Raja Ghawi is a Partner at Era Ventures, a venture capital firm he joined at inception in 2022 to drive transformational change in our physical world.

Prior to joining Era, Raja worked at Suffolk Construction. While there, he helped to found Suffolk’s venture arm, Suffolk Technologies, which invests in startups in the AEC industry and helps them to scale by leveraging Suffolk’s network and resources. At the end of 2020, he was named Suffolk Tech’s Investment Director. While at Suffolk, he founded and led Boost, Suffolk Technologies’ accelerator program, the leading AEC innovation accelerator, which has since graduated 30 companies.

Before joining Suffolk, Raja worked for McKinsey & Company in Boston and spent meaningful time at QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI/ML arm. A native of Syria and a Harvard graduate, Raja currently lives in Brooklyn. He’s an avid reader, a budding cyclist, and a big fan of Brooklyn’s underground art scene.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Era Ventures invests in innovation in the physical world
• What got Raja really excited about VC
• How he joined Era at inception
• Some of his favorite portfolio companies throughout that time
• Types of industries that he works with in the physical world (real estate, construction, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, etc.)
• Where he sees the physical world going in 2026
• The impact of inflation and labor shortages on these industries
• Spending more time in robotics and physical AI
• The problems that come with go to market - how to prove your products work
• How robots can be used for growth in companies
• What Raja looks for when investing in startups
• The importance of having a trusted community/network who will try your product

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into investing in the physical world!

Lily Vittayarukskul, Waterlily's CEO and Co-Founder, was on the path to become an aerospace engineer at an exceptionally young age, a patented inventor, starting college at 14 and interning at NASA by 16. But her life took an unexpected turn when her Aunt, a cornerstone of her first-generation immigrant family, was diagnosed with terminal stage colon cancer.

Post chemotherapy her family was shocked to learn that health insurance doesn't cover long-term care costs, driving their family to provide care from the home, stepping away from work and school to take on the physically demanding tasks of daily caregiving.

This devastating event revealed the profound gaps in the healthcare preparedness of most families, leaving lasting impacts on her own. Determined to ensure a future where no one else would face the same hardships, Lily shifted her focus from aerospace engineering to healthcare innovation.

Graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in Genetics and Data Science, Lily led product and engineering teams at multiple startups before founding Waterlily, a company dedicated to making healthcare and its costs accessible, understandable, and empowering for all.

During this episode, we discuss:

• What she does at Waterlily
• How she got the idea for her startup
• The expense that goes into long-term care
• The solutions that Waterlily offers
• Why parents shouldn’t be paying for this
• How Lily never wanted to become a founder but what led her away from being an aerospace engineer
• Why she did a lot of things YC teaches you not to do
• What led her to bringing on a co-founder
• Her advice for anyone looking to fundraise

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things long-term care!

Sarah Mattina is a strategic communications consultant with nearly a decade of experience across startups, venture capital, and financial communications. She has held in-house roles leading communications at JetBlue Ventures, the National Venture Capital Association, and Southwest Airlines, and has advised founders and funds alike at Edelman Smithfield.

As founder of Mattina Media, Sarah partners with her clients on funding announcements, product launches, and executive visibility, with a specialty in translating complex offerings into compelling, media-ready narratives.

During this episode, we discuss:

• How Sarah started her career in aviation but how she wanted to pivot from an internal comms role to external comms role
• What led her to starting her own PR firm with two previous clients that saw her LinkedIn post and wanted her to do fractional work
• If you don’t ask, the answer is always no
• We’re all our own worst critics at the end of the day
• How VCs and startups benefit from working with a professional for PR & comms
• Why it’s important to have owned and earned media
• What the communications flywheel is and how you can repurpose media multiple times
• When to get started with bringing in an external PR & comms expert
• How VC firms become media engines

And more. Tune into this episode as we dive into all things PR and media!