Bay Area Entrepreneur Summit speaker bios

Rajesh Bhat, BS ’98, is a seasoned entrepreneur and technologist renowned for his transformative work in the home lending industry. He serves or has served as a founder, operator, advisor, and investor to high- growth finance and real estate technology companies. Most recently, he served as the CEO and co-founder of Roostify, which was acquired by CoreLogic, the leading provider of real estate and financial data analytics for the housing finance industry, in February 2023. An innovator and technologist, he came up with the vision to create an accelerated and streamlined home lending process, inspired by his own challenges as a first- time home buyer. He created Roostify to provide consumers and bank teams with increased transparency, simplicity, and a seamless end-to-end experience in the home lending journey. He has been recognized as a HousingWire Vanguard Award winner, twice as a Goldman Sachs 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneur, an Inman Best of Finance award winner, and a Mortgage Bankers Association Tech All-Star.

Prior to starting Roostify, he spent 14 years in management consulting, starting his career at Ernst & Young. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Washington University in St. Louis, where he is an active alum, serving on the McKelvey School of Engineering’s National Council and the Eliot Society’s Bay Area Committee.

Mike Kaplan serves as a partner at NewSpring Capital. NewSpring’s dedicated health care strategy partners with founders and management teams to accelerate the success of differentiated health care companies, addressing key issues that positively impact health outcomes across the care continuum. With deep domain-specific experience, NewSpring Healthcare delivers working capital that creates predictable and consistent transformational growth.

Ghia Griarte is a managing partner at Ponte Partners, an investment firm that collaborates with institutional investors, fund managers, and accredited investors to solve their unique investment goals. Griarte has served as a private equity investor in numerous sectors including fintech, cybersecurity, enterprise software, SaaS, AR/VR, business services, manufacturing tech/services, and more.

John Lim is a partner and CSO at Pegasus Tech Ventures, a global venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley that invests in emerging technology companies around the world and works with them to expand sales in North America, Asia, and Europe. He also serves as an executive for Starup World Cup, a series of global startup conferences and competitions, that consists of 100+ regional startup competitions in more than 20 different countries around the world, leading up to the grand finale in Silicon Valley.

Vasanth Mohanraj is a serial entrepreneur and startup advisor, with prior experience as an operator, venture capitalist, and management consultant. He typically operates in consumer tech, media tech, and health tech, and most recently founded OASUS and SIPMask during the pandemic to build solutions that mitigate risk from infectious diseases. Vasanth graduated from WashU with a degree in computer science and later received an master’s degree in business from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Will McKinley is a seasoned technologist and advocate for responsible AI innovation. As lead AI program developer and senior staff software engineer at GRAIL, Inc., he spearheads the development of advanced AI solutions aimed at early cancer detection, striving to make cutting-edge health care accessible to all. With over 20 years of experience, McKinley blends deep technical expertise with a keen eye for UX and project leadership, driving innovation and collaboration across multidisciplinary teams.

Sam Fok is the co-founder and CEO of Femtosense, a Silicon Valley-based startup pioneering ultra-efficient AI hardware. Femtosense was founded in 2018 by researchers from the Brains in Silicon Lab at Stanford University. Femtosense technology takes inspiration from the principles of neuromorphic computing concepts of sparsity to empower intelligence in everyday devices. Under Folk’s leadership, Femtosense has achieved mass production of its AI accelerator and established critical partnerships with top-tier customers.

Ahana Gangopadhyay is a staff AI scientist at GE HealthCare where she develops AI solutions for medical imaging applications to improve patient outcomes. Her current research interests include vision-language models, foundation models, generative vision models, and self-supervised learning for medical images.

Yuriy Yuzifovich serves as chief technology officer of AI at GlobalLogic, where he is responsible for shaping the vision, strategy, and growth roadmap for AI at GlobalLogic, a Hitachi Group Company, focusing on incubating innovative and deep-tech capabilities and enabling companies transform through Generative AI. Prior to that, he developed AI systems at Akamai to process telecom data, enhancing defenses for major internet service providers and impacting a billion internet subscribers.

