Thomas Nastas

After an early career in product development with Ford Motor, Multifastener Corp., Donnelly Mirrors, Lear-Siegler, Votrax & Park Chemical, I founded Innovative Ventures Inc. (IVI) and raised my 1st US venture capital tech fund. Then I took the Michigan fund model to Canada, ‘missionary’ selling it to institutions and creating my 1st international fund. From Canada, I personally led expansion & created funds in Europe (2), then Africa (3), Russia (2) and Kazakhstan (1), once again employing a bootstrapped, ‘missionary selling’ model that utilized relationship building to build the partnerships to raise money from pension, development finance institutions, sovereign wealth & corporate investors.

While some may not consider venture capital as entrepreneurship, for me it was as I built the companies and programs for each geographic region, expanding globally, managing global teams/operations, raising and investing in startups, early & growth stage companies across 4 continents––results achieved thru my own energy, initiative and a few coins in my pocket––without a mentorship model or a safety net to support me. Accomplishments

1. Increased assets from $4 million to >$500 million across 11 multi-asset funds as shown––evidence of my scaling, investment, leadership & management talents as a GP, a fund manager & a fiduciary
2. Established 18 (global) offices, scaled the organization from a 2-person start-up in Detroit, Michigan USA to 75 professionals across 18 global offices
3. Served as member in Fund Investment Committees & Board of Directors to global enterprises (private, non-profit & public sector). Appointed as Independent Director, Chair/lead investor, Treasurer & Secretary in Boards, member of Audit, Risk Management & Strategy Committees