The Moxie Awards
VC of the Year
We are pleased to announce the following outstanding investors as our finalists for The Moxie Awards' VC of the Year.
Adam Koopersmith
Partner - New World Ventures
Adam joined New World Ventures in 2004 and primarily focuses on identifying opportunities and building successful companies dedicated to bringing to market novel SaaS applications, interactive marketing solutions or interactive health applications.
Adam currently serves on the boards of Advantage Optics, Alliance Health Networks, Firm58, HyperQuest, Kontiki and Sittercity, and works closely EduLender and Zinch. Adam also serves on the Investment Committee for the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund (i2A) – a public-private seed-stage investment fund, and on the Board of Excelerate, a mentor-driven seed investment program based in Chicago. Adam graduated with a B.S. in economics with concentrations in finance and international management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management with concentrations in organizational behavior and decision sciences.
Jim Dugan
Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder and Managing Partner - OCA Ventures
Prior to co-founding OCA Ventures in 2001, Jim oversaw the OCA Ventures Pledge Fund which made direct venture capital investments for the O’Connor Partners Investment Office. Jim has board responsibilities for EdMap, Midi, TDJM, Javlin Specialty Finance, Base 2 Capital, Techskills, Cleversafe and SumRidge.
Jim received a BA in Economics from the University of Rochester and earned his MBA (MM) from the JL Kellogg Graduate School of Management. In addition to his responsibilities at OCA Ventures, Jim is a founding member of the Illinois Venture Capital Association (IVCA), where he formerly served five years as Treasurer, Director and member of the Executive Committee. Prior to serving as Treasurer, Jim was the Chairman of the Legislative Committee for the IVCA, in which capacity he helped establish HB 3212 as Illinois law.
Jim is a frequent guest lecturer and panelist at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and Chicago Booth GSB. Jim is also a board member of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center (CEC), NU Wave, AVAC Fund, and a charter member of Tie Network Chicago. Jim is Co-Founder and Treasurer of www.SmartBet.org.
Lon Chow
General Partner - Apex Venture Partners
Lon is a general partner with investment focus in software applications and technology-enabled services. Prior to joining Apex, Lon was a partner with Mercer Management Consulting (formerly Strategic Planning Associates), where he developed and implemented growth strategies for clients in computing, media, and telecommunications industries. He also held various operating management positions with Pacific Telesis. Lon received an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Davis.
Lon currently serves on the boards of Analyte Health, ALI Solutions, Appolicious, Current Analysis, Sittercity, TargetData, and Timelines. He is a board observer of Trunk Club. Lon's outside board membership includes Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center and Viewpoints Network
Lon's previous investments included ICON Solutions (acquired by AnswerThink), KnowledgeStorm (acquired by TechTarget), PlaceWare (acquired by Microsoft), Shoebuy.com (acquired by IAC/InterActiveCorp), Thinque Systems (acquired by MEI), Tradex Technologies (acquired by Ariba) and WorldPrints (acquired by At Home).
Matt McCall
Partner - New World Ventures
Matt joined New World Ventures in 2009 and remains co-founder & Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson Portage Venture Partners. Matt’s current and past investments include Analyte Media, Apptera, BrightTag, Cognitive Concepts (acquired by Houghton Mifflin), Everdream (acquired by Dell), Feedburner (acquired by Google), Imago Scientific (acquired by Ametek), Lefthand Networks (acquired by HP), Performics (acquired by DoubleClick/Google), Playdom (acquired by Disney), Siimpel (acquired by Tessera), and TicketsNow (acquired by Ticketmaster). He is currently on the boards of Analyte Media and Apptera.
Matt has been honored by Crain’s Chicago Business on its annual “40 under 40″ list of leading Chicagoans under age 40, named to the AlwaysOn Top 100 VC’s in the US list and as one of the most prominent members of Chicago’s technology community. Matt has keynoted or been a panelist at over 70 area conferences and events nationwide. He has served on the advisory on numerous regional high technology advisory boards. Matt is the author of a popular venture blog, VCConfidential.com. He is also a founder & trustee of the McCall Family Foundation, focused encouraging social entrepreneurship and global human/women’s rights.
Matt graduated with a B.A. in economics and history from Williams College and earned an M.B.A. with honors from Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He also holds a Masters in Manufacturing Management from Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering.
Paul Lee
Partner - Lightbank
Paul joined Lightbank as a Partner in February 2011. At Lightbank, Paul led the firm’s investments in BabbaCo, Contently, ElaCarte, Lifecrowd, Udemy, and WhosHere. Previously, Paul was Managing Director and Group Head for Digital Ventures at Playboy Enterprises where he was responsible for acquiring, investing in, and launching digital businesses on behalf of the enterprise. In addition, Paul also spearheaded the digital strategy implemented in positioning the company for a take-private transaction. Prior to Playboy, Paul was a founding member and Senior Vice President at the Peacock Equity Fund, a joint venture between NBC Universal and GE Capital. In his capacity as a Partner, Paul's representative Board and Observer seats include 4INFO, Greystripe, and Ramp. He first started in digital media as part of the co-founding team of Click2Asia, a venture-backed online media company.
Paul received a dual undergraduate degree in Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences (MMSS) and Economics from Northwestern University.
