Himalaya Rao-Potlapally

Himalaya got an MBA and specialized training in Venture Finance and worked in seven different firms as an Associate, Deal Lead, and eventually Fund Manager. She was also an adjunct professor at Portland State University and helped start their Impact Ventures Program.  She co-launched Venture Partners, an educational non-profit, in partnership with VertueLab and NVCA’s Venture Forward/VC University, to help bring more diverse individuals into venture capital funds and the investment ecosystem. She has been recognized as one of the Rising Stars in Venture Capital by the NVCA/Venture Forward She has been a Forty under 40 recipients by the Portland Business Journal.  She was also recently selected as one of twelve 2022 VCI Fellows She was invited by Senator Wyden to present expert witness testimony in front of the United State Senate Finance Committee on her work with BIPOC founders.