Blake Patton

Founder & Managing Partner

Blake Patton is the founder and Managing General Partner of Tech Square Ventures and Engage where he leads investments in enterprise software, marketplace, and platform technology companies. Under his leadership, the firm has invested in over 90 early-stage companies. He currently represents Tech Square Ventures as a director or observer on the boards of Pointivo (Chairman), Saleo, Toolpath, Fortify, Yesler, Speedscale, Slip Robotics, and PreTel Health (Chairman).

Prior to founding Tech Square Ventures, Blake was General Manager of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech – named by Forbes as one of the “Top 12 Incubators Changing the World”. Prior to leading ATDC, he served as President & COO of Interactive Advisory Software and EVP of iXL, an internet services company that he joined through the acquisition of Swan Media and was part of the executive team that grew the company from startup to over $400 million in annualized revenue and an IPO. He started his career as an Associate at SEI Corporation.

Blake is an active leader in the technology community, serving on the boards of Engage, Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures (GATV), and High Tech Ministries (Treasurer). He also serves on the advisory boards of ATDC and Georgia Tech’s Cowan-Turner Center for Servant Leadership and is a former Chairman of Venture Atlanta, former Chairman of the Center for American Entrepreneurship, a Georgia Research Alliance Industry Fellow, and a member of the selection committee for the NC State Chancellor’s Innovation Fund. Blake is a part-time Professor of the Practice at Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business where he teaches Entrepreneurial Finance.

Blake earned a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, where he was captain of the swim team. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech College of Engineering’s Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni, is a former Georgia Tech Alumni Association Trustee, and previously served on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board.

Vasant Kamath

Partner

Vasant is a General Partner at Tech Square Ventures, where he is responsible for overall investment strategy and process, sourcing, deal execution, and supporting portfolio companies.

Prior to Tech Square Ventures, Vasant was Director at Primus Capital, a Director at Cox Enterprises, and a Senior Associate at Summit Partners. He has over 15 years of experience as a technology company investor, Board member and advisor, with more than $4 billion in announced exits. He has particular experience in the eCommerce, marketing technology, financial technology, data/information services and mobile/wireless sectors.

Vasant earned an AB from Harvard University and an MBA from Stanford University.

Bill is a Partner at Tech Square Ventures where he supports the firm’s early-stage investments and oversees the growth of the Engage program and fund

Bill spent most of his career as a tech CEO. His first company, which he co-founded in high school, provided graphics software for early, text-based personal computers. His second company, Da Vinci Systems, was started out of his college dorm room and grew to serve millions of users across 45 countries. Later, he spent several years as a venture capitalist with Greylock. In 1998, he left the firm to become CEO of a portfolio company, iXL, which went public and grew to nearly $500 million in revenue. After iXL, he joined Silverpop as CEO. The company grew to nearly $100 million in recurring revenue and became a global leader in cloud-based marketing. In 2014, IBM acquired the company and made it the foundation of the IBM Marketing Cloud. Shortly after the acquisition, Bill was promoted to IBM’s VP of Corporate Strategy, helping the CEO and SVPs set IBM’s strategic roadmap.

In 2018, Bill co-founded Solar Inventions to commercialize a series of scientific breakthroughs for improving the manufacturing of solar cells and panels. He has spent his career in the tech industry, centered on go-to-market and customer experience, and over the last few years, he has focused on energy and sustainability.

Bill received a degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He holds several patents and has published three books.

Scott Lopano

Principal

Scott is a Principal at Tech Square Ventures where he is responsible for sourcing new deals, deal execution, and supporting portfolio companies.

Since joining TSV as an Associate in 2017, Scott has led or supported diligence and execution on 39 new investments focused on early-stage enterprise (B2B) and marketplace technology companies.

Previously, Scott worked at UBS Investment Bank in New York where he advised clients on capital structure and funding strategy, raising more than $26B in debt and preferred stock capital for clients over his tenure.

Scott graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a concentration in Finance. He was a 4-year starter for the Penn Quaker Football Team during 3 Ivy League Championships. He currently holds the record for most punts and most punt yardage in the school’s history and maintains strong ties to Penn. Scott was ranked as a top 5 NFL-hopeful punter and was invited to Rookie Mini Camp with the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Joelle Fox

CFO & Operating Partner

Joelle is CFO and Operating Partner at Tech Square Ventures where she manages fund administration and accounting, supports the investment process, and assists portfolio companies with financial and operating strategies.

