Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​This month, Bhuva's guest is Adrianna Samaniego, a Partner at Cherryrock Capital, venture firm focused on leading an and co-leading Series A & B rounds in underinvested founding teams.

​About Adrianna Samaniego:
Adrianna Samaniego is a Partner at Cherryrock Capital, venture firm focused on leading an and co-leading Series A & B rounds in underinvested founding teams. At Cherryrock, Adrianna applies her extensive experience to support the best emerging technology startups in scaling from $1M to $100M+.

​Prior to Cherryrock, Adrianna was a Partner at Female Founders Fund, a leading early-stage fund investing in female-founded technology companies across B2B, Healthcare, Climate, and Enterprise Saas. In this role, she managed the investment team and led over twenty-five investments in rapidly growing female-led startups. Additionally, Adrianna was instrumental in establishing and managing the FFF Scout Program, which targets early-stage Black, Latine, and Indigenous female founders, as well as the FFF Entrepreneur in Residence program and the FFF MBA Program. Her investment acumen and dedication to fostering diversity in tech drive her approach to building category-defining businesses.

​Her expertise in scaling businesses is complemented by an eight-year tenure at Google, where she co-founded Emporium within Area 120, Google’s startup incubator, where she led the rapid development and launch of a B2B marketplace aimed at enhancing procurement opportunities for diverse-owned businesses. This complemented her leadership and creation of Google's Global Supplier Diversity Program, which generated over $2B in opportunities for diverse-owned companies.

​Recognized for her trailblazing efforts, Adrianna has been honored with distinctions such as Fast Company Queer50, Business Insider Rising Star in VC, a Kauffman Fellow (Class 28), University of Georgia's 40 Under 40, an Alumni Society Class of '22 member, and receiving the Top Latinas in Tech Giants award.

​A proud Mexican-American from Douglas, Arizona, Adrianna received a B.B.A. in Finance from University of Georgia and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

​About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:
​​​​Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. She is also the founder of Bhuva’s Impact Global, offering board and enterprise risk advisory services for public and private corporations.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

​Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​This month, Bhuva's guest is Emma Leavy, Investor at Gratitude Railroad where she oversees due diligence, portfolio management, and fund thesis development.

​About Emma Leavy:
​Emma Leavy is a Principal at Gratitude Railroad, where she leads the direct investing team for Gratitude Ventures Fund II. She has led 10+ transactions and sits on the boards of Cofertility and Climax Foods. She invests at the Seed / Series A level with an average first check of $1M into companies delivering both top-quartile venture returns as well as system-level impact in renewables, food systems, and social wellbeing. Emma started her career as a management consultant working with tech companies in the US and Asia, then pivoted into international development and impact investing. As the Director of Grant Programs at Comic Relief, she managed a portfolio of $167 million in impact investments and launched a new $6 million innovation fund. She has two postgraduate degrees that speak to the two sides of her heart (impact & business), a Masters in Peace & Conflict Studies as a fully funded Ransome Scholar at the University of St. Andrews and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas.

About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments. Supporting sustainable innovations is good for people's wellbeing, planet survival, and financial profits.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:

Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.

​​Bhuva’s leadership and risk governance oversight, during the global financial crisis and the pandemic, was pivotal for the success of regulatory compliance and mergers acquisitions at the world's top banks and credit rating institutions. Bhuva is a board director and C-Suite advisor for people and planet friendly businesses, without compromising profits, and a keynote and TEDx speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partnerships.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

​​Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​​​This month, Bhuva's guest is Claire Biernacki, Partner at BBG Ventures, a seed and pre-seed venture fund leading investments in female or diverse founders who are uniquely qualified to build for our polycultural future - it was one of the first funds to put a stake in the ground around backing overlooked founders in 2014.

