Sydney Sykes
InvestorGlobal Head of Venture Capital Alliance at NVIDIA
Menlo Park, California
Writes $25K – $20M checks · typically $15M
Find your path to Sydney
1,095 people in our graph share verified history with Sydney — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Crystal HuangunlockedSydney: together at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) (2018)
×7Sydney: together at McKinsey & Company
Sydney: together at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
×2Sydney: together at BLCK VC
About
Sydney Sykes co-founded a nonprofit to double Black investors and leverages a nationwide community as her deal‑flow secret sauce, applying a psychology- and economics‑based lens to find founders with grit.
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningConsumerEnterprise SoftwareFintechHealthtech
Experience
- NVIDIAGlobal Head of Venture Capital Alliancecurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- NVIDIAVenture Capital Alliance Manager2024 — 2025San Francisco Bay Area
- BLCK VCCo-Chair of the Boardcurrent2022 — present
- BLCK VCCo-Founder, Co-CEO2018 — 2022San Francisco Bay Area
- Lightspeed Venture PartnersPartner2022 — 2024San Francisco Bay Area
- Lightspeed Venture PartnersScout Investor2020 — 2022San Francisco Bay Area
- Wave CapitalPrincipal (internship)2021San Francisco Bay Area
- Dolls KillSenior Strategy & Planning Associate2020San Francisco Bay Area
- Dolls KillInventory Planner2019 — 2020San Francisco Bay Area
- Yonder DesignProject Coordinator2019San Francisco Bay Area
- New Enterprise Associates (NEA)Investment Analyst2016 — 2018San Francisco Bay Area
- Harvard Undergraduate Women in BusinessCo-President (2015), Sponsorships Chair (2014)2014 — 2016Cambridge, MA
- McKinsey & CompanySummer Business Analyst2015New York City, New York
- McKinsey & CompanySummer Business Analyst2014Greater New York City Area
- Pandemic LabsResearch Intern2013 — 2014Boston
- Massachusetts Department of TransportationIntern2013Boston, MA
- Proverb, LimitedIntern2013Boston, MA
- Harvard Student AgenciesDirector of Marketing Operations for Tutoring Services2013Cambridge, MA
- Federal Reserve Bank of BostonIntern (Summer 2012 & Summer 2013)2012Boston
- League of Historical CitiesBoston, MA Youth Representative and Presenter2010Nara, Japan
Skills & more
Customer Service7Research14Event Planning10Data Analysis14Marketing8Nonprofits6Microsoft Office11Microsoft Word7PowerPoint16Microsoft Excel10InDesign4Strategy10
Languages English · Spanish
From Sydney's professional profile.
Colleagues at NVIDIA
Alán Aspuru-Guzik
Professor of Chemistry and Computer Science at Propagator Ventures
Brooke Seawell
Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)
Can Celik
Founder at herdr
Dr. Marco Pavone
Investor at AV8 Ventures
Erikan Obotetukudo
Founder and Managing Partner at Audacity Global
Garnet Heraman
Founder and Managing Partner at Aperture Venture Capital
Jonathan Ross
Founder of Groq; inventor of Google's TPU — now at Nvidia
Jure Leskovec
Advisory Board at Silicon Gardens
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Sydney Sykes?
- Sydney Sykes co-founded a nonprofit to double Black investors and leverages a nationwide community as her deal‑flow secret sauce, applying a psychology- and economics‑based lens to find founders with grit.
- Where does Sydney Sykes work?
- Sydney Sykes is Global Head of Venture Capital Alliance at NVIDIA.
- What does Sydney Sykes invest in?
- Sydney Sykes invests in AI & Machine Learning, Consumer, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Healthtech.
- What check size does Sydney Sykes write?
- Sydney Sykes typically writes checks of $25K – $20M.
- Where did Sydney Sykes go to school?
- Sydney Sykes studied at Stanford University Graduate School of Business (Master of Business Administration - MBA, Business); Harvard University (Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology); Milton Academy.
Same school
Also attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business2,000
Roelof BothaAdvisor & former Steward at Sequoia Capital; SpaceX board memberPeter FentonGeneral Partner at BenchmarkSteve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesDavid SzeAdvisory Partner at GreylockKatherine BoyleGeneral Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism)Hunter WalkCo-founder & Partner at Homebrew
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Harvard University2,000
Ron ConwayFounder of SV AngelAlfred LinPartner at Sequoia CapitalChris DixonFounder & Managing Partner of a16z crypto at Andreessen HorowitzSarah TavelVenture Partner at BenchmarkDanny RimerPartner at Index VenturesLaela SturdyManaging Partner at CapitalG
+ 1,994 more
Also attended Milton Academy62
TinaInvestments & Portfolio Services Team Member at Clear VenturesSteve BrotmanManaging Partner, Founder at Alpha PartnersPeter KellnerManaging Partner of Richmond GlobalJordan WindmuellerPartner at BA CapitalJohn NylenChief Revenue Officer at Asymmetric Capital PartnersClaire Hughes JohnsonCorporate Officer, Stripe at Operator Collective
+ 56 more
Shared employers
Also worked at BLCK VC35
Solomon HailuPartner at March Capital PartnersMaya MatthewsSenior Associate at March Capital PartnersBrian HollinsFounder at Collide CapitalShila Nieves BurneyManaging Partner at Zane Venture FundMichael FanfantGeneral Partner at Runa CapitalDenny GabrielVC Investor at Runa Capital
+ 29 more
Also worked at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)129
Scott SandellExecutive Chairman & Chief Investment Officer at NEACrystal HuangInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Matt SacksInvestor at LightbankJai SajnaniInvestor at Khosla VenturesAjay VasheeInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)Micherice TaoInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)
+ 123 more
Also worked at Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business1
Also worked at McKinsey & Company2,000
Elad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalAnn Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at FloodgateJeremy LiewPartner at Lightspeed Venture PartnersMike SpeiserManaging Director at Sutter Hill VenturesJeremy LevinePartner at Bessemer Venture PartnersFabrice GrindaCo-founder & Managing Partner at FJ Labs
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+ 1,994 more