Zain Gulamali

Worldwide Corporate and Business Development

2016 - Current

Equivalent of Vice President (VP) in other Fortune 500 companies. Managed and influenced strategic investments, M&A, and partnerships strategy and decisions for Amazon groups including Devices & Services, Health, Media & Entertainment, Special Projects, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Consumer. Engaged Amazon senior leadership, including CEO, CFO, and several SVPs. Supported discussions that resulted in 5 acquisition term sheets. Managed 40-person working group and direct report on partnerships related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Founder and Head of Amazon Catalytic Capital

2022

Equivalent of Vice President (VP) in other Fortune 500 companies. Founded and leading Amazon Catalytic Capital, an investment fund to invest $150 million in venture capital (VC) funds, accelerators, incubators, and venture studios that provide funding to entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds (e.g., women, Black, Latino/a/x, Indigenous, LGBTQIA+), primarily at the pre-seed/seed venture capital investment stage. Secured Amazon CEO and CFO approval to establish fund. Led investments in 10 emerging VC funds and serving on LP Advisory Committee (LPAC) for 4 VC funds. Managing distributed team of 20+ investment professionals and business development team members evaluating investments and adding value to underlying portfolio companies. Built portfolio development services, engaging approximately 200 underlying companies across sectors including AI, consumer, enterprise software, media, healthcare, fintech, commerce, etc. Co-founded and led an Executive Mentorship program, through which Amazon executive mentors worked with 20 underrepresented founder-led startups. Honored as a DEIC Power 100 asset allocator by Blueprint Group in 2024.

Investment Partner

2016

Equivalent of Vice President (VP) in other Fortune 500 companies. Sourced, led, and/or managed 35+ venture capital (Series A-E, seed) investments for the Amazon Alexa Fund, Amazon’s venture capital fund investing in artificial intelligence (AI), frontier tech, robotics, voice, and digital health across consumer and enterprise.  Notable Portfolio Companies: Greenlight (consumer / fintech) - $2.3-billion valuation, SmartRent (property tech) - $2.2-billion exit, Owlet Baby Care (consumer / health) - $1.1-billion exit, SevenRooms (property tech), June Oven (consumer / deep tech) – exit. Other Investments: Greenlight (fintech), Owlet Baby Care (health), Embodied (robotics), Plant Prefab (property tech), Volley (gaming), Preemadonna (fashion), Blue Fever (social), Rachio (IoT), Adero (IoT), Spinn (IoT), SevenRooms (property tech), SmartRent (property tech), Fiddler (AI), DefinedCrowd (AI), Comet.ml (AI), Tact (collaboration), Voiceflow (developer tools), Logically (AI), Aiva Health (healthcare), Symbl (AI), Arrive (property tech) – exit, nFlux (AI), Mojio (mobility), Roby (property tech), Blutag (commerce), Voiceitt (AI), Ejenta (clinical health), Sweepr (customer service), Helix AI (collaboration), Spiral (AI), Pulse Labs (developer tools), Twine (collaboration). Alexa Accelerator: Established Alexa Accelerator program, powered by Techstars, resulting in 30+ Alexa Fund investments over 4 cohorts. Served as Mentor for participant companies. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Led startup support programs (e.g., Women Founders Represent pitch competition with All Raise, Afrotech fundraising workshop and startup showcase, Black Founders Build With Alexa) to promote racial and gender diversity, equity, and inclusion among underrepresented founders. Public Speaking: Frequent public speaker, including at Web Summit (70K+ attendees), AWS re:Invent (50K+ attendees), Afrotech, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Stanford Graduate School of Business, etc.

Startup Mentor - AWS Generative AI Accelerator

2023 - 2023

Served as a startup mentor for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Generative AI Accelerator. Mentored Theia Insights (fintech + generative AI) and Storia AI (media and creative arts + generative AI) during the accelerator.

MSx Fellow

2014 - 2015

Management degree program for experienced leaders (one-year, full-time).

Director - Business Operations, Product Strategy, and Business Development

2012 - 2014

Mobile entertainment company backed by Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and Tencent. 300+ employees, $1+ billion in bookings, 500MM+ downloads, and $600MM+ valuation. Corporate and Business Development: Evaluated 30+ corporate investment and partnership opportunities. Advised on and directed strategy, milestones, term sheets, and contract negotiations for third-party publishing, international distribution, brand partnership, and IP licensing growth initiatives (e.g. NFL). Strategy and Finance: Directed company strategy and cross-functional goal-setting. Led financial forecasting and planning. Built company Strategic Finance function, company operating plan, and corporate investment framework. Led company-wide budgeting and presented financial plan to Board of Directors. Product Development and Strategy: Drove development of 3-year product pipeline. Determined product development and partnership opportunities for Episode, a category-defining narrative genre app. People Management: Led monthly process to allocate staff and resources to various products and developed 2-year hiring forecast. Helped build Business Operations teams through key hires.

Product Marketing and Growth

2011 - 2012

Product Marketing: Led product marketing and launches for 3 products with marketing budget of $20+ million. User Growth and Acquisition: Developed company-wide user acquisition framework (ROI, payback period). Managed customer acquisition (ad campaigns, ROI) for portfolio of live mobile games. Ad Networks: Managed mobile advertising relationships (e.g. Google AdWords, InMobi) and API integrations. Monetization: Generated in-game advertising revenue using A/B testing and MoPub platform (Twitter).

Investment Associate - Technology, Business Services, Industrial, and Consumer

2009 - 2011

Leading global investment firm that has invested $90+ billion across 930+ companies. Board Observer: Served as Board Observer for Extant Components Group (de novo venture) and advised CEO and CFO on strategic and financial decisions. Established and invested from $200 million line of equity. Resulted in sale to TransDigm for $525 million. Growth Equity, Venture Capital, and Leveraged Buyouts: Led financial analysis and conducted diligence on potential investments in technology, telecommunications, aerospace and defense, industrials, infrastructure, and corporate carve-outs.

Investment Banking Analyst - Global Natural Resources and Industrials

2007 - 2009

Top-Tier Ranking: Ranked top-tier Analyst, earned offer to join Principal Investment Area (PIA) group. Mergers and Acquisitions: Advised clients and led financial analysis for $7.6 billion sale of E.ON US regulated utilities to PPL Corporation, potential acquisition of US water utility for $15+ billion European utility company, $2.2 billion divestiture of Henkel AG equity stake in Ecolab, potential sale of $1+ billion chemical company, and sales of Air Products Healthcare and Non-Pressure Emulsions businesses. Financings: Managed financing committee memo process for $2 billion of debt financings.

Strategy Consultant

2006 - 2007

Private Equity Consultant

2006 - 2007