Jalak Jobanputra is a venture capitalist specializing in digital media, enterprise software, broadband infrastructure, healthcare IT, mobile & Internet – among other sectors. Jobanputra is currently a founding Partner at FuturePerfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund that is looking to fund “diverse group of entrepreneurs who are building applications combining relevant data and collective knowledge for the seven billion people in the world.”
She started her career at Lehman and Broadview. In 1997, Jobanputra worked for the startup, Horsesmouth, where she managed product development for “online financial information.” Between 1999 and 2003, she worked as an investor for Intel Capital. In 2005, she founded and worked as the interim CEO of Real Time Content. Then, she became the Principal at New Venture Partners.
Later, Jobanputra was the Senior Vice President at the New York City Investment Fund (NYCIF), and the Director of Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network (established by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar), where she created projects all over the world (Africa, Latin America, and India).
Jobanputra graduated from the Kellogg School of Management in 1999 with a MBA. She also is an alumnus from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated with a BA in Communication, and a BSE in Finance.
Jobanputra has been mentioned and interviewed in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Huffington Post, the NY Post, NY Daily News, and several other publications.
VC Firm
Current: Founding Partner at FuturePerfect Ventures
Past: Director of Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, Senior Vice President at the New York City Investment Fund, Investor at Intel Capital
Expertise areas:
Corporate development, Emerging markets, Digital media, Mobile devices, Social entrepreneurship, software, broadband infrastructure, healthcare IT, edtech, mobile & Internet
Selected Investment:
Outside.in (sold to AOL)
TxVia (sold to Google)
Thumbplay (sold to Clear Channel)
NextG (sold to Crown Castle)
Datasynapse (sold to Tibco)
Viacore (sold to IBM)
Demantra (sold to Oracle)
Yodlee
Zinio
- Boards:
Center for an Urban Future
Loreal’s Women in Digital Initiative
Achievement First Bushwick
Echoing Green
Blogs & Websites & Twitter:
Memorable Quotes:
On her career’s decisions: “I have made several unconventional career decisions, but always with the knowledge that I cannot go wrong if I listen to my inner voice. “
On comparing New York and the Silicon Valley: “Silicon Valley is always booming, but you don’t see the same breadth of fields of expertise as you do in New York.”
On the importance of having the word “International” redefined. “I stopped using the word “international” to denote activity outside of the US many years ago. Many investors and entrepreneurs in the US still have a US-centric view of the world. “
