PeakSpan Capital Partners

Phil Dur is co-founder and managing partner at PeakSpan, with over 25 years of software investing experience and board service at more than 40 growth-stage companies. Before PeakSpan he spent a decade at Investor Growth Capital and earlier held roles at Morgan Stanley Venture Partners and Morgan Stanley Capital Partners; he holds degrees from Princeton and Stanford GSB and served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Jack Freeman leads PeakSpan's FinTech and Supply Chain investment themes and has worked with over 25 of the firm's portfolio companies. Before PeakSpan, he helped build a SaaS spend management platform at the early-stage startup Stackpop, then spent three years at Macquarie Capital executing software M&A and capital markets transactions. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College and was named to GrowthCap's Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors List in 2025.

Howard Bell is a board chair, non-executive director, and operating partner with experience across venture and private equity advisory roles. He has held leadership positions at organizations including the British Red Cross, PayPal Europe, JustGiving, and FutureLearn, and currently serves as chair of MPB, SuperCarers, and FairforYou. His background spans digital business growth, fintech, edtech, and marketplace platforms, with advisory focus on Series A/B stage companies.

A West Coast native, Noah Jones joined Sozo Ventures in January 2016 in a technical and operational capacity. He provides IT and backend support for the US team, maintains the firm's technological infrastructure, and built Sozo's first website. His responsibilities also include research, preparing presentations and reports, planning local events and meetings, and coordinating communication and vendor dealings between the Japan and US offices.

Alex Page joined PeakSpan Capital in January 2023 as an Executive Assistant, supporting the firm's leadership with a focus on organization, communication, and operations. She holds a degree in Exercise Science with minors in Psychology and Nutrition from Indiana University, and her work includes coordinating logistics for the firm's Annual Investor Meeting.

Alexis Johnson is an administrative assistant at PeakSpan Capital, supporting operations and executive teams in high-growth environments. Her work centers on organizational systems, tracking and prioritizing requests, and anticipating team needs. She is originally from San Mateo.

Andrew Bartusiak is a Pittsburgh native who joined PeakSpan in 2019 after interning there in 2017 and 2018. He studied finance with a minor in biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, where he played four years of football, served as team captain, and ran the university's venture capital club, Scottie Ventures.

Brooks Reed joined PeakSpan in 2025 after interning at the firm the prior summer. Before PeakSpan, he interned with the Technology Policy Institute on AI policy research and at cielo24, an early-stage software startup. He graduated from the University of North Carolina with a major in Economics and minors in Business Administration and History.

Celia Smith joined PeakSpan Capital in 2023 after interning at the firm the prior summer. She holds a B.S. in Systems Engineering with a minor in Engineering Business from the University of Virginia. At PeakSpan she works across the firm's Commerce Tech, EdTech, and Hospitality Tech teams.

Chase Goree joined PeakSpan Capital in 2021 and has worked with growth-stage software and technology companies in the firm's portfolio. Before PeakSpan, he was an investment banker at Houlihan Lokey, advising on M&A and private financing transactions across software, internet, fintech, and tech-enabled services. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Middlebury College, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude with departmental honors.

Dina Raab works at PeakSpan Capital, where her role centers on financial reporting and fund operations across the investment lifecycle. She previously served as a Senior Associate in the asset and wealth management practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. She holds a B.S. in Accounting with a minor in Computer Science from Rutgers Business School, graduating summa cum laude with Departmental Highest Honors.

Eavan Murray earned a BSE in biomedical engineering with an economics minor from Duke, where she developed an interest in investing in healthcare-related technologies. She interned at PeakSpan across multiple summers before joining full-time in 2024, working across the firm's Digital Health, Supply Chain, and FinTech teams.

Emmie Halter joined PeakSpan Capital in 2025 after interning at the firm the prior summer. She earned a B.S. in Computer Science with distinction from the University of Virginia, where her capstone focused on blockchain technology and she served as a Differential Equations Teaching Assistant. She has experience in back-end and front-end software development and application design, and focuses on B2B SaaS.

Erin Walheim is a communications and operations professional with over 15 years of experience across technology, media, and mission-driven organizations. She started in digital marketing and advertising before moving into strategic communications and operations roles, and holds a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University. At PeakSpan she helped launch the Applied AI Roundtable Series, a peer-to-peer initiative focused on how portfolio companies embed AI across functions such as R&D, sales, customer success, and G&A.

Evan Kessler joined PeakSpan Capital as its first technology intern in summer 2023 and is based in Greenville, South Carolina. He earned a B.S. in Computer Science summa cum laude from Clemson University in five semesters, where he led the introductory Python curriculum as Head Teaching Assistant and served as Vice President of Clemson Blockchain. At PeakSpan he works on proprietary platform development, competitive intelligence, and investment diligence, including internal tooling and sentiment/competitive analysis.

Evan Taylor joined PeakSpan Capital in August 2025 after interning at the firm during the spring of his senior year and the following summer. He graduated from Boston College in May 2025 with a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science, with experience in software development and data-driven research. His work focuses on building data-informed systems and tools that support the firm's investment team through automation and data analysis.

Iveya Slavova grew up in New Jersey and holds a degree in Accounting with a minor in Sociology from the University of Connecticut. Before joining PeakSpan Capital, she worked at Ernst & Young in financial reporting, controls, and process improvement. Her work focuses on building scalable processes, improving data quality, and strengthening the firm's control environment, including implementing a bank account confirmation process using Confirmation.com.