​About Claire Biernacki
​Claire Biernacki is a Partner at BBG Ventures, where she focuses primarily on healthcare and vertical AI. She joined BBGV as the first investment team member in Fund I while completing her MBA at Columbia Business School. During her time at Columbia, Claire worked at Lerer Hippeau and gained operating experience at early-stage startups including Studs and Koio. She also served as Co-President of the Columbia Venture Club. Prior to business school, she was on the investment teams at Pomona Capital and Cult Capital, after starting her career in investment banking at Bank of America. Claire earned her BS in Business and BA in French from UNC-Chapel Hill. She also enjoys running, going to ballet performances and teaching yoga in her free time.

​About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments. Supporting sustainable innovations is good for people's wellbeing, planet survival, and financial profits.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:

Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.

​​Bhuva’s leadership and risk governance oversight, during the global financial crisis and the pandemic, was pivotal for the success of regulatory compliance and mergers acquisitions at the world's top banks and credit rating institutions. Bhuva is a board director and C-Suite advisor for people and planet friendly businesses, without compromising profits, and a keynote and TEDx speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partnerships.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

​​Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​​This month, Bhuva's guests are Puja Balachander and Sarah Jones of Carbon13, where they support pre-seed/seed stage climate tech startups to accelerate their progress. Both are focused on establishing Carbon13's place as a leading investor in climate tech and expanding out its proposition in the space.

​​About Puja Balachandar:
Puja Balachander is a climate tech entrepreneur, investor, and product leader dedicated to accelerating the just transition. She is the co-founder of UpGreen, her second startup, which is implementing and financing retrofits at scale.

​Currently, she serves as Director of Venture at Carbon13, where she supports pre-seed and seed-stage climate tech startups using her experience in investment, product development, and commercialization.

​Previously, she was Director of Product at Think of Us, a civic tech company focused on systems change in the child welfare system. Before that, she founded and led Devie (acquired by Think of Us), a direct-to-consumer health tech startup that digitized child psychology interventions to support parents of children under five.

​Her career began in civic tech, improving public services at the City of Austin, the White House Presidential Innovation Fellows, and the World Bank in Madagascar.

​About Sarah Jones:
​Sara has worked in the London startup ecosystem since 2012, specializing in the 0-1 stage of startup building, and starting her own venture. She joined Carbon13 as its first employee in 2020, responsible for building out the talent magnet for the Carbon13 Venture Builder. She now focuses on establishing Carbon13's place as a leading investor in climatetech and expanding out its proposition. She holds a First Class degree in Classics from University College London and spends her free time wildlife watching and tending her allotment.

​About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:
Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with female investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​This month, Bhuva's guest is Emily Zhen, Principal on the investment team at Zeal Capital Partners investing in early-stage companies across Healthcare, Financial Technology, and the Future of Learning & Work.

​About Emily Zhen:

​Emily Zhen is a Principal on the investment team at Zeal Capital Partners investing in early-stage companies across Healthcare, Financial Technology and the Future of Learning & Work. She joined Zeal in June 2023 and leads their healthcare focus. Before Zeal, Emily was a healthcare investor at New Enterprise Associates (NEA), an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and an operator at two digital health startups. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees in biology and finance from The Wharton School. Emily has been recognized on the Forbes 30 under 30 List and as part of the Emerging Venture Capital (EVC) Top 25 Investors list. She is Kauffman Fellows Class 30, a member of All Raise, an advisor for Gold House’s Gold Rush Accelerator for Asian American Pacific Islander founders, and the healthcare co-lead for Emerging Venture Capitalists Association.

About Bhuva Shakti:
Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the visionary founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of executive women and venture capital investors with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth sustainable startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​​This month, Bhuva's guest is Maddi Holman, Co-Founder and General Partner at Daring Ventures in New York City. Having successfully navigated traditionally male-dominated environments, Maddi uses her resilient background to identify diamonds-in-the-rough and overlooked investment opportunities.

