Rising Stars 2025: Send in your nominations

The sixth annual Rising Stars celebrates the achievements of people under the age of 40 in the venture capital industry. The deadline for nominations is November 15.

Nominations are open for Rising Stars, which recognizes people under the age of 40 who are making their mark in the venture capital industry, including dealmakers, investor relations professionals and limited partners.

Note that Rising Stars is not a commercial program. There is no cost to appear on the list and all decisions about Rising Stars are made by editorial staff.

The sixth annual Rising Stars will appear in Venture Capital Journal on January 1, 2025. The deadline for nominations is November 15, 2024.

Nominations should be emailed to VCJ Editor Lawrence Aragon at laragon@pei.group.

If you have questions about the nomination process, please see the requirements detailed below. Note that nominees do not have to be venture capitalists or focus exclusively on dealmaking. They may be part of an investment team or work in investor relations, operations, marketing or portfolio support. We are also eager to hear about up-and-coming professionals who work at limited partners, advisory firms and service providers that serve venture firms, including banks and credit providers, law firms, placement agents and fund administrators.

The primary categories for Rising Stars are:

• Next-generation VC. These are dealmakers at venture firms.
• Founder VC. These are founders of VC firms.
• Platform/talent star. These are people who work in investor relations, operations, portfolio company support, ESG programs and other internal functions at VC firms.
• CVC. These people work at corporate venture capital programs.
• LP. These are investors in VC funds, including pensions, endowments, foundations, funds of funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors.
• Service provider. These are people who assist venture firms and their investors, including law firms, placement agents and fund administrators.

Factors VCJ may consider

• Achievements over the last 12 months in their careers, their firm or in the broader venture community;
• Evidence of a measurable impact, such as closing a deal, securing an LP commitment or launching diversity initiatives;
• Evidence of leadership or influence within their own firm or the broader venture field, such as via blogging, speaking duties or working with peers.

Requirements for nominees

• Should be under the age of 40 as of January 1, 2025.
• Should NOT have previously appeared on a “Rising Stars” list. If a candidate was previously submitted and you wish to nominate them again, you must email a new nomination and follow the steps above.
• Should have accomplished something notable over the last 12 months. For example, nominees may have:
  • • received a promotion;
    • founded a new firm;
    • started a mentoring program;
    • led an innovative or significant deal;
    • helped to implement an ESG policy;
    • become a thought leader through blogging;
    • led investment activity in a new sector or region;
    • taken identifiable steps to facilitate greater diversity and inclusion in their firm, portfolio companies or the industry more broadly;
    • assisted a firm in raising a fund;
    • led LP commitments to venture funds;
    • played a role in an LP’s decision to boost its allocation to VC.

How to make a submission

Everyone is free to submit a nomination to Rising Stars, whether they are colleagues, industry peers or work in public relations. There is no cost to make a nomination. It is not necessary to send in multiple nominations for each candidate. You may nominate more than one person from the same firm, but because of the growing popularity of Rising Stars, final selection is limited to one person per firm. When sending in nominations, be sure to include:

• Contact details for the person making the submission.
• Nominee’s name, age, title, firm and focus area. Also include a link to the nominee’s online bio. Or copy and paste the person’s bio in the email.
• Geographic focus area of nominee and where they are based.
• Category for the nominee (Next-generation VC; Founder VC; Platform/talent star; Corporate VC (CVC); LP; or Service provider). Note that we will select and publish a list of 40 in total, not per category.
• Summary (under 200 words) of the nominee’s professional achievements over the previous 12 months. Please note that any information disclosed in the email nomination is deemed suitable for publication.
• A high-resolution (300 dpi and 3″x5″) color photo (JPEG format preferred) or a link to download a high-resolution image of the nominee.

Previous coverage

Click on the following years to see who was chosen for our 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 Rising Stars. Click here for full coverage.

Questions?

Send an email to VCJ Editor Lawrence Aragon at laragon@pei.group.