Today awesome news broke that Gemvara raised a $15 million series C round.  The third round of capital was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from existing investors Highland Capital Partners and Canaan Partners. Previously, Gemvara raised over $10 million in capital. As I was reflecting on what an amazing journey this has been, I went back and watched a video of my original Babson College Rocket Concept Pitch from 2005, which was the first seed of the company that eventually blossomed into Paragon Lake, now Gemvara.

It is inspirational to see how an idea on three slides can turn into a full business.  The key is an entrepreneurial mindset, an amazing founding team, rock star growth team, visionary investors and must importantly a solid support network of advisors/mentors. No one can take all the credit for its success. There is so much that happens on the backend that is never made public – from the people who are there on day one of the concept, to the advisors who are there to answer late night calls and the investors who are willing a take risk on mere idea. Now I get to sit on the sidelines as a founder and investor. I am confident that the team will hit it out of the park. It is exciting to see how phenomenal the Gemvara team is and my heart is with them even though I am no longer there day to day.

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