Judges

Pooja Shah is an experienced venture investor, innovation strategist, and product builder with a multidisciplinary background in engineering, design, finance, and corporate strategy. She currently advises startups and corporates on innovation, growth, go-to-market, and fundraising strategies.

Previously, Pooja invested at Avanta Ventures and QBE Ventures, sourcing and leading deals in AI, insurtech, climate tech, fintech, and SaaS, while developing theses and driving startup integration with enterprise partners. She also helped launch the OnRamp Insurance Accelerator, enabling early-stage companies to secure funding and navigate complex, regulated industries.

Earlier in her career, she also worked in healthcare investment banking at Barclays and led innovation and strategy initiatives at SageSure and QBE Insurance.

Pooja holds a Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.

Rocio Wu is a principal at F-Prime Capital leading investments in fintech, AI and enterprise software. Previously, she was an investor at Liquid 2 Ventures (founded by NFL hall of fame quarterback Joe Montana) where she invested in companies like Chipper Cash (an African cross-border payments company) and Overjet (artificial intelligence for dentistry). She was also a Sequoia Scout and angel invested in Inworld.ai, Mercury, and others still in stealth.

Before her investing career, she worked at Google and Amazon in a variety of operating roles such as CorpDev, GTM Strategy, Marketing across the U.S., Japan, Spain and China.

Sokhiba Mukhitdinova is investment principal at InsurTech NY, a venture capital fund in New York, US.

Since joining in 2022, Sokhiba’s mission is to invest in early-stage startups, backing diverse founders driving innovation in the insurance space operating in the US, UK and Europe.

Founded in 2019, InsurTech NY supports the insurance innovation community in New York and beyond through bringing together carriers, brokers, investors, and InsurTech startups.

InsurTech NY’s mission is to help support the insurance industry, take advantage of the latest digital technology to improve efficiencies and increase revenue, and be ready for the inevitable digitally transformed insurance industry.

In addition to her VC investment career, Sokhiba is certified angel investor mainly investing in early-stage fintech and climate-tech startups, she is a member of UK Business Angel Association and several angel syndicates in UK, Spain and Portugal.

Sokhiba also has strong expertise in investment banking and risk management, having worked in leading financial institutions and the City of London for over 15 years.

Xiang Li (Stella) is a lead product manager at BILL, where she spearheads the mobile platform team. Residing in Southern California, beyond her professional role, she actively contributes to the tech community as a mentor for Women in Product in San Diego and serves as a venture capital scout manager at Uphonest Capital. Stella is also the recipient of the 2024 Inspiring Fintech Female award. She is deeply passionate about startups, the democratization of technology, and innovations in technology for the elderly. Her diverse expertise and commitment to advancing technology accessibility make her a valued leader and influencer in the tech industry.

Will Bryant is the co-founder and head of business development for Quantalytix. Prior to founding the company, Will worked at Regions Bank (NYSE: RF) in Corporate Treasury where he helped run a portfolio of small business private equity investments. Additional career experience includes investment banking, asset management, and wealth management. In Will’s spare time he likes to exercise, mountain climb, and help non-profits develop their organizations.