Your Partner At Every Stage
Our team leverages decades of experience, deep domain expertise and the resources of the world’s most global bank to assist startups from seed round to Series F and beyond.
Entrepreneurs never cease to amaze me: they combine an appetite for risk with a passion for changing the status quo. I love being part of their journey.
Arvind Purushotham
Arvind Purushotham is the Global Head of Citi Ventures. He leads the team’s efforts to catalyze innovation and accelerate growth across Citi by bringing the outside in, convening stakeholders, helping build new capabilities, and delivering thought leadership throughout both the bank and the finance and tech ecosystems.
Arvind oversees all of Citi Ventures’ investing activities and partners with both Citi colleagues and leading startups to bring cutting-edge technologies and capabilities to Citi’s businesses and functions. In addition, he advises the Citi Impact Fund, which invests in "double bottom line" U.S.-based private sector companies that are helping address some of society's most pressing challenges.
Prior to Citi, Arvind spent nearly a decade as a Managing Director at Menlo Ventures, where he was an investor and Board member at companies including Kazeon Systems, Cavium Networks, Solidcore, nCircle Network Security, Intelligent Results, and Vhayu Technologies. Previously, Arvind was a design engineer and a Program Manager at Intel Corporation.
Arvind obtained his BSEE from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, an MSEE from Case Western Reserve University, and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School. He enjoys running, photography, and reading in his spare time. Arvind is passionate about golf—a passion, sadly, that his skill level does not match. He lives in Palo Alto, CA with his wife, two sons, and their black lab Rocky.
I am blown away by the power of entrepreneurs to drive the ever-increasing pace of innovation and technological change. I am a firm believer in the value created by our investment partnerships as Citi adopts, accelerates and learns from new technologies.
Andrew Murray
Andrew leads Citi Ventures’ Investing coverage for Citi’s Commercial, Corporate and Investment Banking businesses in addition to cross-business activities within the Client organization. He joined Citigroup as European investing lead for the Markets Strategic Investing team. Andrew then moved on to manage the global Markets team and then the broader Institutional Strategic Investing group.
Andrew has been investing in market infrastructure and financial technology for over 15 years across three different institutions. He began his professional career with the Finance & Risk practice of Oliver Wyman, working across multiple financial sectors in eight different countries, before focusing on investing while in the Strategy and Planning function of Barclays Capital, helping to establish the strategic investing function. Andrew then led the Global Markets Strategic Investments function at Deutsche Bank, leading over 40 transactions in strategically relevant companies and holding governance positions on more than a dozen portfolio companies, before joining Citi.
Andrew graduated with a Masters in Engineering from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He has completed all three levels of Chartered Financial Analyst programme and was nominated by E-Financial News as one of the 40-under-40 in trading and technology in 2015. Andrew is a keen scuba-diver, participant in a selection of extreme and motor sports, and continues on a personal quest to seek a business-relevant use-case for VR.
I am passionate about the disruptive potential of data, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to solve mission-critical business problems, and like to partner with the world’s most passionate and visionary founders to build enduring and impactful companies.
Vibhor Rastogi
Vibhor is a growth and private equity investor in enterprise software, including data/AI/ML. Vibhor's prior investing experience includes General Partner at SymphonyAI, a $1B mid-market AI focused private equity fund, and Investment Director at Intel Capital, Intel's global VC group investing $500M-$700M per year in startups globally.
Vibhor has experience originating, structuring, and executing deals in North America, Europe, and Asia (China and India), and has investing experience in a variety of sectors. His exits include: iZettle (Fintech, acquired for $2.2B by Paypal); Venafi (cybersecurity, acquired for $1.2B by Thoma Bravo); Cloudgenix (SD-WAN, acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $460M); EazyTec (cloud computing and IoT in China, $1B IPO on the Shanghai stock exchange); Basis (smartwatch, acquired by Intel); Paxata (self-service data prep for big data and ML workloads, acquired by DataRobot); CareCloud (SaaS/digital health, acquired by Nasdaq: MTBC); and TOA (mobile field service, acquired by Oracle). During his investing career, Vibhor has served on multiple boards and has extensive corporate governance experience.
Vibhor has also served as interim CEO/COO of portfolio companies and greatly enjoys helping companies with their growth strategy, sales strategy and operational execution of business plans. Prior to his investing career, he was a management and technology consultant at Deloitte.
Vibhor has an MBA with High Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he won the Student Management Investment Fund scholarship, and an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from IIT Kanpur, where he won the Dean’s Award for academic excellence. Outside of investing, he enjoys hiking, running, and non-fiction reading.
