Fundraising Fox

Lak Ananth

InvestorFounder

Managing Partner at Next47 · Board director at Tractian · Board director at Verkada

Palo Alto, California

Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $1.5M

About

Lak Ananth is Global Managing Partner and Founding CEO of N47, a venture capital firm investing in infrastructure, applications, data systems, and connected devices. He serves on the boards of Verkada, VAST Data, Tractian, and AuraSell, companies in which N47 invested based on demonstrated product-market fit.

Board director at TractianYC W21

Intro paths

YC

Lak went through Y Combinator (Winter 2021) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.

GP

Their group partner at YC was Harj Taggar, General Partner at Y Combinator — the partner who ran Tractian's batch and knows the company first-hand. YC profile ↗

→

In turn, Lak can intro founders to Tractian's investors below.

Tractian's investors · 9

Energy Impact PartnersNew York · $5M – $20M checks · since 2024General CatalystSan Francisco · $30M checks · since 2024MONASHEESSão Paulo · $10M checks · since 2024Next47Palo Alto · since 2024NGP CapitalBerlin · $8M – $12M checks · since 2024Norte VenturesSao Paulo-Sp · since 2024Sapphire VenturesMenlo Park · $5M – $20M checks · since 2024Valor Capital GroupNew York · $100K – $5M checks · since 2024Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K checks · since 2021

Co-founders at Tractian

IMIgor Marinelli
Igor MarinelliFounder
GL
Gabriel Lima LameirinhasDirector
GLGabriel Lima
Gabriel LimaCofounder
LVLeonardo Vieira
Leonardo VieiraCofounder

Board director at Verkada

Intro paths

→

In turn, Lak can intro founders to Verkada's investors below.

Verkada's investors · 18

Alkeon InnovationNew YorkCapitalGSan Francisco · $50M – $100M checks · since 2026Depth VenturesSan FranciscoFelicis VenturesSan Francisco · $500K – $15M checksFifth Down CapitalDoverFirst Round CapitalSan Francisco · $2M checks · since 2018Founder CollectiveCambridgeFriends Family CapitalSilicon ValleyG SquaredChicagoGlynn Capital ManagementMenlo ParkLightspeed Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $1.7M – $87M checksLinse CapitalSan JuanNewView CapitalBurlingameNext47Palo Alto · since 2018NVIDIASanta Clara · since 2026Sequoia CapitalMenlo Park · $4.4M – $214M checksWebb Investment NetworkSan Francisco · $500K – $750K checksXYZ Venture CapitalSan Francisco · $10K – $5M checks

Co-founders at Verkada

FKFilip Kaliszan
Filip KaliszanFounder & CEO
HRHans Robertson
Hans RobertsonDirector
BB
Benjamin BercovitzExecutive Officer, Director
JR
James RenExecutive Officer

Experience

  1. N47Global Managing Partner & Founding CEOcurrent2016 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  2. Aurasell AIBoard Membercurrent2024 — presentSan Mateo, California, United States
  3. VerkadaBoard Membercurrent2018 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  4. VAST DataBoard Membercurrent2020 — presentNew York, United States
  5. TRACTIANBoard Membercurrent2022 — presentAtlanta, Georgia, United States
  6. sennderInvestorcurrent2019 — presentBerlin, Germany
  7. Observe.AIInvestorcurrent2020 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  8. PandoCorpBoard Observercurrent2019 — present
  9. TigerEyeInvestor2022 — 2026San Francisco Bay Area
  10. MarkforgedBoard Member2017 — 2021Cambridge, Massachusetts
  11. Shape SecurityInvestor2016
  12. Barefoot NetworksInvestor2016
  13. ThoughtSpotBoard Observer2016
  14. Mesosphere, Inc.Board Observer2016
  15. HexaditeInvestor2016
  16. Tamr Inc.Investor2015 — 2016
  17. Playground.GlobalBoard Observer2015 — 2016
  18. Chef SoftwareInvestor2015 — 2016
  19. HPVice President, Strategy and Corporate Development, Managing Director, Hewlett Packard Pathfinder2011 — 2016Palo Alto, CA
  20. MphasisBoard of Directors2013 — 2016Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
  21. AdallomInvestor2015
  22. Cisco SystemsStrategy and Corporate Development Executive2008 — 2011San Jose, CA
  23. Kauffman FellowsFellow2007 — 2009Menlo Park, California, United States
  24. Bridgescale PartnersKauffman Fellow2006 — 2008Menlo Park, CA
  25. 3iPrivate Equity Investor2005 — 2006Singapore
  26. Cambridge Technology PartnersPartner1997 — 2004San Mateo, CA
  27. American Management SystemsSenior Associate1996 — 1997Fairfax, VA

Education

  1. INSEADMaster of Business Administration - MBA2004 — 2005
  2. The Wharton SchoolMaster of Business Administration - MBA2005
  3. Kansas State UniversityMaster of Science - MS, Electrical Engineering1994 — 1996
  4. College of Engineering, GuindyBachelor’s Degree, Electrical and Electronics Engineering1990 — 1994

Skills & more

SaaS41Enterprise Software20Software as a Service (SaaS)5Early Stage InvestmentInvestments36Acquisitions20Corporate Development55Venture Capital99Private Equity37Product Development24Valuation11Entrepreneurship14
+12 moreStart-upsStrategic PartnershipsStrategic AlliancesEnterprise ArchitectureMergers & AcquisitionsEmerging MarketsAnalyticsCloud ComputingExecutive ManagementIntegrationFinancial ModelingStrategy

Languages Tamil

From Lak's professional profile.

