Nadeem Syed is the General Partner and sits on the Investment Committee at Juvo Ventures.

He has served as the CFO of Western Governors University, the nation’s largest online competency-based University, since June 2021. In this role, Nadeem leads all aspects of financial strategy and management in the nonprofit university system. Nadeem’s focus is on fostering learner-centered education models that deliver high-value education at low cost to the broadest population of learners, underpinned by sustainable economics and disruptive innovations that structurally lower cost of learning delivery.

Prior to WGU, Nadeem spent 11 years with AT&T. During his tenure at AT&T Nadeem held diverse leadership positions across finance, pricing, analytics, and business development spanning telecom, media, and advertising sectors. Nadeem was head of consumer wireline finance and led product, corporate development, and strategy finance for Xandr – AT&T’s advertising company. Nadeem was also a founding member of AT&T Partner Exchange—a startup business within the company—and was instrumental in the launch of DirecTV Now streaming service.

Prior to AT&T, Nadeem co-founded a medical imaging start-up in Singapore, led software R&D at Hewlett-Packard, and conducted machine learning research, publishing several peer-reviewed articles.

Nadeem grew up in India and obtained a B.S. in Computer Science from National University of Singapore as a recipient of Singapore Airlines Scholarship from the Government of Singapore. He later earned an M.S. in Computer Science and an MBA, both from Georgia Tech.

Scott Pulsipher is a General Partner and sits on the Investment Committee at Juvo Ventures. He also serves as President of Western Governors University (WGU), leading all academic, operational, and organizational functions.

Scott brings with him more than two decades of experience in leadership roles at technology-based, customer-focused companies and startups spanning retail, supply chain, banking, payments, and manufacturing sectors. Previously, he served as a Senior Vice President at Sterling Commerce and as a General Manager at Amazon. Later, as President and COO ofNeedle, he increased revenue eightfold in under two years, tripled the customer base, and secured millions in venture funding to support the company’s accelerated growth.

Drawing on these and other experiences, Scott now applies his business acumen with an innovative approach and long-held belief that opportunity should be available to all who seek it. Scott has helped WGU achieve tremendous scale with the number of graduates increasing fivefold since he became President in 2016. Under his leadership, the university has a NetPromoter Score of 74, in contrast with the national average of 16. Notably, WGU continues to be recognized as a Great Place to Work, with 84% employee engagement.

Scott currently serves on multiple higher education and technology boards, including the following: Chairman of the Board for Presidents Forum, Board Member at the American Council on Education, Trustee for the Committee for Economic Development, and as a member of Handshake’s Impact Advisory Board.

Scott holds an MBA from Harvard University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Brigham Young University.

Sean K. Brown is the Managing Director of Juvo Ventures. He has assisted in standing up Juvo’s inaugural fund, which has now invested in 21 portfolio companies (https://juvovc.com/portfolio/). 

Sean oversees the management of the fund and reports directly to the General Partnership. 

Sean has a J.D. from the J. Reuben Clark School of Law and is a licensed Utah attorney. He volunteers with the Utah Minority Bar Association, Lone Peak High School Football, as well as local youth groups.  Sean loves to support his kids in anything they are passionate about, and as a result has often found himself on different types of sports fields volunteering as a parent coach. 

Kanak Durga Kunapuli is a Principal at Juvo Ventures and a finance and strategy leader with more than 10 years of experience in EdTech strategy, corporate development, and investment management. Her background includes leadership roles at Western Governors University (WGU), where she led startup investments across the U.S., Canada, the Middle East, and Asia, managed early-stage seed and Series A deal execution, and supported portfolio outcomes aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to expand access, equity and economic outcomes for millions of learners around the world. She also serves as a Board Observer for Mursion, supporting board discussions, growth strategy, capital planning, and market expansion working closely with management.

Previously, Kanak served as Manager of Strategy and Corporate Development at WGU, where she helped drive M&A strategy and venture investing focused on innovative financing solutions for underserved students. Her work contributed to the launch of Suncrest Financial LLC and PineView Financial LLC, expanding tuition financing options for marginalized learners. Earlier in her career, Kanak held investment roles at DMBA (Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators), where she supported institutional investment portfolios across asset classes including fixed income, public and private equity, and real estate, and contributed to risk management, liability-driven investment strategies, and asset allocation decisions for a $15B+ fund.

