About Purple Sage Ventures
SUPPORTING YOUR ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
Underrepresented founders are undervalued and underfunded - and yet, research shows diverse teams produce better results. We see value and real returns in these founders.
PSV does an exceptional job providing high-level strategic input and putting structure around different challenges that early-stage companies face. The team is great at providing guidance, input, and support during what is typically an incredibly chaotic phase.
Bethany Stachenfeld, Sendspark
Our Team
Meet the Champions for Equality in Funding
Liz Leahy
Founder & Managing Partner
ENTREPRENEUR AND FEARLESS LEADER
Liz began her career as an early employee at The Princeton Review. After working in management consulting, she joined the founding team of Bigfoot Interactive, an early innovator of B2C email marketing, built for Fortune 1000 companies. She went on to co-found Section 101, a scalable website platform for large music and entertainment clients. Before launching Purple Sage Ventures, Liz was involved with several other start-ups as both an investor and advisor.
Liz sits on the boards of the Lang Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School and the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Advisory Group. She is the current board chair of the Georgetown Angel Investor Network, serves as the Pitch Coach in Residence at the Columbia Startup Lab, is a mentor for the Atlantic Council’s empowerME initiative, and lectures at her alma maters. Liz is passionate about helping diverse founders grow successful companies that yield significant returns while having big societal impacts.
Susan Mohi
Chief of Staff
LIFE-LONG LEARNER & FITNESS FANATIC
Susan spent 20+ years working for top-tier financial firms on Wall Street. She led global teams of systems development professionals building back office and international systems, as well as developing the product, content, and rollout strategy for the banks’ online delivery platforms.
She has been on both sides of the funding table. She was a master fundraiser and operator in educational advancement in New York City, where she was responsible for major campaigns, while instituting best-in-class processes and procedures. At PSV, she leads the portfolio management and stewardship program for our incredible portfolio companies.
Alexandra Hornick
Principal
SLIDEDECK ENTHUSIAST & DIE-HARD NEW YORKER
Alex comes to Purple Sage Ventures from HiredScore, an innovative AI-based HR Tech growth company supporting the Fortune 500. As the Chief of Staff to the CEO, she directly advised the executive team, evaluated strategic partnerships and was responsible for creating best-in-class processes to achieve operational excellence. At PSV, Alex finds and helps select the next wave of extraordinary founders for Purple Sage’s portfolio, and connects with other funders, accelerators and partners that are motivated to democratize access to capital.
Alex is passionate about early-stage startups and is a mentor at XRC Labs. She graduated with honors from Georgetown University’s undergraduate McDonough School of Business while also earning a certificate from the Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Katy Krassner
Head of Media & Communications
AIR HOCKEY CHAMP & MASTER OF PITHY COMMENTS
Katy is a highly accomplished communications executive who comes to Purple Sage Ventures from many years of working in the music industry. Katy was the VP of Publicity at Sanctuary Records, Director of PR at both Hollywood Records and Universal Republic and had the pleasure of working with artists such as John Mellencamp, Duran Duran, Robert Plant, CAKE and many more. These days, she is making ‘rock stars’ out of PSV’s portfolio companies with her skill for content curation, digital marketing and writing.
AJ Taylor
Venture Fellow
AJ is currently the Associate Director of the Columbia Startup Lab. He also works with the Senior Director and Special Advisor to the University president, scaling Columbia Entrepreneurship’s fundraising and alumni engagement efforts to match its growth. Passionate about increasing access to entrepreneurship and investing, AJ established the Black Founders Network, an inclusive community for Black entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey.
Rajiv Mehta
Venture Fellow
Prior to PSV, Rajiv was a Wealth Management Advisor with Merrill Lynch. At PSV, he helps to source new deals, conduct due diligence and identify macro trends. He is currently an MBA candidate at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Rajiv is a member of the leadership team for Pockets of Promise, a non-profit organization helping underserved children in India and Africa.
Our Name
Derived from our experiences and the attributes we look for in founders
Purple
is a combination of the fiery energy of red and the calmness of blue. It represents the passion to build something successful measured with the ability to remain calm, focused and thoughtful. When we agree to invest in a start-up, these boxes are checked.
Sage
has more than one meaning; it is a person who is wise, or can share wisdom through experience, as well as someone who uses good judgment when faced with a decision. With years of experience, we strive to bring advice to our portfolios.
Ventures
are defined as "a journey" and can often be associated with risk. The word fits in perfectly with PURPLE (passion) and SAGE (wisdom), as we go on a journey with our portfolio companies as they take on the thrill of entrepreneurship.