"On behalf of Emergence, I am proud to announce Lotti and Yaz's promotions," said Emergence Capital Founder and General Partner Gordon Ritter. "They each bring a unique perspective to the industry, have made significant contributions to the team, and exemplify Emergence's core values. We are thrilled to recognize them for their outstanding performances."
Lotti's promotion to Partner honors the value she brings to Emergence. She joined the firm in 2018 as a Senior Associate and was named Principal in 2020. Less than a year later, Lotti was promoted to Partner as a result of the extraordinary impact she has had on the firm, the team, and the companies Emergence backs. Lotti's strong investor acumen and long-term perspective are instrumental in uncovering compelling and unique investment opportunities, and in leading operational change. She has an outstanding ability to understand complex business structures and to apply that knowledge both in her diligence and at the board table.
Today, Lotti serves on the boards of High Alpha and Whistic and is a board observer to Convex, Oyster, and Talent Hack. She recently led Talent Hack's Series A, marking the largest Series A fundraise for a software company with a Latina founder and CEO. Her investment in Whistic's Series A in 2020 was Emergence's first fully remote deal. Both investments are indicative of Lotti's goal to invest in founders building B2B companies from all backgrounds and geographies.
Lotti's impact on the firm is echoed by the CEOs she supports. "I am incredibly grateful to work with Lotti," said Talent Hack Founder and CEO Alexandra Bonetti. "She is an extraordinary investor and now a very close friend. What makes her stand out is her natural ability to balance her astute analytical skills with empathy. Her partnership has already impacted and will continue to be instrumental in Talent Hack's success."
Born and raised in Italy, Lotti can relate to the challenges entrepreneurs from immigrant or minority backgrounds face when breaking into venture and raising capital. She has made it her mission to use her platform to support this community. At Emergence, she hosts frequent roundtable events and office hours to help under-represented founders succeed. Lotti also speaks at entrepreneur-focused events such as TechCrunch's Disrupt and Advancing Women in Tech (AWIT).
Prior to Emergence, Lotti served as an operator and investor in financial technology at Advent International, Ribbit Capital, and NerdWallet. She graduated from Wharton with a BS in economics and received an MBA from Stanford. Lotti is currently completing the Kauffman Fellows Program.
"Having strong conviction, building lasting relationships, and focusing on the long-term impact are distinguishing elements of Emergence's culture," said Lotti Siniscalco, Partner at Emergence Capital. "As I move forward in my career as a VC, I am committed to upholding these values by building a strong community for entrepreneurs of all backgrounds to become the next generation of enterprise/B2B founders."
Yaz joined the firm in 2019 as an Associate. As a Palestinian-American in an extended entrepreneurial family, he brings a global perspective to his sourcing, diligence, and support for founders. Yaz balances his analytical sensibility and his astute recognition of emerging trends with his incredible thoughtfulness and innate capacity to help everyone around him. Currently, Yaz is a board observer at Maze.
Yaz came from LinkedIn, where he worked in business operations and corporate development. He previously worked in financial planning and analysis at Microsoft. Yaz studied finance and strategy at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business while maintaining his passion for boxing as a national champion.
"To people on the outside, boxing and investing may seem like solo endeavors. As captain of Michigan's boxing team, I fought this misconception by nurturing a true team-first approach, knowing that a fighter can only be as strong as the people they train with and learn from," said Yaz El-Baba, Senior Associate at Emergence Capital. "One of the reasons I was attracted to Emergence was that the firm was founded on this same principle. I feel incredibly fortunate to have joined a team that aligns with my values and spends the time coaching and mentoring me on my path as an investor."
Emergence continues to make it a practice to promote from within, an approach carefully crafted by hiring individuals who hold its values, and developing their skills through mentorship. From the first non-founding investor who joined Emergence in 2006 through the present, the firm has maintained a true apprenticeship model. Of the five General Partners leading Emergence today, four started their careers at the firm as a junior investment professional (and the other is the co-founder).
"The firm was founded on the philosophy that recruiting and growing our partnership from within would result in not only a stronger culture, but also in the best performance," said Ritter. "With this philosophy in mind, we have designed an intentional career development program that will enable us to improve and build the next generation of investors and leaders to steward the firm's success into the future."
Emergence's deep-rooted values extend to its approach to team building and career development. To learn more about careers at Emergence, please visit: www.emcap.com/careers
About Emergence
Emergence is the leading venture capital firm focused on early-stage enterprise software companies. Its mission is to be the most important partner to the companies that are changing the way the world works. The firm's investments' current market capitalization is over $450B and includes companies such as Zoom (ZM), Veeva Systems (VEEV), Box (BOX), Bill.com (BILL), Doximity (DOCS), Blend (BLND), SuccessFactors (SFSF, acquired by SAP), Yammer (acquired by Microsoft), and ServiceMax (acquired by GE). For more information on Emergence, visit www.emcap.com and follow @emergencecap.
SOURCE Emergence Capital
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