I'm excited to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs and offer them value beyond dollars invested, in cooperation with Citi's most innovative leaders and clients.
Jeff Flynn
Jeff joined Citi Ventures in 2022 and currently leads the team’s efforts in several verticals including Lending & Proptech, Commerce & Payments, and LP Investing. He has led Citi’s investments in and is a Board Observer for Flex, Kasa, Pylon, Setpoint, Vontive and several others, and looks over prior investments in Homelight, Roofstock and others. He has experience investing in and supporting high-growth companies across multiple sectors at various stages of entry, from seed through IPO.
Jeff is also the founder of Noho Ventures, where he has led early-stage investments in Inspectify, Kin, Maxwell, Pacaso, Pronto Housing and others. Prior to joining Citi, he was a Venture Partner with Fifth Wall, the leading proptech VC firm, and Rotor Capital, an alternative investment firm. From 2015 to 2020, he was Co-Founder and Head of Assurant Ventures (NYSE:AIZ), where he led investments in and was a Board Observer for Doma/States Title (NYSE:DOMA), Mynd Management (acq. by Rooftstock), PrecisionLender (acq, NYSE:QTWO), SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT), Vacasa (NSDQ:VCSA) and others. Seven of the 11 companies into which he led investments at Assurant Ventures have seen valuation appreciation of 10x or greater since initial investment. Earlier in his career, Jeff worked in online strategy at The Home Depot, growth equity at H.I.G. Capital and investment banking at CIBC/Oppenheimer.
Jeff received his MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where he was a Darden Foundation Scholar, and his BA from Columbia University, where he majored in philosophy. He lives in NYC and enjoys skiing, live comedy and dog-sitting for his friends.
I’m inspired by the vision of founders redefining entire categories. I’m excited to build strong relationships between these founders and Citi’s global business.
Nick Sands
Nick joined Citi Ventures in 2022 and is responsible for sourcing and executing venture investments in Cybersecurity and Cloud Infrastructure. He is passionate about serving bold entrepreneurs that are disrupting the status quo using cutting-edge technologies.
Nick started his career as a systems engineer for Lockheed Martin, where he led cross-functional engineering teams in new product development. After earning his MBA, he joined growth-stage dual-use technology firm Dcode Capital in Washington, DC. There, he helped stand up and grow the firm’s venture capital practice, investing in enterprise companies across Data, AI/ML, Cybersecurity, and Autonomous Vehicles.
Nick has an MBA from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, a BS in Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida, and an MS in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Tech (which he got just for fun). He enjoys competitive sports, and you can find him playing soccer, basketball, tennis, or golf on the weekends.
I am inspired by fearless founders who push the markets forward with their big ideas and great execution.
Jelena Zec
Based out of San Francisco, Jelena focuses on investments in fintech and the future of commerce. She has a background in venture capital and growth investing across industries in the US, Asia Pacific, and Europe.
Jelena is passionate about empowering entrepreneurs who use new technologies and enterprise software to transform industries. From day-to-day problem solving—helping to shape strategy and identify key talent—to customer introduction and optimizing capital-raising outcomes, Jelena is a trusted partner to entrepreneurs.
Prior to Citi Ventures Jelena worked at Unilever Ventures, where she led investments in consumer and technology businesses across the US and Europe. Jelena holds a Double Degree MSc in International Management from Bocconi University and Fudan University. In her spare time Jelena mentors, advises, and angel invests in impact-focused startups and diverse founders.
Jelena is fluent in English, Serbo-Croatian, and Italian, and is conversational in Mandarin.
Entrepreneurship is at the heart of human prosperity, and I’m excited to leverage Citi’s vast resources to help support it.
Maria Bodiu
Maria Bodiu is a New York-based investor at Citi Ventures, covering both fintech and enterprise sectors, with a particular focus on data, AI and machine learning.
Her time spent deep within the machinery of global finance at HSBC and American Express instilled her with a rare understanding of the real-world complexities that founders aim to solve. At these firms, she drove strategic planning for billion-dollar portfolios, led M&A due diligence and built data-driven profitability and sales management systems from the ground up. This foundation, coupled with her prior integral role within Citi Ventures overseeing portfolio operations and leading investments in wealth and consumer tech, provides her with an invaluable insider's view on what it takes for startups to successfully collaborate with, sell to, or disrupt large enterprises.
Maria earned her B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Cornell University and is a CFA® charterholder. Born and raised in Moldova, Maria is fluent in English, Russian, and Romanian and is eager to take on French as her next linguistic challenge. When not traveling to new destinations and discovering hidden culinary gems in New York City, she cherishes time with her family and continues her personal quest to find the world’s most perfectly ripe avocado.
