Rafaella Fontes
InvestorVenture Partner at Fulcrum Venture
Brooklyn, New York
Writes $200K β $1M checks Β· typically $500K
About
Rafaella Fontes is Director of Strategy and Operations at BackEngine, an AI software company that provides organizational knowledge integration to reduce errors and costs. She also serves as a venture partner at Fulcrum Venture Group, focusing on investments in energy resilience and industrial capacity technologies. Fontes holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and dual degrees in Economics and Sociology from Columbia University.
Experience
- BackEngineDirector of Strategy and Operationscurrent2025 β presentLos Angeles, California, United States
- PavilionExecutive Membercurrent2025 β present
- Fulcrum Venture GroupVenture Partnercurrent2024 β presentLos Angeles, California, United States
- Global Women in VCMembercurrent2024 β present
- Emerging Venture Capitalists Association (EVCA)Defense & Space Tech Vertical Lead2025 β 2026
- SOUNDWavesInvestor2024Los Angeles, California, United States
- Latina Venture StudentsCo President2021 β 2024
- GoingVC PartnersInvestor2022 β 2024
- Supply Change CapitalInvestor2022 β 2023
- Supply Change CapitalVenture Capital Fellow2021 β 2022
- InSiteInSITE Venture Fellow2020 β 2021
- MIT Clean Energy PrizeEvent Director2020 β 2021
- Champagne BollingerU.S. Brand Director2018 β 2020Greater New York City Area
- Savio Soares SelectonsAccount Manager2016 β 2018Greater New York City Area
- Wolffer Estate VineyardDigital Marketing Manager2015 β 2016Sagaponack, NY
- Wolffer Estate VineyardLaboratory Assistant / Cellar Hand2015Long Island, NY
- National Executive Service CorpsSummer Analyst2014Greater New York City Area
- Columbia University in the City of New YorkPsychology Research Assistant2011 β 2013
- Columbia University in the City of New YorkResearch Associate2012
- Columbia University in the City of New YorkOrientation Leader2012
Skills & more
French7Italian4PortugueseProject Management1Data AnalysisPattern MatchingTeam ManagementDue DiligenceSourcingMicrosoft Office6HTML5Keynote4
+11 more
AweberPhotoshopGoToMeetingManaging EventsPublic RelationsPublic SpeakingEditingOrganized Multi-taskerAnalysisWritingListening to customersLanguages English Β· French Β· Italian Β· Portuguese
From Rafaella's professional profile.
Colleagues at Fulcrum Venture
Andrew Bartholomew
Founder and Managing Partner at Fulcrum Venture
Brandon Bodor
Operating Partner at Fulcrum Venture
Brandon Karpf
Investor at Fulcrum Venture
Chris Miller
Advisor at Fulcrum Venture
Dave Horvath
Vice President at Disruptive
Fred Havemeyer
Investor at Fulcrum Venture
Lizzie Rezabek
Investor at Fulcrum Venture
Matthew Kuta
Advisor at Fulcrum Venture
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Rafaella Fontes?
- Rafaella Fontes is Director of Strategy and Operations at BackEngine, an AI software company that provides organizational knowledge integration to reduce errors and costs. She also serves as a venture partner at Fulcrum Venture Group, focusing on investments in energy resilience and industrial capacity technologies. Fontes holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and dual degrees in Economics and Sociology from Columbia University.
- Where does Rafaella Fontes work?
- Rafaella Fontes is Venture Partner at Fulcrum Venture.
- What check size does Rafaella Fontes write?
- Rafaella Fontes typically writes checks of $200K β $1M.
- Where did Rafaella Fontes go to school?
- Rafaella Fontes studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Master of Business Administration - MBA); GoingVC (Cohort 10, Venture Capital); Columbia University (Bachelor of Arts (BA), Economics and Sociology).
Same school
Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology1,521
Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square VenturesElad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalAileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy VenturesHemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General CatalystNat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDGBrad FeldCo-founder of Foundry and Techstars
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Also attended GoingVC18
Eugene YangFund Operations Director at Keyhorse CapitalJordan CroomInvestor at Side Door VenturesJay FraserInvestor at Side Door VenturesKevin BernalSenior Associate at Mighty CapitalCharles BeyrouthyFounder & Managing Partner at Forma PrimeDianthe Harris SkurkoVenture Partner at Forma Prime
+ 12 more
Also attended Columbia University895
Ben HorowitzCo-founder & General Partner at Andreessen HorowitzDoug LeonePartner at Sequoia Capital; former Global Managing PartnerChris DixonFounder & Managing Partner of a16z crypto at Andreessen HorowitzKai-Fu LeeChairman of Sinovation Ventures and CEO of 01.AIGabriella GiglioHR & Executive Talent at General CatalystScott BillerInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)
+ 889 more
Also attended Shady Side Academy10
Carolyn WollAssociate at Volition CapitalDoug SpearManaging Director at Service Provider CapitalSaxon BaumManaging Partner at Florida FundersTimothy YoungCo-Founder and General Partner at Eniac VenturesLauren WilliamsPrincipal at 412 Venture FundBo StewartAssociate at Digitalis Ventures
+ 4 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Pavilion49
Travis BryantSales Leadership at Redpoint VenturesTony YangPortfolio Growth at Mucker CapitalMax AltschulerFounder & General Partner at GTMfundSophie BuonassisiSVP of Marketing at GTMfundCagdas YildizInvestment | Simya VC at 212Oliver ManojlovicVP Sales at Personio at PICUS CAPITAL
+ 43 more
Also worked at Emerging Venture Capitalists Association (EVCA)28
Chaya PatelPrincipal at Mission BiocapitalZoe van den BolInvestor at Alpha PartnersStefan SandovalPrincipal at SKY VCIan BalserAnalyst at Tech Square VenturesCasy van MaanenAssociate at GTMfundNatan ReddyPrincipal at Ironspring Venture
+ 22 more
Also worked at Champagne Bollinger1
Also worked at Columbia University in the City of New York208
Reid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockRon ZoriVenture Partner at Lerer HippeauRalph DeBernardoPartner, Investor Relations at Sapphire VenturesRichard ChesworthInvestor at Third Rock VenturesAnna OglodzinskaExecutive Assistant at Sapphire VenturesJesse Coors-BlankenshipCo-founder, General Partner at Parkway Venture Capital
+ 202 more












































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