J. Skyler Fernandes
Founder of Finally Fund Admin
J. Skyler Fernandes
Founder of Finally Fund Admin
San Francisco, California
Overview
Work Experience
Founder & General Partner
2018 - Current
A global venture capital fund focused on the world's largest opportunities across Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier, Healthcare, PropTech, and Web3.
Founder & Chairman
2022
A global private equity fund focused on real estate, growth equity, pre-IPO, and leveraged buyouts.
Founder & General Partner
2018
Venture University is the world's leading global investor accelerator for individuals looking to break into and professionalize their skills in venture capital, private equity, and angel investing. Venture University's investor accelerator includes an Academic Program and a VC/PE Investment Apprenticeship. The Academic Program includes a one week VC/PE Masterclass, 20 Advanced VC/PE Modules, and weekly Fireside Chats. The VC/PE Investment Apprenticeship includes joining one of VU's vertical teams (Consumer, Enterprise, Fintech, Frontier, Healthcare, PropTech, Web3), sourcing investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, presenting at weekly Partner Meetings, presenting and participating on Investment Committees, making 2-7 investments per quarter, and a profit sharing agreement. Venture University accepts ~1% of the applications it receives, making it more competitive to get into than the top Ivy League schools and MBA programs. Venture University is ideal for individuals who aim to join venture capital and private equity funds, angel investors and family offices who seek to professionalize their direct investment strategies, aspiring emerging fund managers, entrepreneurs who want to learn to think like investors, experienced professionals who would like to make career transitions, and undergraduate and graduate students.
Founder
2018
A angel / family office investor syndicate which curates investments based on each investors affinity: VC Verticals, PE Sectors, Geography, Diversity/Impact, & Founder's Academic Backgrounds.
Founder
2022
A fund admin for creating and managing single asset SPVs, multi-asset SPVs, and Funds.
Managing Director - Investments
2017 - 2018
Cleveland Avenue is a private equity and venture capital fund focused on food and beverage brands, food related technology, and new restaurant concepts. Cleveland Avenue also has an incubator lab for and a consulting accelerator group with leading industry veterans in real estate site selection, franchising, operations, marketing / branding, and technology. The group was co-founded by the former CEO of McDonald's. Select Portfolio Companies: Beyond Meat - A meat alternative food brand Bhakti - A chai tea beverage brand Bright Cellars - A wine subscription and portfolio of wine brands Drink Maple - A maple and fruit water beverage brand Farmwise - Vegetable infused food Farmer's Fridge - A network of fresh salad vending machines Pizza Rev - A fast casual pizza restaurant chain SBT (Sustainable Beverage Technologies) - Multi-brewed beer concentrate Somrus: Indian creme liqueur ZeroCater - Subscription food catering and snacks
Founder & Investor
2010 - 2017
Personal seed fund, blog, and resources for entrepreneurs www.OneMatchVentures.com
Founder, Head, & Managing Director - Simon Venture Group
2014 - 2017
Simon Venture Group is the investment arm of Simon Property Group (S&P 100), the largest retail real estate company in the world. Portfolio Companies (2014-2016) Included: Augmate: Wearable Tech (www.augmate.com) Bandier: Athleisure Brand (www.bandier.com) BaubleBar: Fast-Fashion Jewlery (www.baublebar.com) Belly: Loyalty (www.bellycard.com) Deliv: Local Delivery (www.deliv.co) Elevate Digital: Digital Screens (Acquired by CIVIQ) (www.civiqsmartscapes.com) FabFitFun: Women's Subscription Box (www.fabfitfun.com) Fashion Project: Reselling women's apparel (Acquired by Union & 5th) (www.fashionproject.com) Fuhu: Children Electronic Tablets & Content (Acquired by Mattel) (www.nabitablet.com) Grailed: Reselling men's apparel (www.grailed.com) Helix Sleep: Custom Mattress & Sleep Brand (www.helixsleep.com) Jifiti: Gifting Platform (www.jifiti.com) Le Tote: Renting Women's Clothing & Accessories (www.letote.com) LimeSpot: Personalized Recommendations & Content Optimization (www.limespot.com) MeUndies: Men and Women's Undwear Brand (www.meundies.com) Miner: Local Ecommerce Marketplace (www.minerapp.com) Nomi: Food Traffic Analytics & Marketing (Acquired by Brickstream) (www.nomi.com) Parkifi: Parking Spot Technolgy & Platform (www.parkifi.com Rank & Style: Recommendation Engine (Acquired by Facebook Veterans) (www.rankandstyle.com) Sensity: Smart Building Technology - Energy, Parking, Security (Acquired by Verizon) (www.sensity.com) ShopKick: Loyalty (Aquired by SK Telecom) (www.shopkick.com) SKU IQ: Real-time Inventory (www.skuiq.com) SmarterHQ: Machine Learning / AI Marketing Platform (www.smarterhq.com) Swirl: Beacon Marketing (www.swirl.com) Union Station: Bridesmaid Dress Rental (www.unionstation.com) ZipLoop: Smart Wallet - Receipts & Rewards (www.ziploop.com)
Partner - Venture Capitalist
2009 - 2014
• Invested in early-mid stage high growth businesses, typically committing $2-7 million • Focused on a broad range of industries including: internet/media, telecom, nano-technology, healthcare, energy, and consumer retail • Structured term sheets and targeted investments that generate on average 30-50% IRR • Helped manage portfolio companies, supporting management and strategic opportunities • Identified potential investment opportunities and LPs that match Centripetal’s investment criteria • Venture Capital Mentor for ER Accelerator, Stamford Innovation Center, and Lean Launch Ventures Investments: • APJeT (APJeT.com): Nano-technology for textiles and a variety of other materials • Choice Pet Supply (ChoicePet.com): One of the largest pet retail chains in the US that sells pet food and pet products • Cytogel Pharma (CytogelPharma.com): Innovative bio-pharmaceutical company with a portfolio of high value analgesic product candidates • DashBid (DashBid.com): Online video & mobile advertising technology for publishers • Pet Paradise (PetParadiseResort.com): Chain of high quality and full service pet hotels
COO & Board Member
2007 - 2014
• Board Member • As COO, managed global initiatives and operational team, including 3 VPs, 4 Associates • Led Missing Middle Initiative, launched at World Economic Forum, focused on funds that invest between $100K-$3M • Worked with fund managers to form fund structure and connect sponsors with PE/VC firms • Developed African Entrepreneurship Platform, showcased at Clinton Global Initiative • Founding Partner of African Stock Investment Competition (ASIC), using JSE proprietary software • Worked with the SKA Project team to gather support and investors for winning the bid to build largest radio telescope in the world in South Africa • Partnered with Stephen Hawking in support of AIMS & the Next Einstein program • Formed the MBA Africa Alliance, connecting top MBA Africa business focused clubs
Latest Articles
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