Venture with Grace

Olga Megorskaya is the founder and CEO of Toloka AI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~She established the company in 2014 and has since transformed it from a crowdsourcing and microtasking platform into a leading provider of high-quality training data for large language models and generative AI systems. Olga Megorskaya is also the CEO of Mindrift.ai, Toloka's platform for sourcing domain experts for AI training projects. Under her leadership, Toloka has grown into a trusted data partner for major AI developers including Anthropic, Amazon, and Microsoft.TopicsWhy expert human data remains essential for training, evaluating, and improving frontier AI modelsBuilding scalable quality-control systems for AI training data, from crowdsourcing to specialized domain expertiseEvaluating AI agents for real-world performance, reasoning, and safety beyond conventional benchmarks#ArtificialIntelligence #AITraining #AIEvaluation #AISafety #MachineLearning

Eugen Alpeza is the Co-Founder and CEO of Edra, an enterprise AI startup building systems that reverse-engineer business workflows from tools such as Slack, ServiceNow, Jira, and Salesforce to create auditable knowledge libraries for AI agents. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Founded in 2025, Edra raised a $30 million-plus Series A led by Sequoia Capital, 8VC, A*, and HubSpot Ventures. Before founding Edra, Eugen spent seven years at Palantir Technologies, progressing through roles as Deployment Strategist, Enterprise Lead, US Commercial Lead, and Co-Head of Forward Deployed AI Engineering. His experience spans enterprise AI deployment, commercial strategy, and engineering, giving him a practical perspective on bringing AI into complex organizations. Earlier in his career, he worked as a Machine Learning Engineer at Skimlinks and a Data Scientist at Upwork. He holds a master’s degree in Computational Statistics and Machine Learning from UCL and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh.Topics Turning enterprise workflows and company data into reliable, auditable knowledge for AI agents Lessons from Palantir on deploying AI in complex organizations and translating technical capabilities into business value Building enterprise AI products that automate work while preserving context, reliability, and organizational knowledge #ArtificialIntelligence #AIAgents #EnterpriseAI #AIInfrastructure #Startups

Darren Bechtel is the Founder and Managing Director of Brick & Mortar Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technologies modernizing architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Since founding the firm in 2015, he has backed more than 70 companies developing software and hardware for the built environment. In 2019, Brick & Mortar announced a $100 million fund backed by industry leaders including Autodesk, Cemex, Hilti, United Rentals, and Sidewalk Labs. Its portfolio includes PlanGrid, BuildingConnected, Fieldwire, Rhumbix, Levelset, and EverCharge. Before Brick & Mortar, Darren founded and led South Park Ventures and served as CEO of medical device company Encapsule Medical Devices. With a background spanning architecture, product design, engineering, and venture capital, he focuses on bringing technology and industry expertise together to make construction and infrastructure projects safer, more productive, and less costly. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering/Product Design and an MBA from Stanford University.Topics Why construction remains ripe for technology adoption across design, building, and infrastructure operations Investing in early-stage software and hardware that improve construction productivity, safety, and cost efficiency How venture capital and established industry leaders can accelerate innovation across the built environment #ConstructionTech #VentureCapital #BuiltWorld #ArtificialIntelligence #Infrastructure

Ali Partovi is the CEO of Neo, a venture capital firm and mentorship community that brings together experienced technology leaders to support ambitious founders. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Neo has backed companies including Cursor and Kalshi, while Ali’s earlier angel investments include Airbnb, Dropbox, Facebook, and Uber. He is ranked #1 in the United States on the Forbes Midas Seed List. Ali co-founded Code.org, helping launch the Hour of Code initiative, and previously co-founded LinkExchange and iLike. He is also the co-founder of Sway, a platform focused on reimagining democracy through crowd voting. An entrepreneur and investor with a background in computer science from Harvard, Ali focuses on identifying exceptional founders early and helping them build category-defining companies.Topics How Neo identifies exceptional founders and builds a mentorship-driven venture capital community Investing in AI-native startups and recognizing breakout companies at the earliest stages Lessons from backing companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Cursor, and Kalshi across different technology cycles #VentureCapital #ArtificialIntelligence #AIInvesting #Startups #Founders

Fred Parietti is the CEO and co-founder of Multiply Labs, a robotics company developing automated manufacturing systems for individualized medicines, including cell therapies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~This episode is brought to you by Nebius — the ultimate cloud for AI innovators.Nebius provides AI infrastructure you can count on, combining reliability and speed with flexibility and engineering support unmatched by hyperscalers.AI leaders like Meta, Shopify, and Higgsfield already partner with Nebius to run their AI workloads. Plus, venture-backed startups can save up to $150,000 on compute costs when they apply for access. Visit nebius.com or nebius.com/startups to learn more~~~~~~~~~~~~~Since co-founding the company in 2016, he has raised more than $25 million from investors including Casdin Capital, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, and Fifty Years. Multiply Labs has developed GMP-compliant robotic manufacturing technology for individualized pharmaceuticals and is building robotic systems designed to work with existing GMP instruments used in cell therapy production, helping manufacturers automate processes without significantly changing established protocols. Fred leads a team of more than 35 robotic engineers, pharmaceutical scientists, and FDA experts. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from MIT, where his research focused on advanced robotic systems and earned the Mechanical Engineering De Florez Design Award. His work spans more than 30 peer-reviewed robotics publications and 12+ patents and patent applications, with over 2,000 citations.Topics How robotics can scale the manufacturing of individualized medicines and cell therapies Automating cell therapy production while working within existing GMP processes and regulatory requirements Building a robotics company at the intersection of advanced engineering, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and patient access #Robotics #Biotechnology #CellTherapy #PharmaManufacturing #HealthcareAI