Lightbank

Eric Lefkofsky is the founder and managing partner of Lightbank. He is also the founder and director of several firms, including InnerWorkings, Inc., a global provider of managed print and promotional solutions; Echo Global Logistics, Inc., a technology-enabled transportation and logistics outsourcing firm; MediaBank, LLC, a leading provider of integrated media procurement technology; and Groupon.com, Inc., an online collective buying website. Eric is on the board of directors at the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Art, and is a Trustee of Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He is also a visiting professor at University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Brad Keywell is the founder and managing partner of Lightbank. He is also the founder and director of several firms, including Echo Global Logistics, Inc., a technology-enabled transportation and logistics outsourcing firm; MediaBank, LLC, a leading provider of integrated media procurement technology; and Groupon.com, Inc., an online collective buying website. Brad is currently on the Foundation Board of Trustees of NorthShore University HealthSystem, the Board of Trustees of Imerman Angels, the Board of Directors of Warrior Productions, a Trustee of the University of Michigan Hillel Foundation, and a member of the Chicago chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization.

Paul Lee joined Lightbank as a Partner in February 2011. At Lightbank, Paul led the firm’s investments in BabbaCo (board member), Beachmint (board observer), Cleversense (acquired by Google), Contently (board member), DoubleDutch, ElaCarte (board observer), EventUp (board member), Needle, OnSwipe, SkyVu Entertainment(board member), and Udemy (board member). In addition, he is also an independent board director for Lifeway Foods, Inc. (NASDAQ: LWAY).  

Previously, Paul was Managing Director and Group Head of Digital at Playboy Enterprises where he was responsible for acquiring, investing in, launching, and operating the company's various digital businesses. In addition, Paul also spearheaded the digital strategy implemented in positioning the company for a take–private transaction.

Prior to Playboy Enterprises, Paul was a founding Partner and Senior Vice President at the Peacock Equity Fund, a joint venture between NBC Universal and GE Capital. In his capacity as a Partner, Paul's representative Board and Observer seats included 4INFO, Greystripe, and Ramp.

He first started in digital media as part of the co–founding team of Click2Asia, a venture–backed online media company. Paul received a dual undergraduate degree in Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences (MMSS) and Economics from Northwestern University.  In his spare time, Paul aspires to become a national champion in competitive, natural lump charcoal BBQ.

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Vicki Levine joined Lightbank in January of 2010 and is currently a Principal. Previously, she was a Technology Investment Banking Senior Associate at Robert W. Baird, where she advised executive management teams and boards of directors of public and private company clients on corporate strategy, acquisition strategy, and corporate finance alternatives. Prior to Baird, Vicki worked at Motorola, where she held a number of roles, including mechanical design engineer, business development manager for enterprise software solutions and emerging technologies, including RFID and NFC, and most recently, design strategy manager, where she lead the effort to incorporate consumer segmentation and tiering strategy into the design stage of the product development process. Vicki holds an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Physics, cum laude, from Duke University.

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Bill Pescatello joined Lightbank as a Principal in May 2011. He joined the team from NBCUniversal, where he was a Vice President and founding member of the Peacock Equity Fund, the venture capital arm of NBCU, from 2007-2011. While at Peacock Equity, Bill served as NBCU’s board representative at Greystripe, Ramp and Vivox. Prior to joining NBCUniversal, Bill worked at GE Capital where he helped finance leading early stage biotech companies. Bill also worked as a Finance Analyst at Morgan Stanley and at Merrill Lynch within their Global Research Group. Bill is a Chartered Financial Analyst, holds a Bachelor Degree from Northwestern University and graduated with honors from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

