TIGER 21

Entrepreneur, inventor and investor with over 30 years of experience in technology, healthcare and biotechnology, and nearly 20 years investing in early-stage tech and life science companies. He founded Klotho Therapeutics, Pathway Genomics, E-Band Communications and SmartDrive Systems, led the turnaround of Beltronics, and served on the U.S. Industry Trade Advisory Committee (2015-2018).

A Senior Advisor to Core, Alicia is a first-gen Latina who works as a hybrid coach, consultant and advisor to C-suite and senior executives across private, public and nonprofit sectors after completing a Chicago Business Fellowship at Booth.

Co-founder, general partner and managing director of Portland Seed Fund and its deeptech sister Intrepid Oregon Fund, with 20 years as a VC, angel investor and startup advisor. Previously venture partner at Portfolia and principal at Emergent. Holds an MA from University of Oregon and a BA from Boston University.

Cal Simmons is an early-stage angel investor focused primarily on the Washington, DC Metro area, with more than 50 portfolio companies. Before investing, he built two travel businesses — Cal Simmons Travel, a 13-branch agency serving corporate accounts such as National Geographic and The Discovery Channel, and Five Star Alliance, an online agency marketing luxury hotels, both of which he grew and sold. He has chaired the Washington, D.C. chapter of Tiger 21 for a decade and previously served 12 years as chairman of the Virginia Tourism Corporation. He is also the coauthor, with John May, of a book on venture capital for entrepreneurs.

Independent member of the SSV II Investment Committee, Chairman & CEO of Voyager Space and an active early-stage space investor across more than 50 ventures.

Elise Mitchell is a three-time founder and CEO with over 25 years of experience in leadership and business advisory. She founded Mitchell Communications Group, a top 10 fastest-growing PR firm that achieved more than 500% growth in five years before its strategic sale to Dentsu, Inc., and subsequently launched Velocity Collective, an executive coaching and business consultancy. Mitchell currently chairs TIGER 21, serves as an independent board director, and advises business owners on growth and organizational challenges; she is also an author, keynote speaker, and adjunct professor at Syracuse University's Newhouse School.

Falon Fatemi is General Partner at Digital Indies, an agentic AI studio that incubates, acquires, and invests in businesses built around autonomous AI systems, and she holds patents for architectures enabling AI to build and operate companies alongside humans. She previously co-founded Fireside with Mark Cuban, which was acquired by Radio.com in 2025, and founded the enterprise AI company Node, acquired by SugarCRM in 2020; she also invests in late-stage AI companies through Golden Gun Ventures. Fatemi joined Google at 19, spent a decade in go-to-market strategy and partnerships across Google and YouTube, writes a Forbes column on AI and the creator economy, and was named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 in Technology in 2020.

Paul Schaut is Chair of TIGER 21 Boston and has served as an independent director on 30 boards across public, private equity, and venture capital companies. He previously held CEO positions at eight companies and led transactions in CPG, retail, healthcare, and enterprise analytics, including 16 M&A deals ranging from $6 million to $1.8 billion and six company exits. Schaut has raised over $400 million in capital for more than two dozen companies and led a Goldman Sachs-backed IPO that reached a $12 billion market cap.

Operating Partner and technology entrepreneur with expertise in internet infrastructure, distributed systems, AI, and networking. An MIT graduate who began at BBN Labs, he founded multiple startups and holds many patents.

Ryan Katz founded Route 66 Ventures in 2010 and has spent much of his career in student lending. He co-founded the FFELP Marketing Group in 1995, later founded Goal Financial where he was CEO from 2001 to 2010, and served as Chairman of Goal Structured Solutions until 2014. He holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.

Sara Crown Star, President of SCS Innovations, brings company-building experience and a returns-first view treating women's health as an underappreciated economic opportunity across drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital health.