Anzu Partners

William H. Strong is a Partner at Anzu Partners with over 40 years of experience in investment, capital markets, and corporate finance. Before Anzu, he was Chairman and Managing Director of Longford Capital, a private equity firm focused on commercial litigation, and previously spent more than 35 years in financial services, ending as a member of Morgan Stanley's Global Management Committee and co-CEO for its Asia Pacific Region. He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. from Purdue University and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

Cathryn Paine is a Partner at Anzu Partners, where she focuses on human capital, including executive search and organizational analysis during investment diligence, and leads the firm's Talent and People Operations teams supporting Anzu and its portfolio companies. Before Anzu, she spent about a decade at technology startups, leading recruitment at Mapbox during its growth between its A and C rounds and running operations, including finance, recruiting, and HR, at FrontlineSMS. She holds a BA and MA from George Washington University and was named to Venture Capital Journal's 2021 '40 under 40 Rising Stars in VC' list.

David Michael co-founded Anzu Partners and helped shape the firm's focus on breakthrough industrial technologies. Before Anzu, he spent 24 years at The Boston Consulting Group as a Senior Partner, where he founded the Beijing office, led the Greater China practice, and later established the firm's emerging markets practice. He holds an MBA from Stanford Business School and a BA in Economics from Harvard University, and has lived and worked in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Silicon Valley.

Debrah Herman is a Partner and the Chief Financial Officer of Anzu Partners, where she manages finance, cash management, accounting, and payroll for the firm and several of its portfolio companies. She has over 25 years of finance and accounting experience and previously held financial leadership roles across the manufacturing, technology, retail, real estate, transportation, and construction industries, as well as at Deloitte and Touche in audit and tax. She holds a BA in Accounting from Northwood University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Jason Smith is a Partner at Anzu Partners and has worked with Longview Innovation since 2014, supporting founders in bringing early-stage technologies to market. He previously held leadership roles in clinical affairs, marketing, and product management at LiteCure, and product development roles at W.L. Gore's Medical Division. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from North Carolina State University.

Michael Burychka is a Partner at Anzu Partners and the founder of Longview Innovation, focusing on investments in breakthrough technologies developed with U.S. universities and national labs. He has over 15 years of experience in early-stage investing and international capital markets, having previously held senior roles at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital in London and served as CFO of the Climate Group. He holds a B.S. from Bucknell University and an M.B.A. from London Business School, with additional study at CEIBS in Shanghai.

John Ho is a founding member at ven^x focused on deep technology investing. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from MIT with a specialization in organic nano-electronics and chemical sensors, and has held roles spanning venture capital, corporate strategy, and scientific research at organizations including Anzu Partners, Boston Consulting Group, QD Vision, Raytheon BBN Technologies, and incTANK Ventures.

Henk Both is a Principal at Anzu Partners based in Atlanta, GA, where he manages the firm's energy transition portfolio and its sourcing and investment pipeline. Before joining Anzu in 2021, he worked as a management consultant in the energy practice at the Boston Consulting Group, advising clients on energy infrastructure, industrial goods, and natural resources. He holds a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Stanford University and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Alabama.

Hunter Brown is a Principal at Anzu Partners who invests in the defense and national security sector. He was previously a program manager at Anduril, where he worked across Space, Counter-UAS, and Maritime domains to adapt commercial technology for the US Department of Defense, and earlier worked as an engineer developing advanced robotics for the US Navy. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Johns Hopkins and an M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

Jenna Abelli is a Principal at Anzu Partners, where she leads investment diligence and sourcing and supports portfolio companies on product strategy, commercialization, and business development. A chemical engineer by training, she focuses on next-generation chemicals, novel materials, and life sciences, and has led $30M in investments since joining in 2018. She previously worked as a Senior Product and Brand Manager at Cascade Maverik Lacrosse and managed tire and rubber compound development at Continental Tire in Germany, and holds a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from Tufts University.

Brandon Fleischman is an attorney and financial services executive who joined Anzu Partners as General Counsel in 2024, with a background in asset management and venture capital. He previously held senior leadership roles at Longview Innovation Corp. and practiced law at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP and Vedder Price P.C., focusing on corporate finance, transactional matters, and restructurings. He earned a Juris Doctorate from Brooklyn Law School and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, and is a formerly practicing CPA admitted to practice law in New York and Pennsylvania.

Dan Hirsch is a Principal at Anzu Partners, where he has served as a consultant and Executive-in-Residence since 2022. He holds a B.A. from Amherst College and a J.D. from Yale Law School, and spent 13 years at the investment management firm Farallon Capital Management in San Francisco. His career has focused on the real estate and finance sectors across private and public companies.

Jennifer Ting has more than 17 years of fund accounting experience in financial services, focusing on private equity and hedge fund operations and managing complex fund structures. Before Anzu Partners, she worked at LSV Advisors, LLC and The Blackstone Group. She holds a B.S. in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University.

Jerry Carlisle Jr. is Vice President, Finance and Accounting at Anzu Partners, where he supports portfolio companies with government contract accounting, compliance, GAAP accounting, and financial reporting. Before Anzu, he was Controller at Jabil overseeing Aerospace and Defense sites, and previously served as Controller at Embraer and Honeywell. He holds a BA in Accounting from Davenport University and participated in its MBA program.