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Saurabh Sharma joined Lightbank in April 2012 from Barclays Capital where he was a Senior Associate in their Investment Banking Division. Prior to Barclays Capital, Saurabh led Business Development efforts at BenchPrep, a venture-backed digital learning platform. During business school, Saurabh co-founded a cleantech company focused on distributed & utility scale solar. Previously, Saurabh worked as an Investment Associate at ICICI Venture in Mumbai focusing on technology & healthcare. Saurabh also worked as an Investment Banking Associate at Lehman Brothers in New York & London, and as a High-Performance Computing researcher at INRIA in Paris. Saurabh holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from Cornell University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Marina Dedes joined Lightbank in April 2011. Prior to Lightbank, Marina was a Senior Associate in the Valuation Group at Duff & Phelps. Marina holds a BS in Materials Science and Engineering with a concentration in Biomaterials from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Follow Me on Twitter

Sasha Gribov joined Lightbank in May 2012. Prior to Lightbank, Sasha was an Associate Consultant at Bain Company and co-founded a non-profit called the Tamid Israel Investment Group. Sasha holds a BA in Business Administration from the University of Michigan.

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Mike Mauceri joined Lightbank in April of 2012.  Prior to Lightbank, Mike worked as corporate controller of MediaOcean, LLC where he was responsible for all accounting and finance functions. While at MediaOcean, Mike served as the financial lead for the merger with DDS, forming MediaOcean, LLC. Prior to joining MediaOcean, LLC in 2010, Mike served as accounting manager for Innerworkings, Inc. and finance manager for Starcom Worldwide. Mike holds a BA from Purdue University and is a CPA.

Amy Cwalina joined Lightbank in February of 2012.  Prior to Lightbank, Amy worked as a tech recruiter at Jobspring Partners.  Amy holds a BA from Michigan State University.

Rick Ginsberg joined Lightbank in February 2011.  Rick is also currently a Partner at DLA Piper LLP (US) where he serves as a Co-Chair of the Fund Formation and Operations Group.  Rick has extensive experience in private equity fund formation matters, as well as venture capital and other private equity transactions.  The Managing Partners have worked with Rick in numerous equity financings, acquisitions and other corporate matters involving Innovation Group, Groupon, Echo Global Logistics, MediaOcean and InnerWorkings.  Prior to joining DLA Piper in 2007, Rick was a partner with Winston & Strawn LLP from 2005 to 2007 and a partner and an associate with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP from 1991 to 2005.  He received his J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1991, where he was an editor of the UCLA Law Review, and his B.A., with distinction, from the University of Michigan in 1988.

James Dickerson joined Lightbank in November of 2012. Prior to Lightbank, James co-founded Leap, a mobile application that used group challenges to motivate people to reach goals, and Wellthy, a social game to improve employee wellness programs. James holds a BS in Business Economics from Miami University.

Orazio Buzza is a Co-Founder at Fooda, Inc. He served as President & Chief Operating Officer of Echo Global Logistics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECHO), from May 2005 until August 2010. From October 2003 to May 2005, he was the CFO and COO of InnerWorkings, Inc. (Nasdaq: INWK). From July 2001 to September 2003, Orazio was Vice President of Finance and Operations at Bus Bank, an online provider of charter bus services. He received his bachelor's degree in Accounting and Supply Chain Management from the University of Illinois, and he is also a CPA.

Greg Caplan started as a Founder-in-Residence with Lightbank in January, 2011.  In August 2011 he co-founded oBaz.com, a e-commerce site focused on rethinking the way people shop online.  oBaz uses personalization and social features to create a brand new shopping experience.  Greg has a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Brian Ficho started as and Founder-in-Residence with Lightbank in February 2010.  In August 2011 he founded oBaz.com, a e-commerce site focused on changing the way people discover, interact with, and buy products.  oBaz uses personalization and social features to create a brand new shopping experience.  Brian has a Engineering Degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

Joshua Hernandez joined Lightbank in June 2012 as a Founder-in-Residence. Joshua's career has spanned multiple industries from advertising to video games. In 2009, Joshua founded Tap.Me, a mobile in-game advertising platform that to date raised a total of $4.6 million and is working with advertising customers like U.S. Cellular and P&G. Previous to Tap.Me Joshua served over 2.5 million users with a gamer identification platform called TripleTags.com that enabled users to tout game accomplishments. In 2006, Josh lead a team of developers to create the first instant result real estate search in Illinois that was used by dozens of brokerages in Chicagoland including @properties. In 2005 Joshua launched SectionZ Records and launched the career of superstar DJ, Deadmau5. This was possible because of SectionZ.com, which was a peer learning platform for electronic musicians that Joshua launched in 1999.

