# Skyler Fernandes

> J. Skyler (Sky) Fernandes is the Founder and General Partner of VU Venture Partners, a global venture capital fund spanning San Francisco, Hong Kong, Munich, and São Paulo, and the Co-Founder & CEO of Venture University, widely considered the world's leading investor accelerator. A Powerlist 100 VC, Fernandes has assembled a portfolio of 150+ investments including early positions in SpaceX, OpenAI, Meta (Facebook), Uber, Palantir, and Neuralink - with 25+ unicorns and 20+ multi-billion dollar exits. Before VU, he founded Simon Venture Group, the VC arm of Simon Property Group (S&P 100), which CB Insights ranked a top 5 retail investor alongside GV, Intel Capital, and Comcast Ventures. He graduated summa cum laude from NYU and studied Physics and Foreign Policy at Harvard. Beyond capital, Fernandes gave the first TED Talk on venture capital, created the #1 Startup Pitch Deck template (700,000+ views), and co-created 'The Next Big Thing' board game on entrepreneurship with his wife Jenna.

- **Role:** Founder & General Partner at VU Venture Partners
- **Organizations:** VU Venture Partners, Venture University, Simon Venture Group, Cleveland Avenue, Centripetal Capital Partners, One Match Ventures
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's, Economics & International Relations (graduated early, summa cum laude), New York University (NYU), Coursework in Physics (Quantum Physics) and Foreign Policy, Harvard University
- **Known for:** Named Powerlist 100 VC, Founded Simon Venture Group - ranked top 5 retail investor by CB Insights alongside GV, Intel Capital, and Comcast Ventures, VU Venture Partners portfolio includes 25+ unicorns and 20+ multi-billion-dollar exits including SpaceX, OpenAI, Meta, Uber, Palantir, Neuralink, Figure AI, Anduril

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Joined Credit Suisse, Financial Institutions Group (FIG), investment banking
- **2008-2009** — Worked at Société Générale and Standard Bank in banking roles
- **2009** — Left Credit Suisse; joined Centripetal Capital Partners as Partner
- **2010** — Founded One Match Ventures, a personal angel/seed fund focused on internet, media, and high-tech
- **2012** — Delivered the first TED Talk on venture capital at TEDxConnecticut College: 'Innovating the Financing of Innovation'
- **2014** — Founded Simon Venture Group (SVG), the VC arm of Simon Property Group (S&P 100 / world's largest retail REIT)
- **2016** — Named to GCV Powerlist 2016; SVG ranked top 5 retail investor by CB Insights
- **2017** — Joined Cleveland Avenue as Managing Director of Investments (food & beverage VC co-founded by McDonald's ex-CEO)
- **2018** — Founded VU Venture Partners and Venture University as an integrated investment + education platform
- **2020** — VU Venture Partners grows globally with offices in San Francisco, Hong Kong, Munich, and São Paulo
- **2024** — Venture University launches VU Europe (Munich), VU Brazil, and VU Switzerland
- **2025** — Venture University celebrates 7th anniversary and 50th investor cohort; VU launches UK Investor Accelerator

## Achievements

- Named Powerlist 100 VC
- Founded Simon Venture Group - ranked top 5 retail investor by CB Insights alongside GV, Intel Capital, and Comcast Ventures
- VU Venture Partners portfolio includes 25+ unicorns and 20+ multi-billion-dollar exits including SpaceX, OpenAI, Meta, Uber, Palantir, Neuralink, Figure AI, Anduril
- Gave the first TED Talk on venture capital (TEDxConnecticut College, 2012)
- Created 'The Best Startup Pitch Deck' - downloaded 700,000+ times, used by leading accelerators and business schools including Harvard, Wharton, and NYU
- Co-created 'The Next Big Thing: The Game of Entrepreneurship' board game with wife Jenna Dreher Fernandes
- Graduated NYU summa cum laude one year early
- Built Venture University to 50 cohorts and global presence across UK, Europe, Brazil, Switzerland
- VU invests in ~0.1% of deals evaluated with 7-10% of seed/Series A portfolio companies becoming unicorns
- Launched the Missing Middle Initiative to address $100K-$3M financing gap for early-mid stage businesses globally
- VU's senior partners represent $2B+ invested in venture capital and $7B+ in real estate/private equity combined

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Venture University celebrates 7th year anniversary and 50th cohort milestone
- **2025-02** — Venture University launches UK Investor Accelerator and VU Switzerland
- **2024-12** — Venture University launches VU Europe with Munich headquarters
- **2024-11** — VU Brazil launched in partnership with Futurum Education
- **2025-06** — JumpStart Fertility (Series Unknown) - $3M investment recorded

## Links

- Website: https://vuventurepartners.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jskylerfernandes
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ventureuniv
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESIeguK38_Y

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/skyler-fernandes
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-17