Aydin Senkut is the Founder and Managing Director of Felicis Ventures. An original super angel turned multi-stage investor, he has been named on the Forbes Midas List for the past six years (2014-2019) as well as the New York Times Top 20 Venture Capitalists list for the past four years (2016-2019). His recent focus areas include consumerization of enterprise, security, AI, mental health, and longevity.
He is well-known as an early backer of a number of iconic companies including Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), Rovio (HEL:ROVIO), Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), Pluralsight (NASDAQ:PS), Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH), Credit Karma, SoundHound and Vicarious.
Prior to starting Felicis Ventures, Aydin was a Senior Manager at Google responsible for strategic partner development and account management in Asia Pacific, including Japan. Aydin joined Google in 1999 as its first Product Manager to launch Google’s first 10 international sites, its first online search licensing products, and its first Safe Search. He then became the first International Sales Manager at Google, responsible for worldwide licensing deals. Before joining Google, Aydin was the Product Manager for Data Visualization and Data Mining software MineSet at SGI.
He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with Honors from Boston University. He also earned an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School and a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an avid pilot, loves playing tennis, and speaks five languages: English, German, French, Portuguese, and Turkish.
Aydin and his wife Sonia have backed biotech research at UCSF, and sponsored various scholarships at the University of Pennsylvania.
Aydin Senkut is the Founder and Managing Director of Felicis Ventures. An original super angel turned multi-stage investor, he has been named on the Forbes Midas List for the past six years (2014-2019) as well as the New York Times Top 20 Venture Capitalists list for the past four years (2016-2019). His recent focus areas include consumerization of enterprise, security, AI, mental health, and longevity.
He is well-known as an early backer of a number of iconic companies including Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), Fitbit (NYSE:FIT), Rovio (HEL:ROVIO), Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), Pluralsight (NASDAQ:PS), Guardant Health (NASDAQ:GH), Credit Karma, SoundHound and Vicarious.
Prior to starting Felicis Ventures, Aydin was a Senior Manager at Google responsible for strategic partner development and account management in Asia Pacific, including Japan. Aydin joined Google in 1999 as its first Product Manager to launch Google’s first 10 international sites, its first online search licensing products, and its first Safe Search. He then became the first International Sales Manager at Google, responsible for worldwide licensing deals. Before joining Google, Aydin was the Product Manager for Data Visualization and Data Mining software MineSet at SGI.
He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with Honors from Boston University. He also earned an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School and a master’s degree in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an avid pilot, loves playing tennis, and speaks five languages: English, German, French, Portuguese, and Turkish.
Aydin and his wife Sonia have backed biotech research at UCSF, and sponsored various scholarships at the University of Pennsylvania.