Alexis Alston

Alexis Alston is a venture capitalist, innovation expert, and educator whose career focuses on technology, entrepreneurship, and access. Alston began her career at Advantage Capital, a fund with $3 billion in assets under management, investing in brands, artificial intelligence, and health technology companies, including Grainful and Recursion Pharmaceuticals. She launched her first social enterprise at age 16, setting the foundation for a career supporting new ideas in underrepresented markets.

Alston serves as a general partner at Lightship Capital, a family of funds valued at more than $2 billion, where she leads the investment team with investments in companies such as Enable Injections, Kare Mobile, and Boddle Learning. As the first hire at Lightship Capital, she was promoted to principal, managing the firm's deal flow and serving as the initial contact for founders. At Lightship Capital, Alston focuses on supporting founders in overlooked markets, contributing to the diversification of venture capital investment.

In addition to her work in venture capital, Alston is an adjunct professor of engineering at Brown University, where she teaches at the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship and leads the B-Lab program. Drawing from experience helping companies raise more than $700 million, she mentors young entrepreneurs and encourages students to question existing systems and identify business opportunities.

Alston was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Venture Capital. She is also the director of revenue at Lightship Foundation, where she develops Fortune 500 partnerships and leads curation for conferences such as Black Tech Week, raising significant funding for the organization. Alston serves on the Entrepreneurial Council, an advisory board at Target Corporation, collaborating on programs supporting the company's commitment to working with diverse brands.

As a lead organizer of Black Tech Week, Alston has raised substantial funding for the initiative and runs a live-streamed startup pitch competition on Twitch. She is the author of the book "The Pitch and The Proposal: VCs and Founders, a Love Story," which explores the venture capital landscape for a broad audience. Alston's career centers on expanding access to capital and entrepreneurial knowledge, with a focus on innovation and inclusive investing.