NVCA Appoints Vineeta Agarwala as New Board Chair
"Vineeta brings a powerful perspective as both a venture investor and physician — someone who understands firsthand how innovation plays out in the real world, and how policy can accelerate or obstruct it," said NVCA President and CEO Bobby Franklin. "Her experience at the forefront of tech and investing gives her a lens on how smart policy and long-term capital can enable American startups. At a time when policy and innovation are deeply intertwined, she'll help NVCA champion a policy environment where innovation can continue to flourish."
"As AI and technology reshape every sector — from healthcare and energy, to education and infrastructure — the role of venture capital has never been more critical," said Vineeta Agarwala. "As NVCA Board Chair, I'm honored to help bridge innovation and impact by working with investors, startup founders, and policymakers to ensure that the U.S. remains the best and most competitive environment to build the future."
Agarwala succeeds Byron Deeter, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners.
"What set him apart was his deep interest in how policy shapes venture capital—and his determination to ensure our industry is fully engaged and impactful. Under his leadership, the board traveled to D.C. more in pursuit of building strong relationships with policymakers and reinforcing the critical connection between entrepreneurship and national competitiveness," said Franklin.
NVCA also announced the appointment of eight new directors to its Board of Directors, each of whom will serve a four-year term from 2025-2029:
Adam D'Augelli, True Ventures
Alex Doll, Ten Eleven Ventures
Alyssa Jaffee, 7wire Ventures
Andrew Adams, Oak HC/FT
Amy Wu Martin, Menlo Ventures
Graham Brooks, .406 Ventures
Navid Farzad, Frist Cressey Ventures
Sandy Grippo, Bessemer Venture Partners
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) empowers the next generation of American companies that will fuel the economy of tomorrow. As the voice of the U.S. venture capital and startup community, NVCA advocates for public policy that supports the American entrepreneurial ecosystem. Serving the venture community as the preeminent trade association, NVCA arms the venture community for success, serving as the leading resource for venture capital data, practical education, peer-led initiatives, and networking. For more information about NVCA, please visit www.nvca.org.
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nvca-appoints-vineeta-agarwala-as-new-board-chair-302474653.html
SOURCE National Venture Capital Association
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
9 minutes ago
- New York Post
Fraudsters scammed Mexican billionaire out of $400M by claiming they were descendants of Astor family: ‘I feel like an absolute idiot'
A Mexican billionaire was tricked into lending $400 million to a group of con artists — one of whom passed himself off as a descendant of the 19th century fur trader John Jacob Astor. Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the owner of the telecommunications conglomerate Grupo Salinas, told the Wall Street Journal that he thought he had found the perfect lending partner when he needed to finance a large Bitcoin investment in 2021. Instead, he was duped into a 'loan-to-own' scheme that wiped out out nearly a quarter of his net worth. Advertisement 7 A Ukrainian-born fraudster, Val Sklarov, duped a Mexican billionaire out of $400 million. 'I feel like an absolute idiot. How could I fall for this?' Salinas Pliego, 69, told the Journal. Salinas Pliego, whose net worth approached $16 billion at the peak of his wealth, had pledged shares in his company, Grupo Elektra, as collateral in the fraudulent loan scheme. Grupo Electro shares plunged 71% in a single day in July 2024 after investor confidence was rattled by news that his company fell victim to fraud. Advertisement The collapse wiped $5.5 billion from his fortune, part of a broader $4 billion drop in Elektra's market value triggered by the systematic sale of his shares under the 'loan-to-own' arrangement allegedly orchestrated by Ukrainian-born American fraudster Vladimir Sklarov. Salinas Pliego's journey into this financial nightmare began when he sought to expand his cryptocurrency holdings by borrowing $400 million against his stake in Grupo Elektra, the retail and banking empire his father established in 1950. Through a Swiss financial adviser, he connected with Astor Capital Fund, which claimed prestigious lineage to the legendary New York family that once produced America's richest man. Advertisement 7 Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who was once worth as much as $16 billion, lost a quarter of his wealth as a result of the scam. AP Salinas Pliego's stock collateral worth over $400 million had vanished, sold off by Sklarov, who had masqueraded as 'Gregory Mitchell' while his accomplice posed as an Astor family descendant, according to the Journal. Property records indicate that as part of the alleged scheme, Sklarov's lawyer and longtime associate appears to