I am inspired by people who aren’t afraid to tackle big problems, disrupt markets and change industries by simply following their vision.
Rony Laufer
Rony joined the team in 2024 to lead strategic and venture investments in Israel. She is dedicated to advancing solutions that solve pressing problems through technological advancement.
Rony has a diverse background in finance, technology and venture capital. Her passion for tech started when she served in unit 8200 of the Israeli Intelligence Corps. Later, she founded a fintech startup while at university, demonstrating an early commitment to innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Following university, Rony advanced her career at Deutsche Bank’s Investment Bank, where she originated deals in Israel in both Corporate Banking and Structured Finance. She then transitioned to Lightricks to lead Business and Corporate Development, contributing to its evolution from an early-stage startup to a prominent growth-stage company. Most recently, Rony worked at Lamed, a venture capital firm leading investment in promising tech companies.
Rony holds a BA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Reichman University. She lives in Tel Aviv with her family, is active in various initiatives promoting women in tech and VC, and in her spare time enjoys true crime documentaries and traveling.
I am passionate about finding category leaders driving change in fintech.
Maria Markusjan
Maria is responsible for Citi Ventures’ fintech investing activities in Europe.
She has always been passionate about early-stage investing, and previously founded an inventory optimization software company (which raised a Series A round) before becoming an active angel investor and eventually running her own venture investing syndicate.
Maria is a Swedish national and studied at the Stockholm School of Economics. After graduating she joined the TMT / Industrials M&A team at Goldman Sachs in London, and most recently she spent her time on the Special Situations and Private Equity teams at EQT and Hg.
I am inspired by the audacious journey founders take to see the world spin in a new direction, and am proud to support them along the way.
Max R. Mailman
Max joined Citi Ventures in 2022 as a member of the Investment team based in San Francisco. He is passionate about supporting founders and helping them succeed. Max enjoys hosting startups at Citi Ventures’ San Francisco office and is keen on helping founders meet great talent.
Prior to joining Citi Ventures, Max spent time in the Global Spread Products (GSP) division of Citi’s Markets organization. As a member of the GSP SPRINT (Spread Products Investment Technologies) team, which invests in and incubates innovative fintech companies that provide strategic relevance and next-generation solutions to credit markets, he worked closely with Citi Ventures.
Max received his bachelor’s degree from Cornell University. Outside of work, he is a Mentor for Cornell’s eLab, is deeply involved with the Founders You Should Know community, and enjoys cycling, ice climbing, and esoteric racquet sports.
I am excited to work alongside and learn from exceptional entrepreneurs and CEOs across Asia-Pacific.
Marsha Sugana
Citi Ventures
I’m inspired by founders with the conviction to take bold risks, build category-defining products, and create long lasting impact through innovation.
Olive Xu
Olive joined Citi Ventures in 2026 as a Vice President, covering enterprise technology and AI investments across North America. She is passionate about identifying emerging technology trends, partnering with exceptional founders, and supporting the next generation of category-defining companies.
Prior to Citi Ventures, Olive spent five years in venture capital investing. She began her career at a New York based family office, focusing on enterprise SaaS venture investments and fund investments. She later joined Sorenson Capital’s growth team, where she sourced, invested and supported growth-stage companies across technology software and AI sectors, working closely with founders as they scaled their businesses.
Olive holds a B.S from University of Washington and an M.A from Columbia University.
I’m excited about visionary founders who dare to disrupt, who think outside the box and who bring new possibilities to life.
Ziv Idan
I'm enthusiastic about supporting founders eager to leverage Citi's extensive platform and global network to build scalable, sustainable businesses that redefine industries.
Lucas Kirshenbaum
I’m inspired by founders who transform their ideas into startups that disrupt entire industries, and it is fulfilling to support them in turning their visions into reality.
Emily Santos
Emily joined Citi Ventures in 2025 as a member of the investing team in London. She is responsible for sourcing, analyzing and executing venture investments in early-stage fintech startups.
Prior to joining Citi Ventures, Emily made venture investments in fintech startups across Europe as part of the Markets Strategic Investments team, which sources and executes venture investments that drive innovation and progress across Citi’s Markets franchise.
Emily received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and her master’s degree from the Nova School of Business and Economics. She is fluent in English and Portuguese. Outside of work, Emily enjoys traveling (the sunnier the better), watching (European) football and spoiling her beloved Corgi, Pingola.
