Stefan 'Steve' Friedman

Summary

Mr. Friedman is a venture capital manager specializing in investment and the structuring and management of early-stage companies and turnaround opportunities, as well as their successful exits. He is Founder of CoPilot Ventures, which focuses on pioneering, asymmetric solutions based on strong intellectual property, especially in the areas of security and financial technology. Mr. Friedman is also an individual impact investor, with an interest in technologies that have transformative potential for the sustainability of our natural resources and the well-being and security of our population. Mr. Friedman has over 30 years of venture experience, including the founding and management of internet-startup incubator CoDevelop and early-stage investment fund UltraSeed Capital. Prior to that, he was a serial entrepreneur in the IT and clean energy sectors. Companies co-founded by Mr. Friedman include digiTRADE, which invented the first technology for internet stock trading, W2Fuel, an innovative producer of waste-based biofuels and specialty chemicals, and EWallet International and IQ Wallet Systems, designers of custom FinTech solutions for merchants and financial institutions. He was also involved with the seed investments in FlipSwap, the leading mobile phone and electronics trade-in platform, New Media Strategies, the early pioneer of online viral marketing and brand defense, and AVX, the designer of next-generation helicopter systems. For 8 years, Mr. Friedman served as Chairman of the Mentor Capital Network, a mentor, resource and investment foundation supporting socially- and environmentally-minded entrepreneurs. He is also Founder and Board Member of the Companion Animal Fund and spent 3 years as a Board Member of Slow Food's Charlottesville/Albemarle chapter . He has served on the Managing Board of Space Angels Ventures, the Investment Board of Sachs Capital and as Managing Director at National Capital Companies. Mr. Friedman received a B.A. from The University of Virginia, with an interdisciplinary focus on Theoretical Neuroscience.