New York VC Spotlight: Aaron Holiday
Aaron Holiday is Cofounder and Partner at 645 Ventures, a seed and early-stage venture capital fund that focuses on e-commerce, data analytics, online marketplaces, SaaS software, and other disruptive platforms including bitcoin, IoT, and mobile.
He is also a fixture on the NY tech landscape, and was named one of the AlleyWatch 100 Influencers You Need to Know.
Holiday began his career in 2004, as a technology analyst for Goldman Sachs. In 2008, he became a business analyst for GFI Group and moved on in 2011, to become an advisor, then Chief Operating Officer at BR Venture Fund, an early-stage venture capital fund operated entirely by a team of MBA students at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. During this time, he also worked in business development for Blip Networks, which was acquired by Maker Studios.
In 2012, he was a VC associate for ER Accelerator and also became a part-time associate for DFJ Gotham Ventures. Since 2013, he is a managing entrepreneurial officer at Cornell Tech.
In March of last year, he and partner Nnamdi Okike launched 645 Ventures.The company has already made nine investments in eight companies: Alice App, Iterable, FiscaNote, Lover.ly, Poshly, Thinknum, Hire an Esquire, and Keaton Row.
Holiday not only earned his MBA from Cornell University: he also holds a BS in Computer Science from Morehouse College, where he was named the most outstanding computer science student. Between 2012 and 2013, he was invited by The Center for Venture Education to join the Kauffman Fellows Program– a selective network of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from around the world.
VC Firm:
645 Ventures (Founded in 2014), Cofounder and Partner
Sector Focus
Mobile services platforms, E-mail platforms, Artificial intelligence & big data, Search engines, consumer data, and Fashion startups.
Expertise Area:
Venture Capital, Start-ups, Entrepreneurship, Financial Modeling, Leadership, Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Business development, Enabling Entrepreneurs, and Financial Analysis.
Selected Investment:
ALICE, Iterable, FiscalNote, Lover.ly, Thinknum, Hire An Esquire, Keaton Row
Boards:
bContext
Social Media:
Twitter
LinkedIn
Personal Website/Blog
Memorable Quotes from Aaron Holiday:
On the investments of 645 Ventures “645 Ventures actively invests in unconventional founders in large nascent markets.”
On the pace of innovation “The pace of innovation coupled with the reduced complexity and cost to build and design software has enabled more brilliant minds to participate in startup experimentation.”
On where they stand “We are also at a moment where new platforms are on the cusp of unlocking new markets.”