​​About Maddi Holman:

Maddi Holman is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Daring Ventures in New York City. She knows a thing or two about being an underdog — becoming a walk-on D1 athlete at Rice University while managing a pre-med courseload to pulling off a last-minute pivot from medicine to finance despite having never worked in the field. While in VC, Maddi worked at Touchdown Ventures supporting multiple corporate partner VC funds spanning healthcare, telecom, software, proptech, and entertainment. At Cigna Ventures, she focused on early to growth stage healthcare companies and led the women's health vertical. Having successfully navigated traditionally male-dominated environments, Maddi uses her resilient background to identify diamonds-in-the-rough and overlooked investment opportunities.

​​About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments. Supporting sustainable innovations is good for people's wellbeing, planet survival, and financial profits.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:

Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.

​​Bhuva’s leadership and risk governance oversight, during the global financial crisis and the pandemic, was pivotal for the success of regulatory compliance and mergers acquisitions at the world's top banks and credit rating institutions. Bhuva is a board director and C-Suite advisor for people and planet friendly businesses, without compromising profits, and a keynote and TEDx speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partners

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​This month, Bhuva's guest is Emma Mee, Head of Membership at Green Angel Ventures. Focusing on community building and strengthening the membership base of private investors, the syndicate of angel investors is the largest in the UK to focus on green investments, which has to date, invested over £52m into climate solutions.

​About Emma Mee:
​Emma has a 20-year background in climate and sustainability, starting at Cambridge University delivering executive education in climate and facilitating business groups to lobby for emissions regulations across Europe. After designing a start-up awards programme for Unilever, she moved to supporting impact entrepreneurs through leading a variety of accelerator programmes, including the UK's EIT Climate KIC. Emma then built a 350-strong international community of experts and mentors for climate venture builder Carbon13, and now she heads up Membership at Green Angel Ventures. Focusing on community building and strengthening the membership base of private investors, the syndicate of angel investors is the largest in the UK to focus on green investments, which has to date, invested over £52m into climate solutions.

​About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments. Supporting sustainable innovations is good for people's wellbeing, planet survival, and financial profits.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:

Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.

​​Bhuva’s leadership and risk governance oversight, during the global financial crisis and the pandemic, was pivotal for the success of regulatory compliance and mergers acquisitions at the world's top banks and credit rating institutions. Bhuva is a board director and C-Suite advisor for people and planet friendly businesses, without compromising profits, and a keynote and TEDx speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partnerships.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.

Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.

​This month her guest is Gillian Fleming, a Co-Founder, Director and MD of Mint Ventures, a women-led angel group focused on investing in women-led and diverse teams with an environmental, ethical or social purpose.

​About Gillian Fleming
Gillian is a Strategic Advisor, Non-Exec Director and Angel Investor for start-up and spin-out companies with a background in sales and marketing for the energy and engineering sector.

​She has 25 years’ experience in the entrepreneurial ecosystem both advising and nurturing early-stage ideas across multiple sectors to successfully transition to company creation and as an experienced venture capitalist.

​As honorary professor and entrepreneur in residence at the University of Stirling she provides strategic input to the International Business Advisory Board and supports women to consider entrepreneurship as a career.

​On a mission to make angel investment more accessible to women both founders and potential investors, Gillian is Co-Founder, Director and MD of Mint Ventures (Syndicate) Ltd, a women-led angel group focused on investing in women-led and diverse teams with an environmental, ethical or social purpose.

​Gillian is an Entrepreneurial Scotland Saltire Fellow, motivational speaker and judges for various accelerator programs and business competitions.

​About Wallet Max:
​Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.

Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments. Supporting sustainable innovations is good for people's wellbeing, planet survival, and financial profits.

​​About Bhuva Shakti:

Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.

Bhuva is a board director and C-Suite advisor for people and planet friendly businesses, without compromising profits, and a keynote and TEDx speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partnerships.

Join Bhuva and have a seat at the table to be on the forefront of planet positive investing. Get Tickets to an Upcoming Event Here.

Would you like to promote your brand to an engaged and loyal community in the Climate Tech Space? Become an event sponsor.

Learn more about Wallet Max and our mission on the website.