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Meet our Truist Ventures team.

Bringing surprise and delight to financial services through disruptive investment

The Truist Ventures team has more than 50 years of venture investing experience. Our diverse team brings complementary skill sets and is well poised to supercharge your growth.

Christina Bechhold Russ

Christina Bechhold Russ

Head of Strategic Investment Initiatives, Senior Vice President

Christina Bechhold Russ Linkedin
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Christina is a founding partner of Empire Angels, a New York-based fund and angel network of young professionals investing in early-stage startups, with a focus on supporting millennial entrepreneurs.

Christina is a regular contributor on startups and leadership for The Wall Street Journal, a mentor for the Entrepreneurial Refugee Network, and a board member for venture fund advisory boards in both the U.S. and South America.

She’s also a TEDx speaker and was recognized by The New York Business Journal as a 2016 Woman of Influence, by Business Insider as a Woman to Watch in Venture Capital in 2018, and by Management Today and The Daily Telegraph as one of Britain’s 35 Women Under 35 in 2019.

Previously, Christina served as director of European investments for Samsung NEXT, an early-stage venture capital fund investing in software and services across mobile, consumer electronics, and display. She started her career in capital markets at Citigroup in New York.

Jakub Konieczny

Jakub Konieczny

Head of Investments, Portfolio Management, Commercialization, Senior Vice President

Jakub Konieczny LinkedIn
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Jakub is an experienced investment underwriter, negotiator, board observer, and portfolio manager. With more than 15 years of experience in private equity and venture capital within the financial services industry, Jakub now leads investment diligence and portfolio oversight efforts for Truist Ventures.

Before joining Truist Ventures, Jakub served as a principal of Fifth Third Bank’s strategic investments group. He performed underwriting of numerous fintech seed and growth equity investments, led diligence teams to consummate partnerships with fintechs and technology acquisitions, and served as board observers for a dozen portfolio companies.

Previously, Jakub served as a vice president of Fifth Third Capital with responsibility for underwriting and oversight of a $500 million portfolio of private equity funds and direct investment across several industries.

Jakub began his career as a CPA after graduating from the University of Dayton with a degree in accounting, finance, and international business.

Nick Joyner, CFA

Nick Joyner, CFA

Investments Principal

Nick Joyner LinkedIn
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Nick brings 10 years of experience in banking, capital markets, and investment management to his role at Truist Ventures. Nick leverages a breadth of experiences within large financial institutions and startup environments to aid in underwriting, deal structuring, and portfolio oversight efforts for Truist Ventures.

Before joining Truist Ventures, Nick was a partner in an institutional asset management startup where he served as head of fundamental research, overseeing $1.8 billion in assets. Nick has worked at various financial institutions throughout his career, including J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from Wake Forest University and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. He’s also a CFA charterholder.

Nick Joyner, CFA

Kamala Lewis

Lead Commercialization Partner

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Kam brings more than 25 years of experience leveraging software and business needs to provide insight and analysis through excellence in communication, problem-solving and critical thinking.  She’s focused on process and workflow efficiencies that will give Truist Ventures the ability to move quickly and easily toward strategic and innovative solutions.

Previously, Kam led Truist’s Client Insights and Analytics operations team where her team developed and executed departmental agile methodology for workflow management.

Before joining Truist, Kam worked as a Senior Program Manager for OTM Partners LLC directing demand generation/retention programs for clients in financial services, CPG and health services.  Kam also served as the Director of Marketing & Web Operations for the Institute of Internal Auditors to develop, manage, and execute the organization’s strategic marketing programs and marketing collateral.

Kam received a Bachelor of Arts degrees in Applied Sociology and History from Stetson University and a Master of Arts in Applied Sociology & Statistics from the University of Central Florida.

Kristen McGettigan

Kristen McGettigan

Lead Commercialization Partner

Kristen McGettigan LinkedIn
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Kristen is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience leading Commercialization initiatives and driving successful outcomes in the Energy, Marketing, and Financial industries. Her expertise lies in strategically identifying opportunities and implementing innovative solutions to maximize profitability, reduce costs, and improve productivity.

Prior roles in Technology, Operations, and Product functions have enabled her to effectively lead cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration and achieving organizational objectives. A unique blend of strategic thinking, technical acumen, and ability to adapt to change make Kristen well-suited to large-scale Commercialization efforts. 

Kristen joined Truist Ventures from Catalina Marketing, where she identified the need for product-driven Commercialization efforts and had the ability to create a team and supporting processes from the ground up.  Kristen began her career at Accenture as a software developer after receiving a degree in Management Information Systems from Florida State University.  She also holds a Master of Business Administration degree and numerous professional certifications.

Joshua Pulman

Joshua Pulman

Strategic Investments, Senior Associate

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Joshua brings strategic planning experience from financial institutions and FinTech operator experience to his role at Truist Ventures, where he is focused on strategy, research and sourcing.

Joshua previously worked in the transformative Corporate Strategy group at Wells Fargo as well as the Executive Office at Goldman Sachs.

Before joining Truist Ventures, Joshua led product strategy and development at an investment and insurance FinTech that focused on the art market. Joshua is a board member and co-founder of Silver Art Projects, which is a New York City based non-profit that incubates and accelerates diverse and emerging artists.

Joshua holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The George Washington School of Business.

Davi Miller

Davi Miller

Head of Platform

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Davi is an experienced business development leader, communications strategist, and growth advisor. With more than 8 years of experience building and scaling 0-to-1 initiatives across big tech, start-ups, and venture capital, Davi now leads Platform at Truist Ventures. 

Previously, Davi was US Head of Platform at a growth-stage venture capital firm where he was responsible for constructing and delivering value-add services designed to accelerate the growth and development of the firm’s portfolio companies.

Previously, Davi served as partnerships lead at Medium where he was responsible for striking growth-focused business development deals. Davi has also served as a partnership manager at Meta.

Davi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Middlebury College.

Steven Smith

Steven Smith

Operations Manager

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Steve is a Navy veteran who brings over 10 years of Operations experience from the financial, manufacturing and military industries. His previous position was in Process Measurement at Wells Fargo, analyzing bank processes and finding areas for improvement. Steven began his career after leaving the military working for Kellogg’s and completed his Undergraduate and Master’s degrees while working.

Vince Ravotto

Vince Ravotto

Investment Associate, Portfolio Manager

Vince Ravotto LinkedIn
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Vince a key part of the investment underwriting team and leads portfolio oversight & reporting for Truist Ventures. Prior to joining Truist Ventures, Vince worked in accounting assurance at Sponsel CPA Group in Indianapolis, Indiana, advising clients in technology, distribution and manufacturing sectors. Vince holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Marian University (Indianapolis, IN) and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business.

Jeevan Larson

Jeevan Larson

Investment Analyst

Jeevan Larson LinkedIn
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Before joining Truist Ventures, Jeevan was a partner at Kudla Fund, a quantamental L/S equity fund at Stanford managing $1.3M. Additionally, he interned at early-stage venture fund Pareto Holdings, where he conducted deal sourcing and due diligence. Jeevan was also an undergraduate researcher at Stanford Medicine and has published research on early detection biomarkers for prostate cancer.

Jeevan holds a Bachelor of Science in Computational Biology from Stanford University.

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