FOUNDING PARTNER

Scott Birnbaum

Scott Birnbaum is a French-American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, serving as a founder and Managing Partner at Red Sea Ventures. With over 20 years of experience in technology and innovation, Scott has become an influential figure in the startup ecosystem in the US and Europe.

At Red Sea Ventures, Scott focuses on identifying and investing in early-stage companies in the consumer and enterprise sectors including notable startups, Allbirds (IPO), Sweetgreen (IPO), Nest (acq. Google), Prose, CaseText and Novo Bank, amongst others. Scott is also actively involved in the New York City startup community, serving as a mentor to a number of founders and companies. He is a frequent speaker and panelist on topics related to entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology and has spoken at university programs including Columbia University, Princeton, UPenn and Georgetown to support emerging entrepreneurs.

Prior to joining Red Sea Ventures, Scott co-founded Epok, a collaboration and data sharing platform for Intelligence and Law Enforcement, was a lawyer at White & Case, focused on M&A and Project Finance, and was a Director at CBS Local, focused on Strategy, BD and Partnerships. Scott is a member of the board of Seeds of Peace, a founding member of Young Leadership Committee (YLC) and has served as chairman of the YLC board. Scott is the recipient of the Young Peace Maker Award for his outstanding leadership in and dedication to supporting the mission of Seeds of Peace and the YLC.

Scott grew up in Paris, France, and is a graduate of Georgetown University and of Fordham Law School.

INVESTOR

Ken Lau

Ken began his career at J.P. Morgan and Nomura in San Francisco, where he covered Tech M&A and Consumer/Retail. He also worked as an investor at Singtel Innov8 Ventures, where he supported the firm’s strategic portfolio and investment activity.

Ken graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Finance and Accounting.

INVESTOR & cHIEF OF STAFF

Rachel Aboodi

Rachel joined the Red Sea team after wrapping up her MBA at Columbia Business School, where she focused on Venture Capital & Entrepreneurship. While there, she worked with several funds, including Antler, Outsiders Fund and Nine Four Ventures. Prior to business school, Rachel was a healthcare consultant at Alvarez & Marsal.

Rachel graduated from University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Psychology & Consumer Psychology.

VENTURE PARTNER

Nicolas Jammet

Nicolas Jammet is an entrepreneur and investor. He is the Co-Founder & Chief Concept Officer of Sweetgreen, the mission driven restaurant brand that serves healthy food at scale. Started in 2007,  in Georgetown, DC, just three months out of college. Nicolas served as Co-CEO until 2017. Nicolas’ vision is to re-define the fast food model and make healthy food just as ubiquitous as traditional fast-food.  Nicolas and his partners took the company public in 2021 at a $3b valuation. He has scaled the business to over 250 restaurants in 23 states.

Nicolas and his team have been pioneers in evolving the fast food model in a number of ways from technology to supply chains and automation. Nicolas acquired Spyce Automation in 2021 and has since rolled out the first automated restaurant model in their category at scale.

Nicolas has been recognized as a key innovator in food and business, named to Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business,” Inc.’s “30 Under 30”, Forbes’ “30 Under 30” and Food & Wine’s “40 Big Food Thinkers 40 and Under.” Sweetgreen was named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies in 2019 and 2020.

Born and raised in New York City, Nicolas grew up in a family of French hospitality entrepreneurs — the son of André and Rita Jammet, owners of NYC’s beloved La Caravelle. Nicolas graduated from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where he met fellow Sweetgreen Co-Founders, Nathaniel and Jonathan.

Outside of Sweetgreen, Nicolas serves on the board of End Chronic Disease and has served on the board of FreshFarm Markets, all aimed at changing the food & health system.  He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Holly and sons, Julien & Olivier.

VENTURE PARTNER

Dan Reich

Dan Reich is an American entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist known for building and backing high-growth companies across technology, consumer products, and venture capital. Companies he has founded have collectively raised over $100 million in venture funding and achieved more than $1 billion in acquisition value.

Dan is the co-founder of several notable ventures, including TULA Skincare (acquired by Procter & Gamble after surpassing $150M in sales), Troops.ai (acquired by Salesforce after raising ~$25M and becoming a category leader in sales automation), and Spinback (acquired by Buddy Media, which was later acquired by Salesforce for $745M). He also co-founded Dibs Beauty (backed by L Catterton), Personal Day (in partnership with United Talent Agency) and Offspec.io (a cryptocurrency white-hat security firm). He is actively building more companies.

Dan earned a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has been a volunteer of National Ski Patrol for over twenty years and serves on the board of The Reich Hebrew Academy, among other non-profits.

ADVISOR

Ben Curtis

Ben Curtis is an American Entrepreneur and media executive. Spending his early career in talent representation, Ben came up through the William Morris Endeavor ecosystem. He then went on to become a talent manager and head of the digital department at Brillstein Entertainment, where he managed Rami Malek during his Oscar win for Bohemian Rhapsody. 

After Brillstein, Ben co-founded Cloak, a gamer centric apparel company anchored by the mega YouTube and Podcast sensation, Markiplier. He is also the co-founder of Tasseo Consumer Ecosystem, a Private Equity fund focused on consumer packaged goods.

Today, Ben is the President of Daylight Media, one of the largest independent podcast companies in the world. Daylight is best know for owning Qcode, the leading scripted podcast company featuring shows with stars like Matthew McCaughnahey, Keri Washington, and Olivia Wild. 

Ben lives in Montecito, California and is a graduate of The University of Connecticut, where he played on the men’s ice hockey team. 

Interested in working together?