Paul Bragiel – i/o Ventures
Written by
Paul Bragiel
i/o Ventures, Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Paul Bragiel, is a ‘jack of trades’ superstar in the tech industry world. Paul, an entrepreneur, investor, speaker and aspiring athlete is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of i/o Ventures and previously founded 3 companies and served as their CEO; Lefora, a product that revolutionized online forums, Meetro the first location based social network, and Paragon Five, a game development studio.
i/o Ventures is a 3 month accelerator program for tech startups in Silicon Valley that invests up to $25K and only focus on 5 companies at a time, with a total of 10 to 12 companies a year. This means that they get to work real close with the selected startups that want to move to the next level, need to raise funds, and need guidance.
During the 3 months, the partners who come from companies like MySpace and BitTorrent, and mentors who come from companies like OpenDNS, Yelp, and Digg, coach and mentor the startups. Stationed from i/o Ventures offices, the startups focus on their product’s market readiness and meet other entrepreneurs. At the end of the 3 months, angel investors and venture capitalists come in and listen to what the company offers.
In addition to his in work in the US, Paul has also started funds in Africa as a Partner in Savannah Fund, in Eastern Europe as Co-Founder of GameFounders, and in Asia as Founding Partner at Golden Gate Ventures. Collectively,Paul has invested and/or advised over 100 companies that have raised over US $1.5 billion in follow-on financials, that including companies such as Uber. Also, during his spare time, Paul has been advising Estonia and Colombia on their technology and entrepreneurship policies.
Besides being known for his entrepreneurial and investing skills, Paul has also competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics on the Columbian Cross Country Ski team, a childhood dream of his, has canoed the entire Mississippi River and bicycled across the United States.
Paul is a true inspiration to people around the world to sometimes take risks to fulfill their dreams.