Jay Levy | Source | Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Zelkova Ventures
Jay Levy
Jay Levy is Managing Partner of Zelkova Ventures. Jay focuses most of his time working with the current portfolio companies and looking at new investments in the software-as-a-service, Internet media and green tech space. Since 2014 Jay has invested in over 90 startup companies with 35 successful exits. Some notable investments include Alloy, Automox, Broadlume, Crimson Hexagon, Customer.io, Encoding.com, Helpscout, Hungryroot, Klout, Lendkey, Locus Energy, Podia, Rapportive, Simplecast, Stitch, Superhuman and Vitally.
Jay launched his entrepreneurial career while in high school with his first web-services firm, providing web development services to early stage companies. After high school Jay moved to New Jersey to attend Rutgers University, where he studied finance & political science. While at Rutgers he helped to launch uconnections.com, an Internet portal for college students merging the office campus community with the dorm. While still in college Jay went to work for Morgan Stanley working on the development of their separately managing account business. After leaving Morgan Stanley Jay helped to launch MPI Professionals, a New York based financial service consultancy, which was later acquired by a publicly traded multi-national.
Jay has been a recipient of the Crain’s top 5 Entrepreneurs to watch in New York and received the 40 under 40 Award from Westchester County. He has also been a mentor to Techstars for over 10 years and is currently an LP is several other venture funds.
Jay resides in Miami. In his free time he enjoys playing golf, tennis, fishing and running.
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Uproot Wines
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Alloy
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Onboard.io
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Jay Levy: SaaS VC Looking For Startups To Invest In -
Jay Levy, a venture capitalist with SaaS experience, is looking for startups to invest in. In this video, he shares some tips on how to find and pitch your startup to an SaaS VC.If you're looking for a SaaS VC to invest in your startup, then be sure to watch this video! Jay Levy has
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One thing that SVB has going for a potential acquirer is access to the venture capital asset class, said Jay Levy, co-founder and partner of Zelkova Ventures.
“There seems to be a positive sentiment around SVB from the founder and investor community,” Levy said. “This probably will make a potential acquisition more appealing to another bank.”
Another option: The private market could also come to the rescue with some kind of recapitalization as an independent bank with PE and VC backing, Levy added.
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Jay Levy, co-founder of Miami-based venture capital firm Zelkova Ventures, said the ripple effects could get worse next week without some form of intervention.
"SVB was wound in many parts of the ecosystem," Levy told Law360. "Most of the coverage has been on the companies, but many venture funds also banked with them. There will be companies that can't make payroll next week, and their VCs won't be able to provide quick money without capital calls to [limited partners], as many also banked with SVB."
"The best outcome would be an announcement of a bank buying them out," Levy added. "If that is not the case, we may need to see urgent government support so companies can make payroll next week."
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“You must have a passion for the business you are building, the customers you are serving and the problems you are solving,” says Jay Levy, Managing Partner at Zelkova Ventures in Miami. “If you love what your business is doing, this won’t eliminate the stress, but it will help push you through the challenging times.”