Katherine Boyle is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where she leads the American Dynamism practice - a $1.1B+ fund focused on startups that serve the national interest. A former Washington Post journalist turned VC, she champions defense tech, manufacturing, aerospace, and critical infrastructure companies. She sits on the boards of Anduril Industries and The Free Press, and is widely regarded as one of tech's most important bridges between Silicon Valley and Washington.
Zeon Systems builds AI-powered robotic infrastructure that automates scientific laboratory experiments. Founded in 2025 by Brontë Kolar and Tahir D'Mello - both Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees who previously worked together at Latch Bio - the company uses off-the-shelf robotic arms paired with depth cameras and a natural language interface to let scientists describe experiments in plain English and have robots execute them autonomously. Already piloting at Stanford and UCSF, Zeon targets the multi-billion-dollar lab automation market by lowering the cost and complexity of scientific research - betting that cheaper automation means more experiments, and more experiments mean faster cures.
SugarCRM is a Cupertino-based enterprise CRM software company founded in 2004, pioneering open-source CRM before transitioning to a proprietary SaaS model. Backed by private equity firm Accel-KKR, SugarCRM offers an AI-powered platform — including Sugar Sell, Sugar Market, Sugar Serve, and the acquired sales-i revenue intelligence tool — tailored for mid-market B2B companies in account-based industries like manufacturing, distribution, and financial services. With over 2 million customers, nearly $100M in annual revenue, and consistent recognition as a CRM industry leader, SugarCRM stands out for its deep ERP integrations, precision-selling AI capabilities, and strong channel partner ecosystem.