Cindy Padnos is founder and managing partner of Illuminate Ventures, an early stage Micro VC firm focused on cloud computing. Current investments and board seats include BrightEdge, CalmSea, Hoopla, and Xactly. Cindy has deployed over $100 million in venture funding to help dozens of start-ups reach successful outcomes including prior portfolio companies Red Aril (acq. Hearst Corporation) and WildPockets (acq. Autodesk).
Named one of the Most Influential Women in Technology (Fast Company) and one of the Most Influential Women in Business in the Bay Area (San Francisco Business Times), Cindy’s high tech career includes successful stints as a management consultant (Booz), VP of Marketing (Scopus, IPO) and founder/CEO (Vivant, acq. EVLV/ORCL).
Cindy is on the Board of Advisors for Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, where she received her MBA/MSIA, and is the author of the white paper High-Performance Entrepreneurs: Women in High Tech. @illuminateVC
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