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We support Founders improving the lives of families.
We are purpose-built to help Founders grow their startups into large, commercially successful enterprises.
How we invest
We take a patient, collaborative approach to working with our Founders. We are trusted thought partners that enjoy working closely with founding teams at the earliest stages of their journey.
We invest early – pre-seed and seed rounds that are often the first institutional capital into a businesses
We invest in innovation – companies that are purposefully reimagining consumer products and services through technology
We invest in impact - Founders who are looking to meaningfully improve the lives of the customers, patients, and communities they serve
Founders
Supporting Founders lies at the core of our operating philosophy. We are drawn to those that are:
Visionary
Collaborative
Gritty
Team Builders
The team
We are a team of seasoned investors and operators. We leverage our diverse experiences to provide practical insights and guidance to portfolio Founders in a frank, honest, and helpful manner.
Amit Sharma
Amit is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and ultimately, making all investment decisions at Black Jays.
He began his career as a global strategy consultant with Deloitte (in Canada and the UK), where he advised blue chip media, telecoms, and technology clients on matters of corporate strategy, digital transformation and growth.
Prior to starting Black Jays, Amit was an active advisor and investor to a number of early stage digital media and consumer startups in London and New York. He is also a Board Member with the New York Angels.
Jay Kim
Jay started his career in Equity Research before joining Dig where he spent 5 years as an operator; supporting various tech and growth initiatives. In parallel, he has been an active advisor to other early stage Founders across the Consumer ecosystem. Jay holds a BA and MS from Brown in Economics and Engineering.
Tim Thimmaiah
Tim is a Principal at Black Jays, responsible for sourcing and vetting deals and working closely with founders to execute their vision.
He has been an operator for the past decade, most recently as the CEO and founder of ToneDen, which was acquired by Eventbrite in 2020. As a designer and engineer, Tim is well versed in launching consumer and enterprise products, along with a deep understanding of commercialization, go to market, and digital marketing.
Tim is now building Typefive
Brian Muller
Brian is a Principal at Black Jays and the CTO of Parallel Markets.
He has founded and run engineering, data science, and product teams in multiple industries - including e-commerce, media, and energy. Prior roles have included positions at Vox Media, the Washington Post, LivingSocial, and ZOLA Electric in Tanzania - and, most recently, the VP of Data and Growth at The Atlantic.
Prior to joining Black Jays, Brian was the Co-founder and CTO of OpBandit, which was acquired by Vox Media in 2015.
The fund in numbers
30+
$350M+
$1B+
50%
Core Values
Our values underpin every Founder relationship we develop and investment decision we make.
Founder First,
Founder Fair
We are fortunate to back the incredible founders we've backed.
Intellectual Humility
We respect a continual willingness to learn and improve.
Commercial Sophistication
We invest in industries with knowledge and commercial advantage
Transparency and Honesty
We leave opacity at the door. Our values are built on trust, truth and transparency.
Diversity
We aim to bring a wide range of ideas, people and cultures into our investments and lives.
