IA Global

Nikos Iatropoulos is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of IA Global Ventures, involved in fundraising, investor relations, sourcing, and post-investment management, with a focus on supporting foreign-born entrepreneurs in the U.S. He previously was Managing Partner at Rex Tech Ventures, where he launched technology companies in PropTech, InsurTech, and FinTech, and spent six years at Kairos Ventures as COO and Regional Partner. Earlier in his career he was a software entrepreneur who founded Upstream and Lingospot (acquired by Piksel), and worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at Credit Suisse. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a BS in Computer Science from Columbia University.

Jack Whelan has a background in business development and supply chain management across the building materials, oil and gas, and technology services industries. He began at Wisenbaker Builder Services in residential homebuilder sales, later handled supply chain management for midstream projects at Kiewit Energy, and served as Senior Marketing Officer at technology startup theITSupportCenter. He holds a B.S. in Industrial Distribution from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business.

James Smith is Chief Growth Officer at IA Global Ventures, with more than 25 years of experience in digital media, technology, and SaaS. He works with early-stage companies on scaling, fundraising, and go-to-market strategy, drawing on his background in customer acquisition and digital marketing. He previously served as Vice President of Sales at ContentMassive and Chief Digital Officer at Hearst Corporation.

Parke Benjamin is CFO of the IA Global Ventures VC Fund, a $50 million fund that invests in SaaS startups from the International Accelerator at the seed and series stages. He previously spent six years as partner and Operational CFO at MD Cress Ventures, working with healthcare-related companies, and also serves as COO of the International Accelerator, where he supports startup founders. His work focuses on business planning, fundraising, and international business development.