Jordan Borawski works at Anzu Partners as a Human Resources Business Partner within People Operations, supporting day-to-day HR operations for portfolio companies, including HR system administration, payroll review, policy guidance, and HR program implementation. She was previously a Human Resources Generalist at Charter Communications and worked in Higher Education roles at San Diego State University. She holds a BS in Social Psychology from the University of California, San Diego, and an MA in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University.

Josh Stiling is an Investment Principal at Anzu Partners, where he has worked since 2021 investing in material science, electrification, and manufacturing technologies. Before Anzu, he played professional water polo in Australia and Spain, then spent four years as a senior materials development engineer at Lyten, a San Jose R&D industrial materials startup, working on batteries, super-capacitors, conductive inks, and an IoT sensing platform. He holds an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and an MBA, both from UCSD.

Kaitlyn Lagasca joined Anzu as a Manager on the Talent team, where she supports recruitment across the firm and its portfolio companies. She is pursuing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with a Minor in Psychology at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Kalyn Schieffer leads public relations and external communications for Anzu Partners and its portfolio companies. She previously worked as an Account Supervisor at March Communications, a Boston-based B2B tech PR agency, and began her career at Caster Communications, a consumer tech PR firm. She holds a BA in Public Relations and Communication Studies from the University of Rhode Island.

Kyle Manning is Director of Accounting at Anzu Partners, overseeing finance and accounting for several portfolio companies. He previously served as Director of Finance at Load King Manufacturing Co., leading its accounting and financial reporting function, and held cost accounting and financial reporting roles at Gulfstream Aerospace and Daniel Defense. He is a CPA and CGMA with expertise in financial reporting, forecasting, and analysis.

Latoya Green is an Accounting Manager at Anzu Partners, where she supports finance and accounting for the firm's portfolio companies. She has nearly 20 years of accounting experience, including 13 years in government contracting, covering full-cycle accounting functions such as payroll, accounts payable/receivable, month-end closing, and financial audits, along with work in financial planning, systems implementation, contracts, and operations. She holds a BA in Business with an accounting specialization and a MAcc from St. Leo University.

Madi Casey is a Technical Recruiter at Anzu Partners, working from the San Diego office and focusing on recruiting scientists and engineers across the portfolio, particularly for life sciences companies. She previously served as a Technical Recruiter at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and as a Life Sciences Recruiter at Verista. She holds a degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Neika Fatehi is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Anzu Partners with experience across Health Tech, SaaS, and B2B marketing. She previously worked as a Digital Marketing Manager at Vital, a health tech startup, where she helped build the marketing function, and her work covers social media, SEO, email marketing, content creation, PR, paid advertising, and demand generation. She holds a Master of Science in Entrepreneurship and Innovation from USC's Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Global Health from UC San Diego.

Patrick Irvan is an Assistant Fund Controller at Anzu Partners. He has worked in fund administration across mutual, hedge, and private equity funds, with a focus on technology improvements.

Rebecca (Becky) Chimwanda is Principal of People Operations at Anzu Partners. Before joining the firm, she was Assistant Director of HRIS/Compensation and Human Resources at Merrimack College, working on workforce planning, talent management, compensation, and HR systems, and previously held HR operations and consulting roles at Broadridge Financial Solutions, UTC Aerospace, and Liberty Mutual. She holds a B.B.A. and an M.B.A. from Hofstra University.

Steven Battista is a Principal at Anzu Partners, where he leads the Operational Excellence function, supporting product development, commercialization, business development, and operations across portfolio companies. Since joining the firm in 2019, he has taken on executive roles within portfolio companies. He previously led strategic initiatives at E Ink Corporation and held roles at GE Plastics, National Starch and Chemical, and QD Vision, and holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Wendy Papakostandini is Principal, Talent at Anzu Partners, where she works with portfolio company executive teams to recruit and scale their teams, from individual contributors to board-level roles. She previously was a Special Advisor at the U.S. Department of Commerce, coordinating front office operations for the Deputy Secretary, and earlier served in the White House Office of Management and Administration under President Obama. She co-authors the Talent section of the Volta Foundation's Annual Battery Report and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Joint Honors degree in Political Science and Sociology from McGill University.

Whitney Haring-Smith is a co-founding Managing Partner at Anzu Partners, where he oversees the firm's private credit, software and medical device investments, structured public equity investments, and portfolio support functions. Before Anzu, he was a Principal at The Boston Consulting Group, working across energy, industrial goods, and globalization in BCG's San Francisco, Seattle, and Hong Kong offices. He co-founded and chaired the board of College Abacus, a college financial aid comparison site acquired by ECMC in 2014, and holds degrees from Yale University and a doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Joined the team in July 2024 after being a CV Access Fellow. Previously worked on investment teams at JMI Equity and 75 & Sunny Ventures.

Leandro Castro is co-founder and chief product officer of Logica, a visual financial modeling platform. He previously co-founded an engineering software company that was acquired by Siemens, and has served as an advisor to Anzu Partners, a venture firm focused on industrial and life sciences technology.