Meet our team

Managing Director
Dr. Venkat Srinivasan
Operating Partner
Deepak Verma
Partner
Matt Fates
Principal
Mark Legare
Senior Associate
Jeff Knox
Associate
Eon Mattis
Director of Community & Platform
Lily Zarrella
Analyst
Max Krause
Analyst
Marjan Majid

Technologists in Residence

Innospark Technologists in Residence are advanced-degree experts from leading institutions. They bring deep technical knowledge to evaluate AI solutions, support portfolio companies, and connect Innospark to cutting-edge AI research and applications.
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TIR
Kevin Dunnell
TIR
Yuri Ahuja

Advisors

Innospark Advisory Partners are esteemed leaders from industry, academia, government, and entrepreneurship, offering unparalleled expertise in AI and its applications across critical sectors. They provide strategic guidance on emerging trends, deliver industry-specific insights to support portfolio companies, and play a key role in shaping the future of our investments with their deep operational and visionary expertise.
Ashish Singh
Advisory Partner, Bain Capital
Managing Director

Dr. Venkat Srinivasan

Bio

Dr. Venkat Srinivasan, the Founder and Managing Director of Innospark, has worn the shoes of an entrepreneur for most of his career. He brings deep expertise in AI and computational algorithms to the firm, especially computational linguistics combined with deep functional knowledge in multiple domains including finance and accounting. He has founded several successful AI-led startups, including eCredit (acquired by ICG) and Rage Frameworks (acquired by Genpact).

He holds 8 patents, has published over 30 research papers in peer-reviewed prestigious journals, has co-edited two books and is the author of a recently published book titled, The Intelligent Enterprise in the Era of Big Data. Venkat has strongly advocated for and believes that successful AI-led transformation will be characterized by traceability, context recognition and the ability to learn from sparse data environments through computational abstractions.

Education

Ph.D., University of Cincinnati. B.A., Delhi University

Can Be Found Outside Work

Outside of work, Venkat enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters. You will also frequently find him exploring the coffee shops around Boston.

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Operating Partner

Deepak Verma

Bio

Deepak brings a variety of entrepreneurial and operating experiences to his role as a, Operating Partner at Innospark. Here, he is excited about assisting entrepreneurs in thinking through and figuring out solutions to their hardest problems, especially in the areas of strategy, commercialization, cross-border growth, and organizational effectiveness. In addition to his role at Innospark, Deepak serves as the CEO of EnglishHelper, where he leads efforts to expand access to AI-powered English literacy solutions globally.

Early in his career, Deepak was a consultant with McKinsey. He joined eCredit on the completion of its Series B funding, to lead strategy and business development.  Subsequently, after the dot-com crash, he became CEO and led the turnaround of the company.  More recently, Deepak co-founded and led a solar power company to develop and construct ground-mounted solar plants in several Asian countries. The company was acquired in 2018.

Deepak has spent several years in the non-profit sector, with the Clinton Foundation’s HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI).  He joined as a volunteer, and then served as COO and subsequently as CEO.  During this time, CHAI tackled some incredibly hard problems: strengthening health systems in developing countries (primarily in Africa and Asia) to enable them to identify, diagnose, monitor, and provide affordable lifelong treatment to HIV/AIDS patients.

Education

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology. M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame. M.S., Computer Science, University of Minnesota. MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management

Can Be Found Outside Work

Deepak is passionate about running and has completed all World Marathon Majors.

Portfolio Companies

Partner

Matt Fates

Bio

Matt’s passion for new ideas and technology started at a young age, dating back to coding with an Apple IIe.  Professionally, he was drawn to venture capital as it provides the opportunity to work closely with entrepreneurs leveraging technology to solve challenging problems.  Today, he values the opportunity to be a partner to founders, developing strong relationships, reasoning through strategic issues, and supporting them in building impactful companies.

