The Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club (E&VC, previously EVCC) connects students with the innovation scene in Seattle and across the PNW. As a student-led organization, we create opportunities to network, gain hands-on experience, and develop the skills needed to navigate both the entrepreneurship and funding worlds—going beyond just startups and venture capital. Our goal is to strengthen UW’s ecosystem by fostering a community of founders, investors, and startup enthusiasts at Foster who are exploring innovative and non-traditional career paths.
A few events & benefits to look forward to:
• Half-Baked Pitch Night is a fun, low-pressure event where people share wild, creative, or unfinished ideas over drinks, compete for prizes, and connect with others who love innovation and a good laugh.
• Student Pop Up Market a dynamic showcase where student founders can exhibit their ventures, pitch their ideas, and connect with peers and potential customers in an entrepreneurial marketplace setting
• Panels & speaker series ranging from SaaS and edge tech startups to healthcare and ESG verticals
• Direct connections with Seattle’s deep VC network through our partner program, <a href="http://www.fosterventurefellows.com">Venture Fellows</a>
• Club member-only workshops and mixers (including cross-school meetups like “founders looking for founders”)
• Company visits with exclusive behind-the-scenes visits and networking opportunities with leading Seattle-based founders and top venture capital firms, offering firsthand insight into the startup and investment ecosystem
• The annual Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Forum, an event bringing together a diverse group of founders and funders for an in-depth look at the future of innovation
• And much more!
Some of our past guests have included:
• Fenwick & West: Ryan McRobert
• SVB: Joaqín Gallardo, Seth S.
• M12: Marty Collins, Carli Stein, Monica Lim
• Chris DeVore, Founders Co-op
We’re always receptive to member input and requests—our programming and “syllabus” for the year will be shaped around the topics and formats you want most.
Follow E&VC Club on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uw-mba-evcc
Follow E&VC Club on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uw_fosterevc/
EMILY MARX
CO-PRESIDENT
Evening Class of 2028
Emily Marx is a digital marketing strategist and entrepreneur with experience in e-commerce growth, performance marketing, and brand development. She also runs a small digital marketing consultancy helping entrepreneurs scale through website development, SEO, and social media. She is passionate about empowering founders and building community within Foster’s entrepreneurship ecosystem. Outside of school and work, she enjoys traveling, fitness, and spending time with family and friends.
SWETHA KANUBODDI
CO-PRESIDENT
Full-time Class of 2027
Swetha Kanuboddi comes with varied experience across software, private equity, and edtech, and has a growing interest in early-stage entrepreneurship. She began her career at Microsoft, building security and compliance products for global clients and then built new digital businesses for banking, financial-services and healthcare clients. Building zero-to-one digital products sparked her interest in how ventures validate markets, test business models, and scale. At Foster, she hopes to work with founders building in tech, consumer, and fintech, while learning from Seattle’s startup ecosystem. Outside of school, she enjoys listening to podcasts and exploring museums.
YUWEN ZHANG
VP MARKETING
Full-time Class of 2027
Yuwen Zhang brings a diverse background from FinTech, where she was a Product Manager for trading platforms and trade settlement automation. Her passion now lies at blockchain. Yuwen thrives on conversations with founders and is obsessed with how they actually think. She binges Dwarkesh’s deep dives, inhales Lenny’s product breakdowns, and researches the latest YC batch to see what brave, slightly crazy ideas are breaking different industries. Offline, she recharges with unique exploration: sunrise on the Kenyan savanna, desert stars in Egypt, fireflies in Xishuangbanna’s rainforests
RICKY SHELL
VP VENTURE CAPITAL
Full-time Class of 2027
Ricky Shell hails from the Pacific Northwest, and after stints living in Texas and Central & South America, has come back to Seattle for his MBA. Previously working in multiple venture-backed startups in business development and digital transformation, he is excited to join and learn more about the Seattle startup ecosystem and hopefully find others who are also excited about building the companies of the future. Outside of school and work, he enjoys sports, the outdoors, and spending time with his family in the area.
SUSHMA RAJAGOPALACHARY
VP CORPORATE RELATIONS
Full-time Class of 2027
Sushma Rajagopalachary comes with varied experience across design and management consulting, and has a growing interest in early-stage venture capital. She began her career as an architect at Gensler before transitioning to Accenture Strategy, where she tackled complex challenges for tech, energy, and utility clients. At Foster, she served as the Co-Chair of the 2026 Dempsey Startup Competition and is passionate about building a community within the entrepreneurship ecosystem. Outside of school and work, she enjoys gaming, exploring history, and diving into the local food scene.
MEHAK MITTAL
VP EVENTS
Full-time Class of 2027
Mehak Mittal studied at IIT Roorkee before spending six years in the industry, building and shipping products across financial services at JP Morgan, a retail-tech startup, and cloud platforms. Drawn to innovation since her undergrad days, she competed in and won multiple hackathons, and that entrepreneurial curiosity only grew stronger over the course of her career. That drive brought her to Foster's MBA program to explore the intricacies of entrepreneurship and venture. She is thrilled to plug into the Seattle startup ecosystem and support the next generation of founders along the way. Outside of school, she enjoys dancing, playing badminton, and mentoring young women pursuing careers in tech.
SOURAV KUMAR
VP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Full-time Class of 2027
Sourav Kumar hails from India, and spent 7 years working as an engineer and Tech Lead at The D. E. Shaw Group, a quantitative hedge fund. The Foster experience opened his eyes to the world of entrepreneurship and sparked curiosity to explore tech startups at UW and Seattle. Having led engineering teams earlier, he’s keen to contribute towards professional development within the E&VC club. Outside of school, he enjoys sports, fitness and board games.