have covertly funneled Salinas's money into a series of high-end real estate purchases across the United States and Europe. The acquisitions included a $6.45 million penthouse in New York overlooking Central Park, a $2.67 million mansion in Virginia purchased under the lawyer's name and a $6 million château in France registered to Sklarov's wife, according to the news site Currency. Advertisement 7 An accomplice to the fraud passed himself off as a descendant of robber baron John Jacob Astor. © Bettmann/CORBIS The portfolio was rounded out by two villas located in the affluent Greek suburbs of Marousi and Ekali. The operation appeared legitimate from every angle. During video conferences, a man identifying himself as Thomas Astor Mellon joined calls from a yacht, speaking with an authentic American accent and presenting himself as both the company's chief executive and a descendant of the famous Astor lineage. The firm's materials referenced the illustrious history of German-born fur trader John Jacob Astor, who died in 1848 as America's wealthiest individual and whose family dominated Gilded Age society. Astor Capital's professional presentation included attractive loan terms at just 1.15% interest and documentation bearing the official seal of a regal lion. The company even maintained a polished website featuring a promotional video showing professionals entering branded offices, complete with imagery of a lion statue and narration about building on principles established by John Jacob Astor's financial empire. 7 Sklarov, who served time in prison in the US, orchestrated a 'loan-to-own' scheme. The reality behind this facade proved far more sinister. Investigators later revealed that 'Thomas Astor Mellon' was actually Alexey Skachkov, a resident of the former Soviet republic of Georgia with a criminal history including prescription forgery and jewelry theft. Advertisement The primary architect of the scheme, however, was Sklarov, a Ukrainian-born fraudster who had operated under numerous aliases including 'Mark Simon Bentley' in addition to his Mitchell persona. Sklarov's criminal background stretched back decades, including prison time for masterminding an $18 million Medicare fraud in the 1990s involving companies billing for uncovered surgical dressings. After serving his sentence, he had built a substantial Midwest real estate portfolio that eventually collapsed amid litigation and loan defaults, leading to his divorce and a desperate advertisement in Crain's Detroit Business seeking new opportunities. The fraudster had reinvented himself multiple times, legally changing his name from Vladimir to Val in 2006 to avoid what he claimed was discrimination, and later adopting the Bentley moniker because he 'liked the automobile.' Advertisement Court records show he established operations across multiple jurisdictions, creating same-name companies in various countries and requiring dispute arbitration in obscure financial centers like Jamaica and Nevis. Warning signals emerged gradually. Salinas Pliego's financial lieutenant, Eduardo González Salceda Sánchez, first noticed unusual trading activity in Elektra shares during fall 2021, suspicious because the stock typically experienced minimal trading volume. 7 The alleged scheme involved setting up a fake office and a web site for 'Astor Asset Management.' Despite these concerns, the billionaire's team maintained faith in their lending partner, particularly after visiting what appeared to be legitimate Astor offices in New York City, complete with branded materials and a professional receptionist. Advertisement The scheme's collapse accelerated when Salceda Sánchez requested independent verification that the pledged shares remained in Salinas Pliego's custody account. Rather than providing proof, Astor Capital claimed the inquiry constituted forbidden interference and asserted unrestricted rights over the collateral. When the London broker involved in arranging the deal questioned whether Astor was short-selling the stock, 'Mitchell' responded dismissively that borrowing shares represented normal market operations, according to the Journal. Salinas Pliego's attempt to prepay the loan in July 2024 triggered the final phase of the fraud. Advertisement Three weeks later, Astor Capital issued a default notice citing eleven violations, including the verification request, allegedly late interest payments and a Mexican government investigation into some of Salinas Pliego's companies. Legal filings cited by the Journal reveal that Salinas Pliego represented just one victim in a much larger operation. 7 American millionaire businessman and lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American War, John Jacob Astor IV (1864 – 1912), circa 1898. Getty Images Sklarov allegedly controlled approximately three-quarters of a billion dollars worth of stock from multiple borrowers across the United States, United Kingdom and Asia over several years. His victims included other wealthy executives who fell for similar schemes involving companies with prestigious names like Cornelius Vanderbilt Capital Management, Shearson Lehman and Bentley Rothschild. The fraud exploited a legitimate but loosely regulated corner of finance known as securities-based lending, where wealthy individuals can access cash without selling their stock holdings. While major Swiss and American banks dominate this market, estimated by Deloitte at $4.3 trillion globally, opportunities exist for less scrupulous operators to exploit borrowers seeking alternative funding sources. 