LvlUp Ventures

Sharon Holm is a Dealflow Partner at LvlUp Ventures with over 30 years of experience in technology, operations, and venture investing. Her background includes leadership roles at Accenture and Thomson Reuters, as well as COO experience at GenoBank.io where she helped secure over $1 million in funding. As a 2x founder and former Venture Resident at Swizzle Ventures, Holm advises early-stage companies on capital formation, go-to-market strategy, and operational scaling, with extensive experience across U.S., European, and Asian markets.

Ben Kromnick serves as General Manager of Growth and Vertical Banking at Rho and holds a venture partner role. He has led product and strategy initiatives across life sciences, healthtech, fintech, wearables, and AI sectors, with experience in both large organizations and early-stage companies.

Brandon Maier is General Partner and Founder of LvlUp Ventures, an early-stage fund investing in companies with proven product-market fit and diverse leadership teams. He previously co-founded Quake Capital Partners, where he contributed to investments in over 300 companies with 18 exits to date. Maier oversees a venture ecosystem that includes a 2,500+ member scout program and corporate innovation initiatives, and has over 10 years of venture capital experience.

Adam Ned is a Principal at LvlUp Ventures, where he sources early-stage startups, manages portfolio companies, and executes deals across Gaming, Sports, Media, Entertainment, and Web 3.0 sectors. He also serves as a Startup Mentor at Alchemist Accelerator, providing guidance to founders on go-to-market strategy, fundraising, and scaling.

Multi-time founder AJ Smith uses his failed startup and songwriting—having opened for the Eagles under mentor Glenn Frey—to coach founders with a 90‑second headline test and boxing/sweat-equity events.

Hamza Ghernati serves as Director of Business Development, Investor Relations and Public Affairs at Immune Biosolutions. He has experience in private capital, corporate finance, and corporate development, with expertise supporting small and medium-sized enterprises through market intelligence, fundraising strategy, and stakeholder management. His work focuses on connecting Canadian investors with international capital sources to support startup growth.

Brian Bacon serves as Associate Director of Transfer Admission at Lake Forest College while advising early-stage startups at the intersection of higher education and venture capital. He brings over five years of experience in venture scouting and product management, combined with background in undergraduate admissions, academic advising, and EdTech consulting. His work spans both institutional perspectives on educational technology procurement and investor evaluation of education-focused startups.

Christian Levan is Growth Lead at NationGraph, a platform that aggregates data on government institutions, budgets, contracts, and procurement opportunities for companies selling to public sector buyers. Previously, he spent four years as a venture investor at Front Row Ventures, Panache Ventures, Inovia Capital, and White Star Capital, focusing on early-stage companies.

James Sullivan is founder and CEO of OneSeven Tech, which provides AI implementation services to mid-market companies with revenues between $25 million and $1 billion. The company focuses on deploying AI solutions designed to deliver measurable return on investment.

Kieran O'Connor is a Valuation Associate in the Alternative Investment Services group at Alvarez & Marsal.

Niko Hems is a writer and longevity operator who analyzes developments in preventive health, clinical innovation, and health optimization across science, funding, policy, and consumer health. He holds Master's degrees in Management with a focus on Data Science and in Longevity, and works within the preventive health ecosystem to build and communicate medical prevention programs while hosting the Return on Health podcast. His work translates complex health and longevity research for operators, founders, investors, and clinicians, with a following of over 20,000 readers.

Ram Malladi is an investor at Venture Guides, an early-stage infrastructure software investment firm, where he focuses on AI, infrastructure, and data. Venture Guides invests in infrastructure software companies and its team has been involved in investments in companies including Dynatrace, DocuSign, LinkedIn, Rapid7, SolarWinds, Sysdig, Turbonomic, and Archer Technologies.