Prior to joining Tech Square Ventures, Joelle served in roles including starting, growing and exiting high growth technology companies. After successfully selling Velocity Medical Solutions to Varian Medical Systems, she joined Varian to integrate Velocity’s team and systems into the publicly traded medical device and software company. Previously, Joelle served as SVP of Finance and Acquisitions at iXL, Inc. and was part of the PWC audit practice for eight years in Atlanta where she focused on technology, media, and consumer goods.

Joelle earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee. She is actively involved with the LEAD2Legacy program, LOVE Atlanta, and the Flourish women’s mentoring program.

Jason Kuo

Senior Associate, Tech Square Ventures

Jason is a Senior Associate at Tech Square Ventures where he is responsible for sourcing new deals, deal execution, and supporting portfolio companies.

Jason started his career as a software engineer before joining several health tech startups as an early product manager. He has also advised several software and tech-enabled services companies through successful M&A transactions as an investment banker with Citizens Capital Markets. Before joining Tech Square Ventures, Jason co-founded Onboard, an immigration technology company focused on the international education market.

Jason is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and received his MBA from the Goizueta School of Business at Emory University. Originally from the northeast, he now resides in Atlanta with his wife Jolinta and their two children. Jason enjoys cycling, running, and hiking; he has circumnavigated the island of Taiwan on a bicycle and has completed a half Ironman in addition to several marathons and century rides.

Arrington Farrar

Senior Analyst, Tech Square Ventures

Arrington, “AW”, is a Senior Analyst at Tech Square Ventures where he is responsible for deal execution, supporting portfolio companies, and follow-on investment opportunities.

Before joining TSV, AW worked for Lennar Homebuilders as a Land Acquisition Analyst where he assisted in underwriting and sourcing new deals. He began his career as a Credit Analyst for BMO Harris rotation through the Commercial Real Estate, Financial Institutions, and Commercial Middle Market banking groups.

AW graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Management and Entrepreneurship. He was a 3-year letter winner for the Badger Football team. He is an Atlanta native, loves Waffle House, and makes his own bow ties.

Hyundo Kwon

Analyst, Tech Square Ventures

Hyundo is an Analyst at Tech Square Ventures where he is responsible for project execution and assisting the Managing Partner.

Prior to joining Tech Square Ventures, Hyundo was a director at gener8tor, a startup accelerator based in Wisconsin, running startup incubator programs focused on future mobility and smart manufacturing. He was responsible for sourcing, leading entrepreneurship education, and providing investment opportunities for startups.

Hyundo graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison obtaining a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. Hyundo has a passion for Mixed Martial Arts with training in Boxing and Tae Kwon Do in which he holds a third-degree Black Belt.

Matthew Stevens

Entrepreneur in Residence

Matthew Stevens is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Tech Square Ventures where he supports the firm’s new investments and advises portfolio companies on go-to-market acceleration and overall company building.

Matt is also an EIR with the ATDC, an angel investor and an advisor to several early stage technology companies located in Atlanta and San Francisco. He specializes in EOS, Culture Creation, Organizational Design and Go-to-Market for early stage companies across several industry verticals including Public Safety, Supply Chain, Cloud Infrastructure/Telecom and Managed Services.

As both a CEO and President, Matt has Founded and Co-Founded several companies including CENTEGIX which sustained triple-digit growth and achieved a $20M ARR run rate in 3 years despite a global pandemic. Through his leadership CENTEGIX was twice recognized by Inc 5000 as a Fastest Growing Company in America, Atlanta Business Chronicle Pacesetter Award, twice a Technology Association of GA Top 40 & Top 10 Innovative Company, a Hire Vets Gold Medallion recipient and a finalist in the FETC Pitch Competition. He’s has several successful exits and is now focused on helping other entrepreneurs achieve their startup dreams.

Matt has been coaching founders and entrepreneurs for over a decade, helping them navigate capital raise, building leadership teams, creating high-performing sales organizations and selling to enterprise customers. His niche is high growth recurring revenue technology companies with a B2B, enterprise focus. He serves on several startup Boards and Advisory Boards.

