Event Speakers

Go Back

Gillian Muessig is the Managing Director of Mastersfund, a venture capital fund which invests in tech companies with women at the helm. Previously, Gillian was co-founder of Moz, the world’s most popular provider of digital marketing software and has served on dozens of Boards of Directors and Advisors worldwide. Gillian has been an advisor to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S. State Department, the German Marshall Fund’s YTILI program, SwissContact, and other private and government entrepreneurship programs. Gillian has developed investment models to address the changing needs of venture capital investors and speaks globally on the financial benefits of investing in diverse founding teams. With Anne Kennedy, Gillian is co-host of the radio podcast, VC Confidential, designed to rip the lid off the opaque world of venture capital and explore emerging capitalization options to spur growth and increase sustainability. Over more than three decades, Gillian has helped thousands of companies to launch, grow, pivot and thrive.

Vani Rao is a Principal Partner with Mastersfund. With nearly two decades of capital markets experience across derivatives, structured products, and venture capital, Vani is seasoned fund manager and activist for gender parity, focused on promoting capital access to entrepreneurs to build healthier economies. Prior to Mastersfund, Vani served as Vice President of Product at Lighter Capital, working with data and funding analytics and investment modeling for early stage companies. Vani is a CFA Charterholder, has a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from Kent State University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from New York University.