VC Panel on AI Investing in 2025

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AI investing is evolving rapidly, with shifting market dynamics and emerging trends shaping investor strategies. In this panel, Bay Area-based AI investors will discuss their approach in 2025 and beyond, the sectors they’re excited about, and the key traits they seek in founders. They’ll also share insights on success metrics, portfolio support strategies, and disruptive AI trends to watch in 2025.

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Speaker bios:

Ed Dua, General Partner @ IASV Seed Ventures

Ed Dua is the Managing Partner of IASV Seed Ventures. IASV invests in a range of DeepTech verticals, including Healthcare, Robotics, Insurtech, and Space.

With over a decade of experience as a software engineer, he transitioned into investment banking portfolio management, where he directly oversaw $500 million in private investment assets at Prudential Securities.

Ed has been actively investing in early-stage startups for the past ten years, focusing on pre-seed and seed companies. His track record includes six successful seed-to-IPO exits: Opendoor, Poshmark, Weave, Caribou Biosciences, and BioAge. Beyond IPOs, he has achieved multiple 50x realized returns with investments in Snyk, Protocol Labs, and BIT Investment Trust.

His portfolio also features several high-potential private companies, including Honeybook, Mercury Financial, OneSignal, Aquant, Twelve, and others.

Ed holds an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

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Tanvi Narain, Principal @ Counterpart Ventures

Tanvi grew up between India, US, and Switzerland and attended McGill University (BA) & Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management (MBA). Tanvi spent the first 6 years of her career in financial services and payments at Discover Financial and Visa where she held roles in marketing and product management. While at Discover Financial, she helped build B2B payment solutions in partnership with SAP Ariba and advised the executive team on investment opportunities in B2B payment verticals and product build. She also led the Young Professionals Innovation Committee that organized events geared to tackle business problems across the organization with a design-thinking framework. While at Visa, she managed the credit product strategy of the top 100 US issuing banks. She led the development and implementation of the rewards platform that would optimize card usage and payment volume for banking partners.

After completing her MBA, Tanvi worked at Plaid where she managed a range of growth stage fintech customers; advising them on products opportunities & go-to-market strategies. Tanvi’s expertise lies in fintech, payments, & banking software solutions.

Tanvi has a keen interest in identifying meaningful product opportunities that would address key customer/business pain-points and fostering those companies’ growth and development. Tanvi joined Counterpart in January 2022 to source new investment opportunities that fit the fund’s B2B strategy, specifically with a fintech lens. In her role, Tanvi will source new deals, manage deal flow, and evaluate prospective investments at Seed and Series A. Given our hands on approach with our portfolio companies, Tanvi will also work alongside our CEOs to help on customer acquisition, recruiting, and operations.

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Danny Trainor,  Associate Director @ Newmark - Moderator

Danny serves as a commercial real estate advisor in Newmark's San Francisco office, specializing in office leasing representation for tenants in the field of technology, biotechnology, venture capital, professional services and financial services. Known for his ability to implement tailored real estate strategies, keen attention to detail, tenacity, and understanding of both tenant and landlord perspectives, Danny has become a trusted advisor to his clients. He began his career at Newmark in 2019 as an intern while attending college. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Chapman University.

Outside of work, Danny leads an active lifestyle—surfing at Ocean Beach, snowboarding in Tahoe, mountain biking in Marin, and playing golf. When he’s not outdoors, he enjoys traveling and spending time with family and friends.