Sara Thomas Deshpande
General Partner at Maven Ventures
San Francisco, California
Overview
Work Experience
General Partner
2014 - Current
Maven Ventures is a seed stage venture firm investing in tech companies addressing emerging consumer behavior and trends. The team identifies and backs bold founders with a vision worth fighting for and helps them unlock their potential to change the world, building iconic brands like Zoom and Cruise.
Maven is a seed stage venture firm investing in tech companies addressing emerging consumer behavior and trends.
Lecturer In Management
2019
I teach Startup Garage, an experiential course on entrepreneurship.
Investor
2016
Invested in Hello Heart's Seed, Series A (led by BRV), Series B (led by Khosla), Series C (led by IVP), and Series D (led by Stripes). Served as Board Observer through the Seed and Series A.
Investor
2019
Invested in Wildtype before their Series A (led by CRV) and in their $100M Series B (led by L Catterton)
Wildtype is a cellular agriculture company that develops technology for cultivating seafood.
Raised $123,543,350.00 from SK Holdings.
Investor
2017
Invested in the Seed, Series A (led by CRV), and Series B (led by USVP).
Carrot is a healthcare center that offers fertility care services.
Investor
2020
Invested in the Seed and Series A (led by Lightspeed); Board Observer
Daybreak Health specializes in providing online counseling services, especially for teens, helping to stabilize their mental fitness.
Raised $24,925,000.00 from Union Square Ventures, Atacama Ventures, Maven Ventures, Lux Capital, Y Combinator and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Startup Advisor
2013 - 2014
Advised early-stage startups and investors as well as universities and nonprofits focused on entrepreneurship
Director of Entrepreneur Services
2012 - 2013
The Idea Village is a nonprofit organization with a mission to identify, support and retain entrepreneurial talent in New Orleans. In this role, my team acted as the front door for all startups. We were responsible for designing and delivering all services for early-stage entrepreneurs, meeting hundreds of companies per year to select the most promising ventures then recruit a team of mentors to help them succeed.
DIGITAL MEDIAx, a joint project of The Idea Village and NOLA Media Group, is a 12-week accelerator program.
Manager
2009 - 2012
Management consultant focused on healthcare strategy
Deloitte Tax is an advisory firm that provides tax preparation and advisory services.
Business Associate
2009 - 2009
-Recruited and selected entrepreneurs to participate in Idea Village programming -Worked directly with early-stage founders on all areas of their businesses
DIGITAL MEDIAx, a joint project of The Idea Village and NOLA Media Group, is a 12-week accelerator program.