​Matt has worked with early stage technology driven companies since 1996, from formation stage all the way through IPO and beyond through different roles.  As a venture investor and angel, either through his firm or individually, Matt has invested in over 100 companies.  At Ascent Venture Partners (2002 – 2021) he focused on investments in data analytics, data-driven business SaaS and cybersecurity. At Norwest Venture Partners (1998 – 2000), Matt worked with networking and enterprise technology companies. Before Norwest, Matt helped execute both IPO and M&A transactions at Alex Brown & Sons (1996 – 1998), a leading technology investment bank in the 1990s.

Education

B.S., Computer Science, Yale University. MBA, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Can Be Found Outside Work

Matt is a natural competitor and enjoys fitness, health and family. He has completed numerous endurance events including the Boston Marathon and Ironman triathlons. He is also an avid skier, mountain bike rider and a father of four. Matt is passionate about education, believing it is the key to solving many of the world’s problems.

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Principal

Mark Legare

Bio

Mark is a Principal at Innospark Ventures, where he focuses on digital health and tech-enabled services.

Mark has been with Innospark since its founding in 2019. Prior to that, he served as Senior Special Assistant and Personal Aide to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. Mark began his career working in equity research at Morgan Stanley.

Mark has had a longstanding interest in healthcare and developed a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within the sector during his time in the Baker Administration. There, he witnessed firsthand how artificial intelligence was beginning to transform healthcare delivery and operations. Since joining Innospark, Mark has worked closely with numerous healthcare startups, helping them navigate the complexities of scaling innovative solutions to improve patient outcomes, streamline care delivery, and address systemic inefficiencies. He is passionate about partnering with founders who are leveraging artificial intelligence to tackle the industry’s greatest challenges.

Education

B.A., College of the Holy Cross

Can Be Found Outside Work

Outside of work, Mark balances his interests in technology with a love of reading, country music, and college football. Mark lives with his wife (Kaila), son (Jackson), and daughter (Rowan) in West Roxbury. 

Portfolio Companies

Senior Associate

Jeff Knox

Bio

Jeff is a senior investment associate focused on applications of computed intelligence advancing biotechnology and other hard sciences, or accelerating their products to scale and impact. 

Prior to Innospark, Jeff was a consultant to biopharma and digital health companies, where he advised on development and commercialization of therapies across a range of modalities and care areas. He is deeply interested in the translation of technology through entrepreneurship and served as Managing Director of the founding Boston chapter of Nucleate, helping to build, educate, and support new biotech venture teams. 

Education

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University. MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management

Can Be Found Outside Work

Outside work you can find him hiking down the list of 4,000 footers in New Hampshire, cooking on weekends, or walking a very enthusiastic young husky around the streets of Boston.

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Associate

Eon Mattis

Bio

Eon is an investment associate at Innospark, where his focus lies in exploring the applications of AI within the Enterprise space. 

His career began at Lockheed Martin, where he was a Software Engineer developing satellite simulation systems. Eon later transitioned to Lockheed’s Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, assuming the role of Senior Artificial Intelligence Research Scientist. There, he spent his time developing innovative AI-enabled applications pertaining to satellite imagery, autonomous systems and teleoperation. 

Education

B.S., Computer Science, Villanova University. MEng. Systems Engineering, Cornell University. MBA, Harvard Business School

Can Be Found Outside Work

Eon enjoys an active lifestyle, partaking in activities such as running, cycling and playing tennis. He also loves DJing, architectural photography and traveling in his spare time.

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Director of Community & Platform

Lily Zarrella

Bio

Lily is the Director of Community & Platform at Innospark. In her role, she leads efforts to manage and grow the firm’s network of entrepreneurs, industry experts, and firm advisors. She is passionate about connecting and convening people to tackle complex challenges and is excited to help entrepreneurs grow their companies and achieve their potential.

Before Innospark, Lily served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito from 2019 to 2022. During this time, she developed a deep interest in how the public sector can catalyze private sector innovation and drive economic development. She also worked in the Governor’s Office from 2014 to 2016.

