Blaze O'Byrne
Senior Vice President, Venture Investing
"I am drawn to people with a relentless drive to solve hard problems, and am constantly amazed by the extraordinary vision of the entrepreneurs we get to work with."
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Expertise
AI/ML, Cloud Infrastructure, Data Analytics, Developer Tools, Enterprise Software, Future of Work
Bio
Blaze invests in and collaborates with startups that use software to automate repetitive processes, enhance people's productivity, and enable the next generation of technology companies. He is passionate about products that make previously complex tasks simple, and products that leverage the power of artificial intelligence to better inform decision-making.
Blaze began his career as an investment banker in Australia, where he advised companies on capital raises, IPOs, and M&A transactions. He then moved to the world of startups when he joined the Sydney-based fintech accelerator H2 Ventures. While in grad school, he was on the investment teams at Origin Ventures in Chicago and Underscore VC in Boston; in these roles, he focused on B2B marketplaces, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, enterprise software, and robotics.
Blaze has an MBA from Chicago Booth, an MS in Computer Science from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Western Australia. He loves being in the mountains to snowboard in the winter or mountain bike in the summer, he once rode a motorcycle from South Africa to London, and he enjoys exploring new wine regions.