7 Sklarov's lawyer and longtime associate appears to have covertly funneled Salinas's money into a series of high-end real estate purchases across the United States and Europe. Derry, Tessa Salinas Pliego's legal team has launched an aggressive recovery campaign, obtaining a court order freezing $400 million in London commercial court and applying for access to US bank records to trace proceeds from the share sales. Their investigation uncovered the complex money flows underlying the scheme, including nearly $300 million moving through accounts controlled by Sklarov's New York attorney before returning to offshore entities. The fraudster, now living in Greece with his family and reportedly owning multiple properties plus a yacht recently renamed 'Enchantment,' continues to deny wrongdoing. In his defense, Sklarov told the Journal that he operates in the high-risk lending market and maintains that borrowers understood their stock could be lent to other parties. He argues that Astor Capital only promised not to sell shares directly on public exchanges, leaving room for transfers to third parties who might then execute sales. Despite his vast wealth, Salinas Pliego expressed genuine embarrassment about falling victim to the scheme. 'On the one hand it makes me look like an absolute idiot,' Salinas Pliego told the Journal when asked about his his legal campaign to claw back the money. 'On the other hand I feel like something needs to be done.'
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's golf trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
BALMEDIE, Scotland − Long before talk of hush-money payments, election subversion or mishandling classified documents, before his executive orders were the subject of U.S. Supreme Court challenges, before he was the 45th and then the 47th president: on a wild and windswept stretch of beach in northeast Scotland, Donald Trump the businessman was accused of being a bad neighbor. "This place will never, ever belong to Trump," Michael Forbes, 73, a retired quarry worker and salmon fisherman, said this week as he took a break from fixing a roof on his farm near Aberdeen. The land he owns is surrounded, though disguised in places by trees and hedges, by a golf resort owned by Trump's family business in Scotland, Trump International Scotland. For nearly 20 years, Forbes and several other families who live in Balmedie have resisted what they describe as bullying efforts by Trump to buy their land. (He has denied the allegations.) They and others also say he's failed to deliver on his promises to bring thousands of jobs to the area. Those old wounds are being reopened as Trump returns to Scotland for a four-day visit beginning July 25. It's the country where his mother was born. He appears to have great affection for it. Trump is visiting his golf resorts at Turnberry, on the west coast about 50 miles from Glasgow, and at Balmedie, where Forbes' 23 acres of jumbled, tractor-strewn land, which he shares with roaming chickens and three Highland cows, abut Trump's glossy and manicured golf resort. On July 28, Trump will briefly meet in Balmedie with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to "refine" a recent U.S.-U.K. trade deal, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Golf, a little diplomacy: Trump heads to Scotland In Scotland, where estimates from the National Library of Scotland suggest that as many as 34 out of the 45 American presidents have Scottish ancestry, opinions hew toward the he's-ill-suited-for-the-job, according to surveys. "Trump? He just doesn't know how to treat people," said Forbes, who refuses to sell. What Trump's teed up in Scotland Part of the Balmedie community's grievances relate to Trump's failure to deliver on his promises. According to planning documents, public accounts and his own statements, Trump promised, beginning in 2006, to inject $1.5 billion into his golf project six miles north of Aberdeen. He has spent about $120 million. Approval for the development, he vowed, came with more than 1,000 permanent jobs and 5,000 construction gigs attached. Instead, there were 84, meaning fewer than the 100 jobs that already existed when the land he bought was a shooting range. Instead of a 450-room luxury hotel and hundreds of homes that Trump pledged to build for the broader community, there is a 19-room boutique hotel and a small clubhouse with a restaurant and shop that sells Trump-branded whisky, leather hip flasks and golf paraphernalia. Financial filings show that his course on the Menie Estate in Balmedie lost $1.9 million in 2023 − its 11th consecutive financial loss since he acquired the 1,400-acre grounds