The EVCA leadership is dedicated to building community across and empowering the next generation of venture capitalists through an array of activities—from hosting events, knowledge sharing, and connecting others. This EVCA Leadership Spotlight Series is intended to help the broader community get to know what's going on behind the scenes at the EVCA, as well as highlight the valuable contributions of those individuals who make the EVCA possible. Accordingly, it's a great privilege for us to announce this EVCA Leadership Spotlight on our very own EVCA San Francisco Chapter Lead, Mel Demma of Swift Ventures.
Mel Demma is an investor at Swift Ventures, where she invests in early-stage enterprise AI and automation companies. Mel is a force multiplier for her companies with a sincere desire to roll up her sleeves early to help build teams, flesh out ideas and find potential customers. Mel grew up in the heart of Silicon Valley, which exposed her to tech and venture capital at a young age and fomented an admiration for founders who break barriers and the investors who back them. Mel graduated from the University of Southern California, earning a BS in Business Administration. She is on USC's Marshall Partners Board and the executive team of Destined for X, a nonprofit that connects students from underrepresented backgrounds with top-tier technology companies in the Bay Area.
EVCA: Could you share more about what you do in your role as EVCA's San Francisco Chapter lead? What made you interested in taking a leadership role at EVCA?
Mel: As a co-lead for the SF chapter, our main goal is to bring together the next generation of VCs in curated ways — whether that’s through fireside chats with managing partners from different funds or successful founders, industry-focused happy hours, or intimate dinners on specific topics. EVCA was a great resource to me when I was just starting out in terms of getting to know colleagues and peers on a personal level, and it’s so great to see the organization continue to play that role for so many.
EVCA: What’s something you worked on recently that you’re particularly proud of?
Mel: We recently launched an AI Index to identify top AI companies in the public market. To power the list, we built an AI-powered system that uses a fine-tuned LLM to analyze earnings and regulatory filings as well as data from a variety of sources to determine levels of AI investment, hiring, team composition, and employee contributions to AI research and open source models and tools. The list includes some names you might expect from Microsoft as well as ones you may not like AppLovin.
Most people can’t invest in private companies like we do as VCs, and finding true AI companies and opportunities in the public markets outside the Magnificent Seven is challenging. Hopefully this list helps a broader set of folks benefit from the AI boom.
EVCA: What is your most contrarian view on an existing or emerging technology trend?
Mel: With dozens of drug discovery startups leveraging modern AI to speed up drug research, there is a less obvious but potentially even bigger parallel opportunity on the development side of biopharma R&D. A significant bottleneck is approaching in the clinical trial process, where record innovation and surging demand for development resources will collide with capacity constraints, potentially stalling progress and delaying life-saving drugs. We recently invested in a company founded by Moderna alums called Dash Bio that is focused on fundamentally reinventing the way drugs are brought to market by leveraging AI, robotics, and fully-integrated software.
Interested in taking on an EVCA leadership role? The EVCA leadership is dedicated to empowering the next generation of VCs through an array of activities—running 40+ channels on from hosting events, knowledge sharing, and connecting others. If interested in pursuing an EVCA leadership role, click here.
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