He’s a community builder and serves on the Advisory Board of The City Springs Theatre Company, and is the former Chairman and current Board Member Emeritus of Atlanta’s High Tech Prayer Breakfast.

Matt holds a Bachelors of Science and Management degree in Computer Sciences from SUNY Fredonia and has continued his education with Management courses at Georgia Tech and Emory University.

Matt lives in Atlanta with his wife Candace and three children. He’s an active outdoorsman who spends his free time fishing, hunting and hiking.

Brooks Robinson

Entrepreneur in Residence

Brooks Robinson is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Tech Square Ventures and Engage where he supports the firm’s new investments and advises portfolio companies on go-to-market acceleration and overall company building.

Brooks is also the Managing Partner of ROC Venture Partners advising technology companies and investors in strategy, sales & marketing, product & technology, customer experience, and capital raising.

From 2012 through 2021, Brooks was the Co-founder & CEO of Springbot, an eCommerce marketing automation platform. Springbot was named one of Atlanta’s Best Places to Work by the Atlanta Business Chronicle from 2015 to 2021 and was ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Companies in the U.S. from 2018 to 2021.

From 2000 through 2011, Brooks was a Co-founder of Cbeyond, a telecom service provider, and held various leadership positions including Chief Marketing Officer and President, Cloud Services. Cbeyond grew to $480 million in annual revenue, employed 2,000 people across 16 cities in the U.S. and completed an IPO (Nasdaq: CBEY) in 2005.

Prior to Cbeyond, Brooks worked with Cambridge Strategic Management Group, a strategy and private equity consulting firm in Boston; Deloitte Consulting in Toronto; and held various engineering positions at Nortel in Ottawa.

Brooks currently serves on the Board of Directors and Technology Advisory Board of the Boys & Girls Club of Metro Atlanta, a non-profit that provides kids a safe, positive, and engaging after school environment. Brooks was a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization for more than 10 years and has supported entrepreneurs as a mentor at Techstars (2016-2021) and an EIR at the ATDC (2012). He was named one of Georgia’s “Top 40 Under 40” by Georgia Trend magazine in 2011.

He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Management Science from the University of Waterloo (Canada) and the University of Queensland (Australia).

Brooks lives in Atlanta with his wife Jeannette. He enjoys playing ice hockey, golfing and cheering for his favorite team – the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2017, Brooks completed the 29029 Everesting hiking challenge.

Taylor Schwan is the Director of Corporate Innovation at Engage and is responsible for building a world-class program that delivers accelerated innovation, learning, and networking opportunities to our partner companies and executives.

Prior to Engage, Taylor served in management consulting roles at Atlanta-based firm, GXG, and at Marriott International where she was a Senior Manager of Enterprise Strategy for the Global Loyalty Business. At Gartner, Taylor was a Senior Researcher supporting legal and compliance executives on corporate governance, data privacy, and compliance initiatives. During her time in DC, Taylor also had the privilege of running a non-profit called National Student Leadership, which focuses on equipping the next generation of student leaders through the idea of servant leadership.

Taylor is passionate about mentorship and innovation, at both a professional and personal level. She serves as a mentor for National Student Leadership and as a member of Women Shaping Shepherd, an Atlanta-based non-profit focused on funding patient-centered programs to fulfill Shepherd Center’s mission of helping people with temporary or permanent disability to rebuild their lives with hope, independence, and dignity. 

Taylor is an Atlanta native and earned a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Political Science from the University of Georgia. 

Madeline “Maddie” Harper is the Manager of the Go-to-Market Program at Engage where she is responsible for operations and program support.

During her college career, Maddie as a Corporate Development and Sales Associate worked for 3 years at Stackfolio, Inc, a machine learning-enabled online marketplace for loan trading and participation. She worked with product, sales, and operations teams on projects encompassing corporate strategy, B2B sales, and internal operations.

Maddie has earn her B.S. in Business Administration in May 2021, with highest honor, from the Georgia Institute of Technology where she specialized in Operations and Supply Chain Management with a certificate in Leadership and Organizational Change. She was actively involved in The Society of Women in Business and Ronald McDonald House Charities.