in 2006. Residents who live and work near the course say that most days, even in the height of summer, the fairway appears to be less than half full. Representatives for Trump International say the plan all along has been to gradually phase in the development at Balmedie and that it is not realistic or fair to expect everything to be built overnight. There's also support for Trump from some residents who live nearby, and in the wider Aberdeen business community. One Balmedie resident who lives in the shadow of Trump's course said that before Trump the area was nothing but featureless sand dunes and that his development, carved between those dunes, made the entire landscape look more attractive. Fergus Mutch, a policy advisor for the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said Trump's golf resort has become a "key bit of the tourism offer" that attracts "significant spenders" to a region gripped by economic turmoil, steep job cuts and a prolonged downturn in its North Sea oil and gas industry. Trump in Scotland: Liked or loathed? Still, recent surveys show that 70% of Scots hold an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Despite his familial ties and deepening investments in Scotland, Trump is more unpopular among Scots than with the British public overall, according to an Ipsos survey from March. It shows 57% of people in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland don't view Trump positively. King Charles invites Trump: American president snags another UK state visit While in Balmedie this time, Trump will open a new 18-hole golf course on his property dedicated to his mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, who was a native of Lewis, in Scotland's Western Isles. He is likely to be met with a wave of protests around the resort, as well as the one in Turnberry. The Stop Trump Coalition, a group of campaigners who oppose most of Trump's domestic and foreign policies and the way he conducts his private and business affairs, is organizing a protest in Aberdeen and outside the U.S. consulate in Edinburgh. During Trump's initial visit to Scotland as president, in his first term, thousands of protesters sought to disrupt his visit, lining key routes and booing him. One protester even flew a powered paraglider into the restricted airspace over his Turnberry resort that bore a banner that read, "Trump: well below par #resist." 'Terrific guy': The Trump-Epstein party boy friendship lasted a decade, ended badly Trump's course in Turnberry has triggered less uproar than his Balmedie one because locals say that he's invested millions of dollars to restore the glamour of its 101-year-old hotel and three golf courses after he bought the site in 2014. Trump versus the families Three families still live directly on or adjacent to Trump's Balmedie golf resort. They say that long before the world had any clue about what type of president a billionaire New York real estate mogul and reality-TV star would become, they had a pretty good idea. Forbes is one of them. He said that shortly after Trump first tried to persuade him and his late wife to sell him their farm, workers he hired deliberately sabotaged an underground water pipe that left the Forbes – and his mother, then in her 90s, lived in her own nearby house – without clean drinking water for five years. Trump International declined to provide a fresh comment on those allegations, but a spokesperson previously told USA TODAY it "vigorously refutes" them. It said that when workers unintentionally disrupted a pipe that ran into an "antiquated" makeshift "well" jointly owned by the Forbeses on Trump's land, it was repaired immediately. Trump has previously called Forbes a "disgrace" who "lives like a pig." 'I don't have a big enough flagpole' David Milne, 61, another of Trump's seething Balmedie neighbors, lives in a converted coast guard station with views overlooking Trump's course and of the dunes and the North Sea beyond. In 2009, Trump offered him and his wife about $260,000 for his house and its one-fifth acre of land, Milne said. Trump was caught on camera saying he wanted to remove it because it was "ugly." Trump, he said, "threw in some jewelry," a golf club membership (Milne doesn't play), use of a spa (not yet built) and the right to buy, at cost, a house in a related development (not yet constructed). Milne valued the offer at about half the market rate. When Milne refused that offer, he said that landscapers working for Trump partially blocked the views from his house by planting a row of trees and sent Milne a $3,500 bill for a fence they'd built around his garden. Milne refused to pay. Over the years, Milne has pushed back. He flew a Mexican flag at his house for most of 2016, after Trump vowed to build a wall on the southern American border and make Mexico pay for it. Milne, a health and safety consultant in the energy industry, has hosted scores of journalists and TV crews at his home, where he has patiently explained the pros and cons − mostly cons, in his view, notwithstanding his own personal stake in the matter − of Trump's development