst 30 funds in the US that had a first closing during 2020, according to Pitchbook. Raiven Capital embraces a unique investment thesis – leveraging Canada’s innovation ecosystem and marrying it with Silicon Valley’s focus on growth and exits, exponentially increasing returns. “Raiven believes Canada’s robust infrastructure, diverse world-class talent and lower costs give our companies a better chance to scale. Our startups benefit from longer runways, substantial public dollars, and a rich environment to thrive in,” said Paul Dugsin, Founding Partner, based in Toronto. Supreet Manchanda, Founding Partner, based in Silicon Valley, added: “Our partners bring deep operational experience, having each run companies globally at every life-cycle stage, including start-ups, SMEs, and large corporations. We have playbooks of best practices built over decades which will accelerate the growth of our portfolio companies.” Dugsin and Manchanda possess a combined 40+ years of investing and operational experience, having raised more than $1B USD, with an IRR of 66 percent in previous funds. The fund’s other partners are in Tel Aviv, Dubai, Singapore, Zurich, Montevideo, Paris, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Calgary. They provide Raiven with differentiated market intelligence, deal sourcing and market access for growing portfolio companies.

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