Our Team

James Whitfield

Managing Partner & Co-Founder

James brings 20 years of operating experience in enterprise software to Fondo Inc. Before co-founding Fondo, he served as CEO of Meridian Systems, a B2B operations platform he built from zero to $120M ARR and eventually sold to Oracle in 2017. He also held senior product roles at Salesforce and SAP, where he developed a deep understanding of enterprise software buying cycles and the challenges of selling to large organizations.

As Managing Partner, James leads Fondo's investment strategy and LP relationships. He personally works with portfolio companies on go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and fundraising narratives. He holds an MBA from Wharton and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.

"The best investment we can make is in founders who have the grit, clarity of vision, and intellectual honesty to navigate the inevitable chaos of building something new. Capital is abundant. Character is scarce."

Sarah Chen

General Partner & Co-Founder

Sarah co-founded Fondo Inc after spending 15 years as a serial entrepreneur and investor in B2B technology. She founded two companies: TalentLoop, a B2B talent analytics platform acquired by Workday, and SupplyChain.ai, which was backed by Sequoia Capital and reached $35M ARR before its acquisition by SAP. Her engineering background at Stanford, combined with her deep commercial experience, gives her a unique ability to evaluate both the technical moat and business viability of early-stage companies.

Sarah leads Fondo's investments in AI, machine learning, and developer tools. She sits on the boards of six portfolio companies and mentors dozens of founders through the Fondo Founder Fellowship. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University.

"Great founders do not ask permission to build the future. They build it, and then bring the world along for the journey. Our job is to give them the resources and support to move as fast as their ideas demand."

Michael Torres

Partner

Former VP Engineering at DataDog and CTO of two high-growth startups. Michael leads Fondo's investments in cybersecurity, infrastructure, and developer tools. He brings technical depth and market knowledge that few investors can match. His portfolio includes CloudShield, SecureOps, and five other leading security and developer infrastructure companies.

Focus: Cybersecurity, DevOps, Infrastructure

Priya Kapoor

Partner

Previously a Principal at Accel Partners and COO at two fintech companies. Priya leads Fondo's investments in fintech, regtech, and B2B payments. She has a track record of identifying category-creating companies early, with notable investments in PayRoute and ContractIQ. Before venture capital, she spent seven years in investment banking at Goldman Sachs.

Focus: Fintech, RegTech, B2B Payments

David Okafor

Principal

David joined Fondo from McKinsey's Technology practice, where he advised Fortune 500 companies on digital transformation and enterprise software strategy. He leads deal sourcing in supply chain technology, operations software, and industrial IoT. David has sourced four of Fondo's most recent investments and serves as a board observer for IntelliConnect and LogiSense.

Focus: Supply Chain, Ops Tech, Industrial IoT