for the local area. Milne said that because of his public feud with Trump, he's a little worried a freelance MAGA supporter could target him or his home. He has asked police to provide protection for him and his wife at his home while Trump is in the area. He also said he won't be flying any flags this time, apart from the Saltire, Scotland's national flag. "I don't have a big enough flagpole. I would need one from Mexico, Canada, Palestine. I would need Greenland, Denmark − you name it," he said, running through some of the places toward which Trump has adopted what critics view as aggressive and adversarial policies. Dunes of great natural importance Martin Ford was the local Aberdeen government official who originally oversaw Trump's planning application to build the Balmedie resort in 2006. He was part of a planning committee that rejected it over environmental concerns because the course would be built between sand dunes that were designated what the UK calls a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the way they shift over time. The Scottish government swiftly overturned that ruling on the grounds that Trump's investment in the area would bring a much-needed economic boost. Neil Hobday, who was the project director for Trump's course in Balmedie, last year told the BBC he was "hoodwinked" by Trump over his claim that he would spend more than a billion dollars on it. Hobday said he felt "ashamed that I fell for it and Scotland fell for it. We all fell for it." The dunes lost their special status in 2020, according to Nature Scot, the agency that oversees such designations. It concluded that their special features had been "partially destroyed" by Trump's resort. Trump International disputes that finding, saying the issue became "highly politicized." For years, Trump also fought to block the installation of a wind farm off his resort's coast. He lost that fight. The first one was built in 2018. There are now 11 turbines. Ford has since retired but stands by his belief that allowing approval for the Trump resort was a mistake. "I feel cheated out of a very important natural habitat, which we said we would protect and we haven't," he said. "Trump came here and made a lot of promises that haven't materialized. In return, he was allowed to effectively destroy a nature site of great conservation value. It's not the proper behavior of a decent person." Forbes, the former quarry worker and fisherman, said he viewed Trump in similar terms. He said that Trump "will never ever get his hands on his farm." He said that wasn't just idle talk. He said he's put his land in a trust that specified that when he dies, it can't be sold for at least 125 years. Kim Hjelmgaard is an international correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow him on Bluesky, Instagram and LinkedIn. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's trip to Scotland reopens old wounds for some of his neighbors
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oil jumps as Trump shortens Russia's deadline to end Ukraine war, US-EU trade deal spurs demand optimism
Oil prices jumped Monday as President Trump shortened a timeline for Russia to end the war with Ukraine, prompting concerns potential sanctions could hit supply. Meanwhile, an agreement between the US and EU on the framework of a trade deal spurred optimism over demand. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) climbed 1.9% to trade above $66 per barrel, and Brent (BZ=F) crude, the international benchmark price, rose to nearly $69 per barrel. The trade deal between the European Union and the US announced on Sunday includes $750 billion in EU purchases of American oil and natural gas. The stocks of liquified natural gas producers like Cheniere Energy (LNG), NextDecade (NEXT), and Venture Global (VG) all rose Monday as well. The 15% tariff deal on US imports from the EU fueled investors optimism over an eventual agreement with China as Washington and Beijing launched renewed trade talks. Meanwhile on Monday, President Trump shortened a timeline on Russia to end the war with Ukraine, from 50 days to less than two weeks, spurring concerns of a supply shock ahead. The president has threatened 'secondary tariffs' on Russia and countries purchasing from Moscow. "If enforced, oil markets cannot ignore the impact of triple-digit tariffs on Russian oil, given the significant scale of Russian exports and limited OPEC spare capacity, potentially leading to a supply shock," JPMorgan's Natasha Kaneva and her team wrote in a note earlier this month. The EU recently approved tougher price caps on Russian crude exports expected to go into effect in early September as a way to curtail the country's revenue. JPMorgan analysts expect oil price volatility to increase heading into September, citing uncertainty around Russia. The analysts also noted increases in supply from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will already have been absorbed into the market by the fall. Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre. Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