Colton Calandrella is a mission-driven entrepreneur at the forefront of health care technology. As co-founder and CEO of Barti, he leads the development of AI-powered electronic health record (EHR) and practice management solutions tailored for eye care providers. Under his leadership, Barti has garnered significant recognition, including being the first EHR endorsed and financially supported by AOAExcel, the for-profit subsidiary of the American Optometric Association. His commitment to social impact and innovation is transforming health care.

Nick Goldner is interested in how financial markets and biotech intersects. As an angel investor, he has an interest in deep tech companies, with a focus on rocket/space, AI/LLM platforms, and techbio. He is also a venture partner at Pioneer Fund, a fund of 450+ Y Combinator alumni working together to invest in top Y Combinator startups. He has also served as co-founder and CEO of Viosera Therapeutics, and worked at resistanceBio.

Jeff Maltz is the co-founder and CEO of SilverRide, a pioneering transportation service designed to meet the unique needs of older adults and individuals requiring additional support. Launched in 2007 in San Francisco, SilverRide goes beyond traditional ride services by offering assisted, door-to-door transportation that prioritizes safety, dignity, and social engagement. Under Maltz’s leadership, the company has expanded nationally, facilitating over one million rides and partnering with health care providers, senior organizations, and transit agencies to enhance mobility and independence for underserved populations.

Piero Mendez is a biomedical engineer and entrepreneur dedicated to advancing equitable health care through innovative biotechnology. As managing director at Panorama Research Inc., he leads the identification and development of promising therapeutic technologies, focusing on technical, intellectual property, and market development, as well as partnerships with venture capitalists and biopharmaceutical companies.  Piero is also the co-founder and managing partner of Corsalex, Inc., a biotech firm specializing in therapies for C9orf72 spectrum disorders, including ALS and frontotemporal dementia. Under his leadership, Corsalex has partnered with the ALS Therapy Development Institute to advance novel treatments targeting the C9 mutation.  His entrepreneurial experience includes co-founding Empire Biotechnologies, focusing on therapies for gastrointestinal diseases, and serving on the board of Pyrogenyx, Inc. 

Vivek Mittal is a seasoned life sciences executive and scientific advisor dedicated to bridging the gap between breakthrough biotechnology and real-world impact. He is currently a partner and managing director at Health Advances, a strategy firm focused exclusively on the health care industry. With deep expertise in oncology, gene therapy, neuroscience, and ophthalmology, Mittal brings a systems-thinking approach to innovation. Today, as a leader and advisor in the biotech ecosystem, he is driven by the belief that science must be inclusive to be effective. 

Kishore Kanakamedala is a seasoned technology executive. Currently serving as senior director of product management for monetization privacy at Meta, Kanakamedala has held influential positions at Neeva, Stripe, and Google, where he was senior director of product management and chief of staff for ads & commerce. His extensive background in product strategy and innovation equips him to provide invaluable insights to emerging entrepreneurs. Kanakamedala’s commitment to fostering innovation is further demonstrated by his prior involvement in the Skandalaris Venture Competitions at WashU.

Bryce Rattner Keithley exemplifies the fusion of strategic leadership and entrepreneurial acumen. She is the founding partner of Great Team Partners (GTP), a San Francisco- and New York-based talent advisory firm that helps growing companies hire the right people and build great teams. They specialize in working with seed-stage and series-A startups, because “people problems” often precede people executives.

Her nonlinear career path started with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Applied Statistics at WashU, and spans decision sciences, sales, and a variety of people/ /talent roles, building and leading teams for venture-backed and publicly-traded tech companies.

Marcy Tivol offers a dynamic blend of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. As co-founder of Solving Fun, a company dedicated to engaging children in learning through puzzles and games that promote creative problem-solving and perseverance, Tivol leverages her background in art direction and design to inspire innovation. Her passion for puzzles and education is evident in her initiatives like the Palo Alto Puzzle Hunt, a community event that combines public art with interactive challenges.  Her commitment to WashU includes previously serving as chair for the Bay Area Innovators and Entrepreneurs Network.