Kanak has also held strategy roles in organizations including eBay, Cisco Systems, Zions Bancorporation. She holds an MBA in Finance and Investments from Brigham Young University and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, India. She is a CFA charter holder and has served on the CFA Society board, with a strong commitment to financial education, innovation, and inclusion in finance.

Zane Busteed is a Principal at Juvo Ventures with more than 10 years of experience spanning growth- and seed-stage investing, fundraising, market research, fund operations, and board governance. His investment and operating work has focused on technology sectors including fintech, data, security, infrastructure, and edtech.

Prior to Juvo Ventures, Zane served as Head of Strategic Finance and Chief of Staff at PassiveLogic. Earlier in his career, he held progressive investing roles at Mercato Partners, including Associate, Principal, and Director. Zane earned his MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and his BS in Economics, Business Management, and Political Science from Brigham Young University.

Alex Geren is Senior Associate at Juvo Ventures. Prior to joining Juvo Ventures, Alex worked at Goldman Sachs as an Associate in the Corporate Treasury Division, focusing on liquidity forecasting. Before Goldman Sachs Alex completed various internships across the financial services industry. Alex graduated from the University of Utah and earned his Master of Science in Finance.

Alex enjoys mountain biking, rock climbing and hiking in his free time.

Janae Holland is an Associate at Juvo Ventures specializing in impact tracking and reporting, writing investment memos, deal sourcing, portfolio assistance, and market research. 

Janae holds an MBA from the University of Utah, an MA in International Education Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BA in Political Science from Brigham Young University. Prior to Juvo, Janae was an investment associate at Sorenson Impact Center where she found her love for impact investing. Prior to that, Janae founded Aliim, a non-profit that harnesses the power of mobile learning to reach marginalized and refugee youth. She had the honor of speaking on the topic of mobile learning for refugees at the UNESCO Mobile Learning Conference in Paris. Prior to that, Janae worked on State Department funded International Visitor Leadership Program at the Institute of International Education in Washington, DC. Janae interned or worked on projects for renowned organizations, including UNESCO, UNICEF, International Rescue Committee, and the Jordanian Ministry of Social Development in Amman, Jordan. She speaks Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese.

Janae is passionate about education as a catalyst to improve individual lives and believes that EdTech impact investing is one of the most effective tools to make quality education accessible to all.

Davis Pulsipher is a Research Analyst at Juvo Ventures, where he supports investment research and analysis across the firm’s edtech and workforce innovation focus areas.

He is currently pursuing a BS in Finance at Western Governors University and completed pre-business studies at Brigham Young University.

Andrea Call is a staff attorney for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP. In her role providing legal support, Andrea focuses on performing legal diligence, drafting and negotiating investment documents, and providing counsel on corporate and securities law. Andrea formerly practiced as an associate attorney at Kunzler Bean & Adamson and Jones Waldo Holbrook & McDonough and has experience representing clients in commercial litigation and commercial real estate transactions.

Andrea graduated summa cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, where she was a senior editor of BYU Law Review. Immediately after law school, Andrea completed a two-year term as a law clerk to the Honorable Susan R. Bolton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

When Andrea is not managing legal matters, she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and teaching her dog new tricks.

Ben Shaw is the Controller for the General Partnership and its affiliate Juvo Venture Fund, LP.  He joined in 2019 after sixteen years in public accounting with both national and local firms. Ben’s experience includes financial reporting and accounting matters with public companies, not-for-profit organizations, software and technology companies (including SaaS), and other distribution and service companies. Ben’s role is to ensure accurate and timely monthly and year-end reporting of financial information, and he works closely with the fund’s third-party administrator, Cornerstone. 

Ben graduated from Arizona State University with a master’s degree in Accountancy and Information Systems and a B.S. in Accounting. He has been a licensed CPA since 2004 and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.