Fundraising Fox

Sydney Sykes

Investor

Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners

Menlo Park, California

Writes $25K – $20M checks · typically $15M

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

  1. NVIDIAGlobal Head of Venture Capital Alliancecurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  2. NVIDIAVenture Capital Alliance Manager2024 — 2025San Francisco Bay Area
  3. BLCK VCCo-Chair of the Boardcurrent2022 — present
  4. BLCK VCCo-Founder, Co-CEO2018 — 2022San Francisco Bay Area
  5. Lightspeed Venture PartnersPartner2022 — 2024San Francisco Bay Area
  6. Lightspeed Venture PartnersScout Investor2020 — 2022San Francisco Bay Area
  7. Wave CapitalPrincipal (internship)2021San Francisco Bay Area
  8. Dolls KillSenior Strategy & Planning Associate2020San Francisco Bay Area
  9. Dolls KillInventory Planner2019 — 2020San Francisco Bay Area
  10. Yonder DesignProject Coordinator2019San Francisco Bay Area
  11. New Enterprise Associates (NEA)Investment Analyst2016 — 2018San Francisco Bay Area
  12. Harvard Undergraduate Women in BusinessCo-President (2015), Sponsorships Chair (2014)2014 — 2016Cambridge, MA
  13. McKinsey & CompanySummer Business Analyst2015New York City, New York
  14. McKinsey & CompanySummer Business Analyst2014Greater New York City Area
  15. Pandemic LabsResearch Intern2013 — 2014Boston
  16. Massachusetts Department of TransportationIntern2013Boston, MA
  17. Proverb, LimitedIntern2013Boston, MA
  18. Harvard Student AgenciesDirector of Marketing Operations for Tutoring Services2013Cambridge, MA
  19. Federal Reserve Bank of BostonIntern (Summer 2012 & Summer 2013)2012Boston
  20. League of Historical CitiesBoston, MA Youth Representative and Presenter2010Nara, Japan

Education

  1. Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessMaster of Business Administration - MBA, Business
  2. Harvard UniversityBachelor of Arts (B.A.), Psychology
  3. Milton Academy

Skills & more

Customer Service7Research14Event Planning10Data Analysis14Marketing8Nonprofits6Microsoft Office11Microsoft Word7PowerPoint16Microsoft Excel10InDesign4Strategy10

Languages English · Spanish

From Sydney's professional profile.

Colleagues at Lightspeed Venture Partners

Aaron Batalion
General Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Adam Goldberg
Investments at Standard Crypto
Aditya Sharma
Partner, Growth Equity - India & Asia - Pacific at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Akshay Bhushan
Venture Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Alexander Schmitt
Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Anoushka Vaswani
Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Antoine Moyroud
Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners
Arif Janmohamed
Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners

Frequently asked questions

Where does Sydney Sykes work?
Sydney Sykes is Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.
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.

Same school

Also attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business1,293

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

+ 1,287 more

Also attended Harvard University1,465

Alfred LinPartner at Sequoia CapitalChris DixonFounder & Managing Partner of a16z crypto at Andreessen HorowitzSarah TavelVenture Partner at BenchmarkDanny RimerPartner at Index VenturesLaela SturdyManaging Partner at CapitalGRyan IsonoDeal Partner at Felicis Ventures

+ 1,459 more

Also attended Milton Academy46

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

+ 40 more

Shared employers

Also worked at BLCK VC31

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

+ 25 more

Also worked at New Enterprise Associates (NEA)118

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)

+ 112 more

Also worked at Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business1

Charlotte StephensAnalyst at Clocktower Ventures

Also worked at McKinsey & Company1,457

Elad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil CapitalJim BreyerFounder & CEO of Breyer CapitalAnn Miura-KoCo-founding Partner at FloodgateJeremy LiewPartner at Lightspeed Venture PartnersMike SpeiserManaging Director at Sutter Hill VenturesJeremy LevinePartner at Bessemer Venture Partners

+ 1,451 more