Julia (maguire) Ruge
Venture Partner at Sandalphon Capital
Hinsdale, Illinois
Overview
Work Experience
Venture Partner
2022 - Current
Associate
2019 - 2022
Sandalphon Capital is a venture capital firm focused on early stage (Seed and Series A) investments. Primary industries of interest: B2B/Enterprise SaaS, FinTech, InsureTech, RegTech, Real Estate Tech / PropTech, Tech-Enabled Healthcare Services / Healthcare IT, Consumer, Food, FoodTech, IoT / Hardware with Recurring Revenue Geographic focus: Chicago, the Midwest, Austin TX, and other relatively underserved markets, NY (primarily for FinTech and Real Estate Tech), others opportunistically. We are focused on finding strong management teams and problem-solving, tech-enabled business models that will scale into high margin, recurring revenue businesses.
Sandalphon Capital is a micro venture capital firm focused on Seed to Series A investments
MBA Associate Intern
2018 - 2019
Corazon Capital, a leading Chicago-based venture fund, brings a coastal approach to Seed and Series A investing. With a rare blend of investing experience and operating expertise, Corazon provides unusually pragmatic, actionable counsel to the entrepreneurs it supports. Corazon believes that the best entrepreneurs and the smartest VCs will intentionally solicit both financial and operating investors in their syndicates, with Corazon recognized across geographies for its deep operating knowledge and reach inside and outside of Chicago.
Master of Business Administration - MBA
2018 - 2019
Major: Finance Pathway: Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship Activities & Societies: Beta Gamma Sigma, Outreach Co-Chair - Kellogg Cares Day; Women's Business Association; Abbvie Innovation Challenge
Marketing Manager
2017 - 2018
(Formerly BrandLinkDC) Built marketing campaigns for high-growth and emerging brands including WeWork, Universal Standard and RETHINK Water.
Brand Strategy Consultant - Breakaway Ventures
2016 - 2017
Spearheaded market research and consumer insight initiatives to capture deep quantitative and qualitative customer knowledge and translate it into actionable growth for brands including Oath Craft Pizza, Rockefeller Center, Petco and more.
Breakaway Ventures invests in consumer brands at a point of inflection where it can accelerate business growth and value creation.
Marketing and Client Program Manager
2015 - 2016
M.Gemi, a D2C luxury Italian shoe company, was the first startup to emerge from LAUNCH, a Boston-based venture-builder.
M.Gemi sells gorgeous shoes, handcrafted in Italy and directly to clients.
Raised $81,456,128.00 from Forerunner, Angel Capital Management, General Catalyst, Accel, Hubert Burda Media and Burda Principal Investments.
New Business Development Manager
2015 - 2015
Managed market research and beta launches of LAUNCH’s new business concepts including Rockets of Awesome, a children’s clothing business, that went on to raise $12.5 million in Series A funding.
New Business Coordinator
2013 - 2015
Launched Food Network’s first restaurant concept, Food Network Kitchen (FNK)
Food Network is a TV channel, lifestyle network, magazine & website that connects viewers to various food.