Ryan Jeffery started with Lightbank in July of 2011, where he analyzed new investment opportunities and worked closely with portfolio companies on business development and marketing. In October 2012, Ryan joined Belly, a digital loyalty platform for SMB's, where he currently leads business development. Ryan graduated with a degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. 

Oscar Jung joined Ligthbank in May 2012. Prior to Ligthbank Oscar was Director for South East Asia at Groupon where he led the growth across the region. Before Groupon, Oscar had a startup in Europe and was a management consultant at A.T. Kearney. Oscar holds a BS in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School and Hong Kong University of Technology and a MS in Finance from Copenhagen business School and University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Logan LaHive joined lightbank in May 2011. Previously, Logan was the Director of New Business at Redbox, where he was tasked with sourcing, testing, and launching new businesses for the company. He was promoted to the position after successfully leading the company’s initiative to test and rollout video game rentals, forecasted to be a $100+ million business annually. Logan has spent the last 6-7 years in startups, focusing on launching (features, marketing plans, new product lines, seed businesses, etc), with a strong background is in project management, marketing, strategy/analytics, and product launch.

Kris Petersen has been involved with technology and entrepreneurship across the US for more than 13 years. In his current role, Kris is the founder and CEO of Chicago-based Betterfly. Kris also serves on the advisory council for Chicago Career Tech, an organization which helps re-train unemployed Chicagoan with the technical skills required to re-enter the workforce. Kris holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois and is a self-taught web developer.

Vip Sandhir is a serial entrepreneur who has built four companies from the ground up.  His experience includes strategic, marketing and operating successes across three industries: Industrial supplies, travel and tourism, meeting planning and E-commerce. His career experience includes senior management positions with: McMaster Carr Supply Company, a $4 billion leader in Industrial supplies, Global VacationGroup, a leading consolidator in Leisure travel, Iexplore, the first onlineprovider for Adventure Travel, and The Bus Bank, The largest provider of transportation services in North America.  Most recently, Vip served as EVP for Echo Global Logistics (Nasdaq: ECHO), a technology enabled transportation management company.  There he started as part of the founding management team and grew the business to over $500 million in revenue from 2005-2010.  

Vip has been a Chicago resident for the past 20 years and enjoys reading, traveling, playing the guitar, and volunteering for the Lincoln Park Homeless Shelter. Over the past 15 years, Vip created a real estate investment company that owns and manages multi-unit residential buildings and single family homes in the Chicago area.  Vip graduated from Northern Illinois University and received his B.S. in Finance with an emphasis in Accounting and Communications.  

Jason Stulberg joined Lightbank in January 2012.  Prior to Lightbank, Jason was on the founding team of Star Studio, a new venture within Coinstar/Redbox. Previously, Jason spent three years at Wind Point Partners, a middle market private equity firm and two years at Bain & Company in Chicago. Jason holds a BS in engineering from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.

Todd Sullivan joined as CEO of Betterfly in January of 2012. Todd is a serial entrepreneur having co-founded SpiritShop.com, an e-commerce and f-commerce marketplace, BuyFi, a mobile transactions and marketing platform, and CrowdZone, an award winning mobile networking and marketing platform. Todd is a former professional hockey player and has worked for Diamond Management and Technology Consultants.  He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Michigan.

David Wald joined Lightbank in April 2011. Prior to Lightbank, David was a Senior Associate Consultant at Bain & Company. David holds a BA in Business Administration and Organizational Studies, with High Distinction, from the University of Michigan.

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