SS

Sydney Sykes

Global Head of VC Partnerships at NVIDIA, BLCK VC Co-Founder, Forbes VC 30U30

San Francisco, California

Invests in

Stages:

  • Min Investment:

    $3,000,000.00
  • Max Investment:

    $20,000,000.00
  • Target Investment:

    $15,000,000.00

Work Experience

2024

  • Global Head of Venture Capital Alliance

    2025

    Leading VC partnerships at NVIDIA to support VCs and their portfolios

  • Venture Capital Alliance Manager

    2024 - 2025

    Part of NVIDIA's Inception Senior Leadership Team, working on the Venture Capital Alliance Initiative. I focus on helping NVIDIA work with the best VCs and founders, while accelerating the ecosystem.

2018

  • Co-Chair of the Board

    2022

  • Co-Founder, Co-CEO

    2018 - 2022

    BLCK VC is the largest community of Black Venture investors, focused on empowering and advancing Black venture investors and increasing Black representation in Venture Capital. - Led and fundraised for a multi-million dollar budget - Led team of 6+, including hiring, professional development, and feedback and performance management - Led strategy, strategic budgeting, and execution for the organization, including 30+ volunteers, 6 regional chapters, 5 committees, 4 national annual programs, and 400+program participants

  • Partner

    2022 - 2024

    Investing in generation-defining commerce and digital health companies. Working with: Archive Resale, Big Sur AI, YaySay

  • Scout Investor

    2020 - 2022

    Scout Investments include: Archive Resale, PIN, Gander, Influent, You Go Natural, Apothekary, Whym Angel investments include: Inkbox (Acq., BIC), Players' Lounge, Blacktag

2021 - 2021

  • Principal (internship)

    2021 - 2021

    Wave is a seed stage venture firm that specializes in marketplaces.

2019 - 2020

  • Senior Strategy & Planning Associate

    2020 - 2020

    Led strategy to drive native brand growth, including launching new brands and expanding offerings from existing brands Managed native brand response to COVID-19 pandemic delays Led social media strategy and evaluation based on net new analysis and tools

  • Inventory Planner

    2019 - 2020

    Managed growth forecasting and inventory planning for multi-million dollar native brands Led analysis and created planning tools that led to the expansion of Plus sizes and Mens offerings Created sizing tools to improve inventory accuracy for native brands and branded products

2019 - 2019

  • Project Coordinator

    2019 - 2019

    Designed custom wedding and event invitations; coordinated material sourcing, project production, and client relationships.

  • Investment Analyst

    2016 - 2018

    First investment analyst at one of the largest, longest-standing Venture Capital firms in the US. Focused on due diligence, investment operations, sourcing, and thesis development.

  • Co-President (2015), Sponsorships Chair (2014)

    2014 - 2016

    • Lead organization of over 300 members. • Initiated first ever Diversity Director position and Women of Color in Business series to increase diversity. • Initiated press outreach strategy, resulting in coverage from publications such as the New York Observer and Forbes Magazine for the Intercollegiate Business Convention, which hosts over 1,200 international attendees annually. • Lead Sponsorships Committee responsible for raising over $150k annually to fund the New York Career Exploratory Trip, the International Career Exploratory Trip, and the Intercollegiate Business Convention. Acquired sponsors include Starbucks, Facebook, and Goldman Sachs. • Represented organization on national Chinese television during 2015 International Career Exploratory Trip to Shanghai, China (link).

2015 - 2015

  • Summer Business Analyst

    2015 - 2015

    • Mined data and created models in Excel to predict impact of recommendations and analyze markets. • Presented research to and conducted workshops for clients on recommendations.

2014 - 2014

  • Summer Business Analyst

    2014 - 2014

    • Conducted client and expert interviews to create industry overview. • Mined data and created models in Excel to predict impact of recommendations and analyze markets.