- The 2026 Rising Stars of Venture Capital are an eclectic group.
- The cohort includes 37 investors with diverse educational backgrounds and career starts.
- Take a look at our breakdown of this year's class.
Venture capital isn't in its "spray and pray" era anymore. After years of frothy valuations and AI-fueled hype, the market has sobered up — and the young investors chasing the next breakout deal are doing it with sharper judgment and tougher diligence.
To see what it takes, Business Insider analyzed the 2026 Rising Stars of Venture Capital list by the numbers: where this cohort lives, where they went to school, and how they broke into the business.
From former founders and college athletes to an ex-counterterrorism analyst, here's a snapshot of 37 up-and-coming investors carving out influence in one of tech's most competitive jobs.
Meet the class
- Twenty-three live in the San Francisco Bay Area, while 12 are in New York City. Two live in Los Angeles.
- The average age is 29, and roughly half are under 30.
- Sequoia Capital partner James Flynn and Slow Ventures investor Angèle Sahraoui are the youngest people on the list at 25.
Where they went to school
- The class comes from a mix of 24 institutions for their undergraduate studies.
- Stanford University appears more often than any other institution among this year's rising stars, with four undergraduate attendees.
- Ten honorees attended Ivy League schools for undergrad, with the University of Pennsylvania leading the list with three alumni.
- At least five participated in college-level athletics: Both Scale Venture Partners partner Max Abram and CapitalG vice president Manmeet Gujral were men's varsity lightweight rowers; Emergence Capital partner Yaz El-Baba was captain of the men's boxing club at the University of Michigan; Sequoia partner James Flynn was a men's varsity squash player at the University of Pennsylvnia; Lexi Henkel was a women's varsity lacrosse player at Yale University.
Their path
Nine honorees had stints in investment banking.
- 3 at Morgan Stanley
- 2 at Goldman Sachs
- Others cut their teeth at Bank of America, BlackRock, Citi, and William Blair.
Seven moved into investing after starting out in consulting.
- 2 at McKinsey & Company
- Others came from Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, EY, Kaiser Associates, and PwC.
Several honorees logged time at major technology companies before moving into venture.
- 3 at Google
- Others are alumni of Adobe, Facebook, IBM, and LinkedIn.
Fun facts
- At least two honorees founded companies before becoming investors. Battery Ventures principal Sudhee Chilappagari and Village Global investment partner Max Kilberg both started hiring-marketplace startups.
- Sequoia Capital partner James Flynn became the youngest investor at Sequoia Capital when he joined in 2024 at age 23.
- Lightspeed partner Lisa Han was a competitive figure skater for over a decade.
- Venrock vice president Morgan Hitzig previously served as a senior analyst in the NYPD's Counterterrorism Bureau. She is a US Navy reservist who has deployed overseas.
- At Iconiq, principal Ryan Koh has helped deploy over $800 million in capital, not including several unannounced deals.
- Venture runs in the family for Striker Venture Partners partner Brian Zhan: His sister, Stephanie Zhan, is a general partner at Sequoia Capital.
Breakdown of titles
- 15 partners
- 10 principals
- 2 investors
- 1 managing director
- 1 senior associate
- 1 chief of staff
This data is drawn from reporting by Melia Russell, Ben Bergman, Geoff Weiss, Sydney Bradley, and Julia Hornstein.
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