Between her government roles, Lily worked at Solamere Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm, where she helped build a network of expert advisors and managed firmwide events.

Lily was also a member of the 2014 and 2018 Charlie Baker for Governor campaigns.

Education

B.A., Boston University

Can Be Found Outside Work

In her spare time, Lily can be found escaping winter on an adventure trip, making the most of New England summers closer to home, and spending time with her husband Ted and dog Frankie in Boston’s South End.

Portfolio Companies

Analyst

Max Krause

Bio

As an Analyst, Max spends most of his time sourcing new opportunities and performing due diligence across our verticals. He also supports Innospark’s deal leads on portfolio-related items and handles internal operational responsibilities. 

Prior to joining the team full-time in 2022, Max interned with Innospark in 2020 and 2021 while in Undergrad. He now leads the Summer Internship Program at Innospark. 

Education

B.A., College of the Holy Cross

Can Be Found Outside Work

Originally from Germany, Max enjoys learning new languages, playing the guitar, and pushing himself in all kinds of workouts. He’s also an avid football (the original one) player.
Analyst

Marjan Majid

Bio

Marjan is an analyst at Innospark, where she contributes to the investment team through deal sourcing and due diligence of healthcare, life science and tech companies. She also supports portfolio work, internal operations, and community initiatives. 

 Before Innospark, Marjan completed a global fellowship at Included VC with a focus on health and AI. Her prior experience includes roles at Techstars and the Houston Angel Network where she focused on healthcare and life science investments but worked with startups across a variety of sectors. She also served as Executive Director of Enventure, and through Enventure and their partnership with Nucleate, she led an early-stage accelerator and an annual investment competition to foster the Houston innovation ecosystem. 

Education

B.S., Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin. M.S., Bioengineering, Rice University

Can Be Found Outside Work

Marjan loves traveling and exploring new places, spending quality time with friends and family, and relaxing at home with her two cats.
TIR

Kevin Dunnell

Bio

Kevin is a PhD student at MIT in the Media Lab. His research explores how generative AI can augment human capabilities with tools that help synthesize complex systems and ideas.

His career started at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as an Aerothermal Systems Engineer and member of the company’s Innovation Team. He then transitioned to Infosys’ Corporate Design team, based in Palo Alto, CA, in the office of the CEO. As a Senior Experience Design Lead, he built and presented interactive demonstrations with emerging technology (AI, Blockchain, Digital Fabrication, and XR) that illustrated strategic technical opportunities for large enterprises.

Following this experience, he started his own prototyping studio, where he supported founders and marketing teams in large companies while traveling the world as a digital nomad. Prior to joining the team at Innospark, Kevin was an early employee at Vianai, an enterprise AI startup, where he wore multiple hats, including head of the company’s AI platform team.

Kevin holds 5 patents on AI optimization, systems for building machine learning models, and visualization tools for interpreting these systems.

Education

B.S., Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan. M.S., Media Arts and Science, MIT

Can Be Found Outside Work

In his spare time, he enjoys surfing, snowboarding, hiking, exploring new places and cultures, tinkering in his ever-growing maker space, and spending time with his family and friends. 
TIR

Yuri Ahuja

Bio

Yuri Ahuja has been a Technologist in Residence at Innospark since 2022. Yuri primarily focuses on diligence into the machine learning technologies of prospective portfolio companies.

Yuri is a physician in Internal Medicine at NYU Langone Health and Chief Technology Officer at Oatmeal Health. He brings with him broad expertise in the application of machine learning to healthcare processes, particularly the use of Natural Language Processing to efficiently operationalize Electronic Health Record data.

Education

B.S., Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University. MD, Harvard Medical School. PhD, Harvard University.

Can Be Found Outside Work

Outside of work, you can find him exploring the local restaurant scene and traveling as much as he possibly can.