Venture Finance Club @ UCSD Rady

Your Monthly VC & Startup Roundup

Author

Andrew Field
May 28, 2025

🔱 A Message From Our Club 🔱 

The UCSD Venture Finance Club at the Rady School of Management builds a community of students passionate about venture capital, private equity, and startup finance. We provide hands-on learning, industry connections, and events that bridge academics with real-world investing. This newsletter keeps members informed on key trends, deals, and opportunities shaping the Southern California venture ecosystem. Our goal is to empower future investors and entrepreneurs with timely insights and resources.

Meet Our Team

Christie Anderson – President

Christie Anderson is a seasoned executive with 20+ years of experience driving strategic growth and partnerships across the tech and cloud sectors. She has led multimillion-dollar initiatives and advised CEOs during high-stakes transactions, contributing to over €54M in investments and a 10x stock growth. As President, Christie brings her leadership and passion for innovation to guide the club’s mission and expand VC engagement at Rady.

Yiying Pang – Director of Alumni Relations

Yiying Pang has 7 years of experience in venture capital and strategic consulting in the life sciences industry. Before Rady, she was Associate Director at Tenyall VC, sourcing early-stage health tech investments. At the VC Club, she focuses on fostering meaningful alumni connections and strengthening the Rady VC community.

Federico Oldoni – Director of Training

Federico Oldoni combines a PhD in Biomedical Sciences with VC and biotech investment experience. As a Venture Fellow at the Sullivan Center, he works on AI-driven drug discovery and startup evaluation. At Rady, he leads training efforts and equips members with practical VC tools and deal flow insights.

Richard Myers - Director of Competition

Richard Myers is an EMBA '26 student with over 12 years of experience in drug discovery and development, spanning both large pharma and biotech startups. He holds a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Physiology from UC Davis and currently serves as a Medical Science Liaison at Eli Lilly. Richard represented Rady at the 2025 VCIC, where the team placed 3rd, and he looks forward to mentoring next year’s competitors.

Abhishek Nigam – Director of Alumni Relations

Abhishek Nigam brings over five years of entrepreneurial and fund management experience across fintech, real estate, and analytics. He previously co-founded three startups and managed a public equity fund with a ₹3.5B turnover. At the VC Club, he is focused on alumni engagement and empowering students to pitch and think like VCs.

Andrew Field – Director of Marketing

Andrew Field is an MBA candidate with a background in tech sales, having helped scale a San Diego legal tech startup from $2M to $8M in ARR. His experience spans legal, real estate, and fintech sectors. As Director of Marketing, he leads club outreach and communications, including the newsletter and brand growth initiatives.

Southern California VC Highlights

🚀 San Diego’s Tech Sector Surges with $3.6B in VC Funding

San Diego’s tech ecosystem has attracted over $3.6 billion in venture capital, marking significant growth and the highest investment levels in a decade outside of pandemic years. The city’s tech landscape is diversified by strong biotech, AI, and software development sectors. “America’s Finest City” is quickly becoming the sunbelt’s startup capital.

🚀 Presbys Foundation Launches $50M Impact Fund

The Presbys Foundation has announced the launch of the Prebys Venture Impact Fund, a $50 million impact investment fund dedicated to driving growth and technological advancement in San Diego through venture capital. The fund will focus on early-stage tech and life sciences startups, aiming to strengthen San Diego’s economy and create lasting opportunities for local communities.

🚀 Connect Foundation Unveils 2025 ‘Cool Companies’

Connect Foundation has introduced the Cool Companies of 2025, highlighting 30 standout tech and life sciences startups in Southern California. These companies are poised to make significant impacts in their respective industries and are ready to raise their first rounds of institutional funding

Upcoming Events

☕️ Biotech Founders & Coffee

Join us for some freshly brewed coffee and meet other biotech founders

📆 May 14th - 8:30-10am PDT

📍 Center for Novel Therapeutics 9310 Athena Circle La Jolla, CA 92037

🍸️ Homelab Happy Hour 🍸️ 

Join us at the All-Campus Happy Hour, where students, faculty, and staff come together to unwind and socialize

📆 May 29 - 4-7pm PDT

📍 Center for Novel Therapeutics 9310 Athena Circle La Jolla, CA 92037

Resources & Opportunities

  • Connect Foundation’s Funding News: Stay informed about the latest capital raises by tech and life science companies in San Diego (Read Here)

  • Check Out The Latest on HomeLab: Keep up to date on California’s top biotech accelerator and disruptor (Read Here)

Membership

👆️ JOIN THE VENTURE FINANCE CLUB! 👆️ 

Scan the QR code to sign up - exclusively for UC San Diego graduate students

Contact Us

📧 email: [email protected]