Jay Lance oversees financial operations, compliance, legal, tax planning, and structuring for PeakSpan Capital and its investment funds, and has worked in private assets since 2006. He previously worked at The Carlyle Group in its Global Market Strategies segment focusing on distressed and mezzanine debt strategies, and before that at Ernst & Young LLP in the asset management practice. He is a CPA in New York, a CFA charterholder, and a Certified Financial Planner, and holds MBAs in Accounting and Financial Management and a BBA in Accounting from Pace University.

Justin Kelly joined PeakSpan Capital in 2022, where he leads the firm's Digital Health practice and co-leads its FinTech & Payments coverage, investing across digital health, fintech & payments, and customer experience management. He previously invested in early- and growth-stage healthcare, insurtech, and vertical software companies at AXA Venture Partners, and began his career as an investment banker at Houlihan Lokey. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kyle Reitinger joined PeakSpan in 2019, where he leads the firm's PropTech and CommerceTech investing areas and works with over a dozen portfolio companies. He began his career at RBC Capital Markets in the firm's Technology group in the Bay Area. He is a University of Washington graduate.

Mikayla Brenman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Amherst College with a B.A. in Spanish, completing pre-med requirements and captaining the varsity soccer team. Before PeakSpan, she worked at a neuroscience research lab at UNC Chapel Hill and at a management consulting firm. She joined PeakSpan in 2023 after a prior summer internship, starting on the GTM Tech, Payments & Fintech, and Supply Chain Tech teams before moving to the firm's Strategic Development program and Investor Relations.

Nicky Johnson joined PeakSpan Capital in 2022, where she has worked with growth-stage software and technology companies across the firm's Digital Health, Customer Experience Management, and PropTech coverage areas, and serves as a Board Observer for Lula and Lendware. She previously worked at Spurrier Capital Partners (later acquired by Lincoln International), advising on B2B software M&A and private financing transactions. She holds a B.A. in English with minors in Math and History from Middlebury College, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Phillip Cunningham leads PeakSpan's Strategic Development program, working with portfolio companies on exit preparedness and value creation while overseeing Investor Relations and stakeholder communications. He was previously Head of Corporate Development at Cloudbeds, where he led its $150 million Series D and three acquisitions, and earlier worked on PeakSpan's investment team, at Goldman Sachs' Technology, Media & Telecom group, and as a U.S. Air Force officer. He holds a B.S. in Operations Research from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an M.B.A. from New York University.

Ren Zanze joined PeakSpan Capital in fall 2025 after interning with the firm during the two prior summers, where he worked with its Supply Chain Management, Cybersecurity & Digital Infrastructure, FinTech, Go-to-Market Technology, and PropTech teams. He graduated magna cum laude from Colby College with a B.A. in Quantitative Economics and a minor in Creative Writing, where he also captained the men's track & field team.

Sam Korman grew up in the Bay Area and spent part of high school in China. He graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College with a B.A. in International Politics and Economics and a distinction in Chinese, and is fluent in Mandarin. He works with founders and companies at PeakSpan Capital Partners.

Sam Ross joined PeakSpan Capital in March 2026 as the New York Office Manager and Executive Assistant, supporting the firm's leadership and office operations. Originally from Michigan, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University, and previously worked on the opening teams of a hotel and a private club.

Sanket Merchant is one of four Partners at PeakSpan Capital, where he leads coverage of Cyber & Digital Infrastructure and EdTech. He joined the firm in 2017 as one of its first non-founding team members and has focused on growth-stage B2B software and applied AI companies, serving on more than 12 boards. Earlier in his career he worked in the Technology, Media & Telecom Group at Houlihan Lokey on software M&A and financing transactions, and was a consultant at FactSet Research Systems. He holds a B.B.A. in Finance with an Economics minor from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Leeds School of Business.

Vikas Kumar works at PeakSpan Capital, where he built and evolved the firm's proprietary deal-sourcing and company intelligence platform and provides senior technical leadership across its technology stack. Before joining the firm, he founded and ran Selective Intellect, a software development firm, for nine years, working with clients including the Department of Defense, DARPA, and financial trading firms on systems engineering, high-performance computing, and cybersecurity. He holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.

Yaseen Abdulridha joined PeakSpan Capital in 2021 after a decade working with software companies. He previously was an investment banking Associate at J.P. Morgan, advising software companies on M&A and capital raises, and earlier worked as a quantitative analyst building statistical and machine learning models for portfolio risk. He holds an M.S. and a B.S. in Quantitative Economics from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is a CFA Charterholder.

Elena Winefeld joined Sozo Ventures in January 2017. She was previously VP of Finance at Acero Capital and a Controller at Nokia Growth Partners, where she also worked as a Financial Analysis Manager handling portfolio analysis and reporting, and earlier held operational accounting and tax roles at technology companies and a CPA firm. She has a software engineering background and holds a B.S. in Economics and Management from the Technion (Israel Institute of Technology), with a concentration in Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems.

Venture advisor associated with UiPath.

Kraig Ward is founder and managing partner of Bearhug Recruiting, a boutique executive search firm serving early and growth-stage human performance and environmental technology companies. With over 20 years of experience as a founder, investor, advisor, and recruiting leader, Ward focuses on leadership sequencing and hire timing for companies at inflection points. Bearhug conducts retained searches using fresh market mapping and structured processes designed to accelerate placement cycles and identify executives aligned to company stage and execution requirements.