Deals · 1

VerkadaQuoted

via Next47 · filed Mar 2018

press ↗

Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.

Colleagues at Next47

Assaf Jacobi
Venture Partner at Next47
Ching-Yu Hu
Partner at Next47
Colton Dempsey
Partner at Next47
Eric Landau
Investor at Next47
Eva Riesenhuber
Partner at Next47
Fred Ellis
Partner at Next47
Gadi Fisher
Senior Associate at Next47
Gautham Pasupathy
Senior Associate at Next47

Frequently asked questions

Who is Lak Ananth?
Lak Ananth is Global Managing Partner and Founding CEO of N47, a venture capital firm investing in infrastructure, applications, data systems, and connected devices. He serves on the boards of Verkada, VAST Data, Tractian, and AuraSell, companies in which N47 invested based on demonstrated product-market fit.
Where does Lak Ananth work?
Lak Ananth is Managing Partner at Next47 and Board director at Tractian and Board director at Verkada.
What check size does Lak Ananth write?
Lak Ananth typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.
Where did Lak Ananth go to school?
Lak Ananth studied at INSEAD (Master of Business Administration - MBA); The Wharton School (Master of Business Administration - MBA); Kansas State University (Master of Science - MS, Electrical Engineering).

Same school

Also attended INSEAD776

Alexandre ProtCo-founder & CEO of QontoSteve AnaviCo-founder & President of QontoPatrick ClaessenPartner at Cottonwood Technology FundChris BischoffInvestment Team at General CatalystJan HammerInvestor at Index VenturesSandra SchwarzerInvestor at Index Ventures

+ 770 more

Also attended The Wharton School1,484

Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesSarah GuoFounder & General Partner of ConvictionJosh KopelmanFounder and Partner at First Round CapitalAydin SenkutFounder & Managing Partner at FelicisKunal BahlCo-founder of Snapdeal; co-founder of Titan CapitalJack AbrahamFounder, CEO & Managing Partner of Atomic

+ 1,478 more

Also attended Kansas State University27

Bryan BischofHead of AI at Theory VenturesBenjamin DeZubeGrowth Investor at Five Elms CapitalErin GreenAnalyst, Talent at Five Elms CapitalJim NyquistAdvisor at ChrysalixLydia KinkadeInvestor at Iron PrairieBart MulSenior Investment Manager at BOM

+ 21 more

Also attended College of Engineering, Guindy12

Karthee MadasamyManaging Partner at MFV PartnersHariharan PremkumarManaging Director & Head of India at DSG Consumer PartnersRam NagappanVenture Partner at SixThirty VenturesChinnu SenthilkumarManaging Partner at Exfinity VenturesKrishnakumar NatarajanManaging Partner at Mela VenturesS. SomasegarManaging Director at Madrona Venture Group at Mela Ventures

+ 6 more

Shared employers

Also worked at VAST Data18

Yoram SnirPartner at 83NorthMoshe ZilbersteinGeneral Partner at Next47Assaf JacobiVenture Partner at Next47Scott DarlingPresident at Dell Technologies CapitalMor GrabliSenior Associate at ClaltechYuda DoronFounding Partner at Greenfield Partners

+ 12 more

Also worked at sennder9

David KuczekInvestor at HV CapitalFelix KlührInvestor at HV CapitalSonali De RyckerPartner at AccelAlexandra KurmulisInvestment Manager at CapnamicSrinidhi RaoPartner at Next47Louis SévinAssociate at Lauxera Capital Partners

+ 3 more

Also worked at Barefoot Networks330

Jim GoetzPartner at Sequoia CapitalSundeep PeechuGeneral Partner at Felicis VenturesKarim FarisInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Viswa SankaranarayananVenture Partner at Monta Vista CapitalJob SimonVenture Partner and CTO at Monta Vista CapitalAssaf ArakiInvestment Director at Intel Capital

+ 324 more

Also worked at Cisco Systems330

Peter FentonGeneral Partner at BenchmarkCyan BanisterCo-founder & General Partner at Long Journey VenturesMike VolpiInvestor at Index VenturesAdamAdvisor at Clear VenturesHowardAdvisor at Clear VenturesWendy XiaoPartner at Northzone

+ 324 more