Lauren Kolodny
Lauren Kolodny | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Brown University Stanford University Stanford Graduate School of Business |
| Occupation(s) | Managing Partner, Acrew Capital[1] |
| Known for | Co-Founder, Acrew Capital |
| Website | Acrew Capital profile |
Lauren Kolodny (born c. 1985/86)[2] is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist. She is the co-founder and Managing Partner of the venture capital firm Acrew Capital. She was on the Forbes Midas List in both 2023 and 2024.[3]
Early life and education
Kolodny earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Brown University in 2008,[2] a Master of Sciences in Sustainable Design from Stanford University, and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.[4] In 2009, at the age of 23, Kolodny became the youngest ever trustee on Brown University's Board of Trustees[4][2] and served on the search committee that selected Brown’s current president, Christina Paxson.[5]
Career
Kolodny started her career developing clean technology partnerships for the Clinton Foundation while based in New Delhi, India.[4][2] She later worked in product marketing at Google, where she led launches for Google Workspace, including the launch of Google Drive for businesses.[4]
Kolodny met Aspect Ventures co-founder Theresia Gouw through her time at Brown University where they became friends. Kolodny later joined Gouw at Aspect in 2015 and became a partner in the firm in 2017.[4] She left Aspect Ventures in 2019 to co-found Acrew Capital along with Gouw, Asad Khaliq, Vishal Lugani and Mark Kraynak.[6][7]
Kolodny was a member of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016.[8] In 2020, she was featured in The Wall Street Journal's 10 Women to Watch list;[9] and, the list of 100 Rising Stars of Venture Capital in the Business Insider.[10] She was also on the Forbes Midas List in both 2023[3] and 2024.[11]
Acrew Capital
Acrew Capital is a venture capital firm that focuses on seed, early and growth-stage investments in sectors that include Data & Security, Fintech, and Digital Health.[12] Its fintech practice was built and is led by Kolodny, with investment in companies such as Chime.[13] As of 2025, Acrew Capital manages a portfolio of more than $1.7+ billion AUM.[14]
References
- ^ Deczynski, Rebecca (12 March 2024). "How a Fintech Investor Picks Future Unicorns Out of the Crowd". Inc.
- ^ a b c d "Corporation Elects New Trustees and Fellows, Including First Young Alumna Trustee". news.brown.edu.
- ^ a b Shrivastava, Rashi. "Worth The Wait: Midas Newcomers Invested Early In Startups And Scored Big Wins In The Long Run". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ a b c d e Zakrzewski, Cat (19 December 2017). "Aspect Ventures Promotes Lauren Kolodny to Partner". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ "President's Leadership Council | Office of the President | Brown University". president.brown.edu. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ Roof, Katie (19 December 2017). "Aspect Ventures promotes Lauren Kolodny to partner". Tech Crunch.
- ^ "Theresia Gouw Launches New Venture Capital Firm". Forbes.
- ^ "30 Under 30 2016". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ "Women in Venture Capital". Wall Street Journal. 2020-11-15. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ Jin, Berber. "100 rising-star VCs who represent the future of venture capital". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ "Forbes 2024 Midas List - The Top Venture Capital Investors Ranked". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ "Theses". www.acrewcapital.com. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ Shevlin, Ron. "Chime Raises $750 Million At $25 Billion Valuation: Is The Challenger Bank Really Worth That Much?". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ "Our Team". www.acrewcapital.com. Retrieved 2025-01-15.