Jake Ledbetter has been a Researcher at SVB since January 2022, having spent several years conducting research and consulting projects in the private equity and venture capital space. Prior to joining SVB, Jake worked for six years at Bella Research Group, a boutique consulting firm specializing in private markets. While at Bella, Jake worked with a number of PE/VC firms, institutional investors, and government organizations to develop solutions to some of the industry’s most pressing challenges. Jake holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Duke University and a Bachelor’s degree, also in Economics, from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is a CFA charterholder.

Sanjay Nath co-founded Blume with Karthik Reddy in 2011. Sectorally, he focuses on cross-border AI and SaaS investments and also oversees Blume’s Go To Market platform initiatives.  Sanjay has overseen investments in some of Blume’s leading portfolio companies such as Atomicwork, Sprinto, PixxelSpace, Grey Orange Robotics, Lambdatest, Locus, SiftHub, Dataweave, Tricog, Yulu, Minjar (acquired by Nutanix), Agaralabs (acquired by Coinbase) and TapChief (acquired by Unacademy) amongst others. He also represents Blume on the boards of Arka Venture Labs and the Draper Venture Network.

Sanjay’s stints at Sun Microsystems, PwC, IBM Global Services (all in Silicon Valley), Loxodrome (a x-border BPO) and Mumbai Angels have given him a breadth of experience across the US and India in management consulting, product management and early stage investing.

Sanjay is an alumni of UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and BITS Pilani (where he also serves on the board of their Silicon Valley chapter).  Sanjay is based in San Francisco.

Based in the Silicon Valley, Li Song is a managing director of Startup Banking at SVB, a division of First Citizens Bank. He leads the strategy, execution and growth of SVB’s banking mandates for venture capital/private equity (VC/PE) and innovation companies in Asia for the SVB Global Gateway team.

Since joining SVB in 2000, Li has had the privilege of personally working with over 1,000 dynamic and innovative startups on both sides of the Pacific. Some of his clients later grew to hundred-billion-dollar market cap companies, while some others never made it.

Li consistently takes detailed mental notes on the key ingredients that fueled successful clients’ growth as well as the common mistakes the failed ones made. He generously shares these insights with his clients, prospects and the greater Asian-American innovation community in the US.

In the early days of his career, Li was a global trade aide at the top of the Chinese government, where he travelled with Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng on more than 20 state visits overseas.

With an international career spanning over 16 years, Matthieu has been a dynamic force in the realms of innovation and sustainability, bridging the gap between the USA and Europe at BNP Paribas before joining Cathay innovation in October 2024 as partner and head of C.Lab. 

Founded in Paris in 2015, Cathay Innovation now manages over $2.5B AUM with additional offices in San Francisco,  Berlin, Shanghai and Singapore and has invested in over 100 startups including Chime (NASDAQ: CHYM), Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD), Glovo (acq. Delivery Hero), Wallbox (NYSE: WBX), Owkin, Ledger, ZenBusiness, Alma, Descartes Underwriting and more.

Matthieu has advised global leaders in mobility, energy, financial services, retail, and food & ag sectors, guiding them on their innovation strategies and new business opportunities. 

Most recently, Matthieu served as the Head of BNP Paribas’ innovation lab in San Francisco and was the US Venture Partner for the BNP Paribas Solar Impulse Venture Fund, a €172M climate tech early stage fund. 

Beyond Cathay Innovation, Matthieu is a board member of French Tech San Francisco gathering entrepreneurs, top executives, investors, engineers and public leaders bridging the French and Silicon Valley tech ecosystems. He is also the co-lead of the French American Chamber of Commerce of California Mobility committee organizing regular events and initiatives to gather mobility professionals from startups to large corporates and investors.

Andy Tsao is a Managing Director and leads SVB’s Global Gateway, which assists innovation companies in the global markets with their US and international market expansion. He brings more than 25 years of experience banking dynamic companies in technology industries worldwide.  
  
In his roles, Andy manages SVB’s relationships with venture capital and private equity firms outside the U.S., and also helps international companies as they seek U.S. market entry and U.S. companies as they seek to expand abroad. In both capacities, Andy provides these firms with strategic advice and banking services, including debt financing, based on a deep understanding of their needs.  
  
Previously, Andy led and helped found SVB’s U.K.-based operation, SVB Financial Group UK Ltd, which was established in 2004. For six years, he was responsible for building senior debt relationships with high-growth technology, life sciences and clean technology companies in the U.K. and Europe.  When Andy returned to CA, he led SVB’s Global Funds Banking practice for Asia and founded the Global Gateway. 
 
Andy is on the Board and a Charter Member of TiE SV, was a former President and current Board Member of the Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA) , is a Board Member of Asia Society Northern California, Advisory Board of BayBrazil, an Advisory Board for North America with H2, and member of the Tech Coalition of LAVCA.  

Lisheng Wang is currently a General Partner at TSV Capital, a leading early stage technology venture capital firm that was known for being the first institutional investor in companies like Zoom, Carta, Ginkgo Bioworks and D-Matrix.

Prior to joining TSVC, Lisheng co-founded and ran Propel(x), a leading DeepTech venture and alternative investment platform in the US. He was also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Newton Fund, a VC fund affiliated with Propel(x). Before Propel(x), Lisheng co-founded the MIT Alumni Angels group in the SF Bay Area. During the span of about 10 years since Lisheng started venture investing, he participated in more than 100 DeepTech venture investments representing MIT Angels, Propel(x), Newton Fund and TSVC.

Prior to venture investing, Lisheng was in banking for 10+ years and was one of the first engineers at Microsoft Shanghai. Lisheng received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Fudan University and his Master’s Degree in Technology and Policy from MIT.