About
Biomedical scientist turned investor and Associate at Foreground Capital. Previously an Investment Associate at Hevolution Foundation, with experience at 5AM Ventures, Flagship Pioneering, and Harvard's Office of Technology Development. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital and earned her PhD at UCSF.
Experience
- Foreground CapitalAssociatecurrent2025 — present
- Hevolution FoundationInvestment Associate2024 — 2025
- Boston Children's HospitalResearch Fellow; Beth Stevens Laboratory2020 — 2024
- 5AM VenturesVenture Fellow2024
- Flagship PioneeringFlagship Fellow2023
- Harvard UniversityBusiness Development Fellow; Office of Technology Development2021 — 2023
- GSAS Harvard Biotech ClubAnalyst, Incubator Program2020 — 2021
- Gladstone InstitutesPhD Candidate; Cardiac development and single cell genomics2014 — 2019San Francisco Bay Area
- Boston Children's Hospital; Harvard Stem Cell InstituteResearch Assistant; George Daley Laboratory2011 — 2013Greater Boston
- Smith CollegeUndergraduate Student Researcher; Michael Barresi Laboratory2010 — 2011
- Smith CollegeSenior Honors Student; Steven Williams Laboratory2010 — 2011
- Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural HistorySummer Intern; John Kress Laboratory2009
Skills & more
Impact InvestingInterdisciplinary CollaborationProject ManagementBusiness DevelopmentCulture DevelopmentMolecular Biology9Research10Microscopy4Lifesciences2Life Sciences3ImmunocytochemistryBioinformatics
+11 more
Stem Cellsin Situ HybridizationDNA SequencingSequencingReverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR)Single Cell SequencingProgrammingMouse modelsProblem SolvingCreative IdeationMentoringLanguages English · Sinhalese
- Fundamentals and Applications of Clinical and Translational Research — Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center
- Harvard GSAS Mini-MBA — Harvard University
- VC University — VC University
From Yvanka's professional profile.
Colleagues at Foreground Capital
Amy Pollack
Independent Consultant and Board Member at Foreground Capital
Elizabeth Bailey
Managing Partner at Foreground Capital
Erika Seth Davies
CEO, Rhia Ventures at Foreground Capital
Janice Bourque
Managing Director of Life Sciences, Hercules Capital at Foreground Capital
Molly Ward
Chief of Staff at Foreground Capital
Stacy Feld
Regional Head, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, West North America at Foreground Capital
Stasia Obremskey
Managing Partner at Foreground Capital
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Yvanka de Soysa?
- Biomedical scientist turned investor and Associate at Foreground Capital. Previously an Investment Associate at Hevolution Foundation, with experience at 5AM Ventures, Flagship Pioneering, and Harvard's Office of Technology Development. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children's Hospital and earned her PhD at UCSF.
- Where does Yvanka de Soysa work?
- Yvanka de Soysa is Associate at Foreground Capital.
- Where did Yvanka de Soysa go to school?
- Yvanka de Soysa studied at Harvard Medical School (William Randolph Hearst Fellow in Neuroimmunology); University of California, San Francisco (Doctor of Philosophy, Biomedical Sciences); Smith College (A.B. Magna Cum Laude, Biological Sciences and International Relations).
Same school
Also attended Harvard Medical School193
Niko BonatsosVerdict Capital founder and pre-consensus investor formerly at General CatalystAnthony PhilippakisInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Ben RobbinsInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)David ReshefInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Krishna YeshwantInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Morgan CheathamPartner and Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Breyer Capital
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Also attended University of California, San Francisco100
Douglas CrawfordManaging General Partner at Mission BiocapitalLuke EvninAdvisor at MPM BioImpactCharles White, Ph.D.Principal at Illumina VenturesMatt MaurerInvestor at WVV CapitalAlec NielsenFounder & CEO, Asimov & Venture Partner at Pillar VCStephan ChristgauFounding Partner at EIR Ventures
+ 94 more
Also attended Smith College32
Natasha SharmaInvestor at True VenturesNigel CarrDirector at Acario InnovationLeah PalmerManaging Director and General Counsel at Spectrum EquitySun AltbachSenior Scientific Advisor at BOLD LongevityLaurel ToubyManaging Partner at Supernode VenturesElaine Harris-WhalenVice President of Human Resources at Level Equity
+ 26 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Boston Children's Hospital48
Sam BlackmanEntrepreneur in Residence at GV (Google Ventures)Molly RobertsonOperations Associate at Founder CollectiveNasra MohamedInvestor at Third Rock VenturesJane SuhPrincipal on the AlleyCorp Healthcare teamJohn BrownsteinSenior Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer at Flare Capital PartnersBrian ButlerPartner at Questa Capital
+ 42 more
Also worked at 5AM Ventures33
Anika GuptaInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Susan LiuInvestment Team at 8VCGisella de la RochaVice President of Legal at MPM BioImpactMira ChaurushiyaManaging Director at Westlake Village BioPartnersLucy LiuPrincipal at Longwood FundKush M ParmarManaging Partner at 5AM Ventures
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+ 27 more
Also worked at Harvard University356
Nathan BlecharczykCo-founder & CSO of AirbnbRyan SheaCo-founder of Blockstack (Stacks)Rachel HansenInvestor at Index VenturesDave MunichielloInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Nicole GaudelliEntrepreneur in Residence at GV (Google Ventures)Logan HilleLife Sciences Analyst at CincyTech
+ 350 more
