Democratizing Fine Wine Investing

WHO ARE WE?

Vinovest is a team of world-class wine experts and the best technology talent.

Our talented team of experienced operators, software engineers, designers, and data scientists have previously started, scaled and sold several venture-backed companies.

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  Anthony Zhang

  CO-FOUNDER, CEO

  Anthony is a repeat entrepreneur who has previously founded and sold two companies, EnvoyNow and KnowYourVC. He has also held leadership positions at Blockfolio and is a board member at RateMyInvestor.

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  Brent Akamine

  CO-FOUNDER

  Brent is a serial entrepreneur bringing nearly 20 years of experience from senior roles TrueCar, ByteDance and more. He led the US re-launch/re-design of the TikTok App and was also design director at Blockfolio.

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  Arman Zand

  Finance Advisor

  Arman Zand has more than 22 years of experience in technology and venture finance. He is currently VP of Finance at Upstart (Nasdaq “UPST”). Prior to joining Upstart, Arman was CFO at Prodigy which Upstart acquired in 2021. Prior to Prodigy, he was Head of Finance at Farmstead and Head of Value Creation at Quona Capital, a fintech venture capital fund focused on financial inclusion in emerging markets. Arman spent the prior 15 years at Silicon Valley Bank in the US, India, U.K, the Middle East, and Asia, helping expand the SVB globally including 7 years in China. Arman is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and is a part-time professional faculty member at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, his alma mater.

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  Mike Johnson

  Director of Engineering

  Mike was most recently a Director of Engineering at Vestiaire Collective and was previously a Director of Engineering at Evite and held engineering lead roles at TrueCar and Bank of the West. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Regis University after leaving the Marine Corps.

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  Austin Burgess

  Head of Product

  Austin started his career as an aerospace engineer designing spacecraft for Boeing and NASA. Since then he has followed his passion into the tech world and has held roles in various startups from social networking, fitness, to real estate. He also enjoys fine wine and recently placed second in a blind tasting competition in Napa Valley.

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  Emily Knight

  Senior Analytics Engineer

  Emily has been in data and analytics roles for over seven years in a variety of verticals including dev tools, insurance, ecommerce, and healthcare. She received her masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

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  Gaby Dilley

  Senior Software Engineer

  Gaby has been coding since 1999 and has worked with teams as small as one to teams of 50+ developers. She is a developer with an eye for detail and excels at writing semantic SEO friendly and Accessible code. Gaby is self taught. She was a key asset for companies large and small such as TrueCar, ZipRecruiter and Tradesy.

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  Juan Tran

  UI designer

  Juan has more than 10 years of experience in graphic design based in Vietnam. Now he focused on product design in the field of interface interaction, brand identity, and product illustrations. He also had the privilege of working at fantastic companies including Blockfolio, GoQuickride, and more start-up.

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  Karl Roskamp

  Head of Content and Community

  A graduate of the University of Missouri journalism school, Karl prides himself on creating compelling content across multiple platforms, helping brands build meaningful relationships with customers. To date, he has produced a documentary, worked on Hollywood sets, published a book, written for Fortune 500 companies, and founded a YouTube channel with more than a million views. A jack of all trades, Karl proves that generalists can triumph in a world of specialists or at least have very eclectic resumes.

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  Laura Otey-Letner

  Director of Sales

  Laura has previous experience being a Sommelier at luxury resorts and has a keen eye for quality in wine. She is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and her WSET level 3. She has a passion for educating every level of wine enthusiasts.

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  Lauren Bletcher

  Head PORTFOLIO ADVISOR

  Since leaving her career in luxury travel, Lauren has been able to pursue her true passion for wine by completing sections of both the Court of Master Sommeliers and the WSET exams. During this past fall, she followed this passion to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, in order to be an assistant winemaker in the 2020 harvest, under the renowned Drouhin family.

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  Mathew Richards

  Inventory and Logistics Manager

  Mathew is an experienced purchasing, operations, planning and logistics manager who has set up and run operations, forecasting, manufacturing, and supply chain processes for blue-chip multinational, SME and start-up companies. He has focused mainly on the UK wine trade, but also has experience in pharmaceuticals, beer and soft drinks.

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  Micah Q

  Operations

  Micah started her career as a collector specialist at JP Mprgan Chase Bank which she became the youngest top collector at the age of 18 years old. She has managed several accounts and has accomplished her position as the acting CEO for an online company that helps modify the start-up website to attract traffic and have a good reputation.

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  Miguel Gras

  Portfolio Manager

  Miguel Gras, born in Venezuela, brings over 18 years of hands-on experience as an Investment Advisor and Manager. He holds an undergraduate degree with double minors in Banking/Finance and Management from Universidad Metropolitana (Caracas) and a Master's degree in Business Administration - Management from Clark University. Miguel holds FINRA Licenses Series 7, Series 66, and Series 24, as well as a WSET Level II award in Wines, with plans to complete Level III by October of this year. He is fluent in both English and Spanish.

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  Robyn Ellicson

  Customer Service Manager

  Originally hailing from Milwaukee, Robyn is the most organized and data driven free spirit that you will ever meet. Prior to the global pandemic, as an entrepreneur she helped develop, launch, and implement 16 brands in the entertainment and hospitality industries. She then landed at Bright Cellars which let her combine her love of wine with her statistical and customer care skills to become the top rated specialist on their concierge team. She now travels the world as a digital nomad enjoying wine, whiskey, and adventure. Robyn has two medical degrees from Marquette University.

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  Robert Taylor

  Head of Trading, APAC and Global

  Robbie began his wine journey driving and delivering wine across London with Corney & Barrow and soon moved in to on-trade sales. He soon figured out his passion for fine wine and began work for a London brokerage and then to Armit Wines to join their trading division and was instrumental in the control, buying and selling of fine wine. With Armit, Robbie moved to Hong Kong to set up the HK trading division and then ventured out on his own setting up a brokerage firm. The past 8 years he has worked with Altaya Wines, one of Hong Kong’s largest fine wine importers as their Head of Broking before joining Vinovest. Robbie holds an advanced WSET certificate and has been a guest judge for numerous wine awards.

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  Olivier Bouchard

  Winery Relations Manager

  Olivier left his hometown of Montreal to pursue his passion for wine a little less than a decade ago, after working a few years with brands like L’Oréal and Expedia. After studying in Bordeaux for a year, he started working on La Place de Bordeaux as a buyer for a Négociant. His experience in Bordeaux then led him to try something new: Italian wines. Seeing the shortage of quality Italian wines in the region, he decided to import and distribute fine Italian wines in Bordeaux and its surroundings. Olivier then left Bordeaux to become a wine advisor for Château de Pommard, in Burgundy, where he managed a portfolio of private clients in the UK and Scandinavia. Olivier will be working from France, frequently travelling between France and Italy to meet with wine producers and learning more about the wines and their stories. On the weekends, Olivier spends his time outside, hiking in the mountains, breathing fresh air and enjoying nature. What he likes above all else: inviting friends over, cooking a nice dinner and sharing a great moment over a glass of wine.

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  Volodymyr Grinchenko

  Head of Growth Marketing

  Volodymyr brings 9 years of experience in digital marketing to Vinovest. Having previously worked at Microsoft and Deloitte, Volodymyr has experience leading online advertising, marketing analytics and digital transformation initiatives for the biggest Canadian brands.