# Ilana Stern

> Ilana Stern is a General Partner at Peterson Ventures, a seed-stage venture firm based in Salt Lake City, Utah. A Stanford GSB alumna and former founder, she built and sold Weddington Way - a direct-to-consumer bridal fashion platform - to Gap Inc. in 2016 before joining Peterson Ventures in 2019 as its first San Francisco-based partner. She invests primarily in early-stage consumer, enterprise, and healthcare technology companies, while also lecturing at Stanford GSB and writing a Substack newsletter called 'View from the Bottom.'

- **Role:** General Partner at Peterson Ventures
- **Organizations:** Peterson Ventures, Stanford Graduate School of Business, David's Bridal (Board), Tava Health (Board), Sora Finance (Board), Camber (Board)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in International Relations (Summa Cum Laude), University of Pennsylvania, MBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Founded Weddington Way and raised $11.5M in venture funding, Sold Weddington Way to Gap Inc. in 2016, Appointed General Partner at Peterson Ventures in 2019 - the firm's first San Francisco-based GP

## Career timeline

- **2005** — Joined Bloomingdale's in New York City as a retail buyer, managing budgets in the tens of millions
- **2008** — Enrolled at Stanford Graduate School of Business; studied under Joel Peterson, future founder of Peterson Ventures
- **2010** — Interned at Bonobos during business school, began researching opportunity in the wedding industry
- **2011** — Founded Weddington Way, a direct-to-consumer bridal fashion platform targeting millennial wedding parties
- **2014** — Closed $9M Series A round led by Javelin Venture Partners; total funding reached $11.5M from Battery Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Trinity Ventures, and others
- **2016** — Sold Weddington Way to Gap Inc. in December; joined Fortune 500 executive team
- **2017** — Began active angel investing and board advisory work; portfolio companies included The Pill Club, Darkstore, Routable, Rinse, and Passport
- **2019** — Appointed General Partner at Peterson Ventures in October, becoming the firm's first San Francisco-based partner
- **2019** — Joined David's Bridal Board of Directors
- **2023** — Won Women Tech Council Market Leadership Award at the 2023 Women Tech Awards
- **2024** — Active on boards of Tava Health, Sora Finance, Camber; continues lecturing at Stanford GSB and publishing 'View from the Bottom' newsletter

## Achievements

- Founded Weddington Way and raised $11.5M in venture funding
- Sold Weddington Way to Gap Inc. in 2016
- Appointed General Partner at Peterson Ventures in 2019 - the firm's first San Francisco-based GP
- Lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business (Startup Garage, Formation of New Ventures)
- Named to San Francisco Business Times '40 Under 40'
- Won 2023 Women Tech Council Market Leadership Award
- Board member at David's Bridal, Tava Health, Sora Finance, Camber, Via Software, and Nomad
- Identified as an 'Accelerator' by the Wall Street Journal
- Manages investments for Peterson Ventures' $140M+ fund with focus on pre-seed and seed stages

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — Active GP at Peterson Ventures, sitting on boards of Tava Health, Sora Finance, and Camber while continuing to source new seed-stage investments
- **2023-10** — Won the Women Tech Council 2023 Market Leadership Award at the Women Tech Awards ceremony
- **2023-01** — Publishing regular issues of 'View from the Bottom' Substack newsletter covering seed-stage VC trends and investment insights

## Links

- Website: https://ilanastern.substack.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilanastern
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/Ilana_Stern
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilanastern/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ilana-stern
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-18