Sara Thomas Deshpande

Sara Thomas Deshpande is a Partner at Maven Ventures, a leading seed venture fund for emerging consumer software startups propelled by network effects and hypergrowth. She invests in seed-stage companies across consumer mobile, marketplaces, digital health, and autonomous vehicles, and is an active advisor to the companies in the Maven portfolio. At Maven since 2014, Sara has been part of six exits and over 20 investments including Chariot (acquired by Ford), Carrot, May Mobility, Eden, Neighborly, Gametime, Embark, Hello Heart, Foodworks, and more.

Sara has worked with consumer and tech startup founders around the globe for the last decade, from helping to launch a consumer footwear brand to running her own national consulting practice. Previously, she led the startup portfolio and programming for hundreds of high-growth startups at The Idea Village, an entrepreneurship engine in New Orleans, and was a management consultant in the Healthcare Strategy practice at Deloitte in San Francisco. Sara holds a BS in Finance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

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