Ricco Mendes

Founded in 2000, The Idea Village formalized in 2002 as an independent 501©(3) nonprofit dedicated to engaging our community to embrace innovation, entrepreneurship, and new thinking. The Idea Village has established itself as a globally-recognized leader in developing place-based entrepreneurial ecosystems. As a result, New Orleans is now in the top 10% of best cities to start a business in the country (WalletHub), with startup activity 64% above the national average (The Data Center). Weve been called Americas #1 Biggest Brain Magnet (Forbes) and 1 of the 20 Hottest Startup Hubs in America (The Kauffman Foundation). The Idea Village is committed to sustaining the local entrepreneurial movement by providing direct services to entrepreneurs, engaging the community, and supporting initiatives that leverage entrepreneurship to catalyze change.

StartUp Health is working to solve the biggest health challenges of our time by building and supporting health moonshot communities. We do this work in collaboration with foundations and families who are passionate about transforming health.

Carta powers interconnectivity in private markets — uniting data, people, and workflows in one connected system. We connect founders, investors, and limited partners through software purpose-built for private capital. Trusted by 50,000+ companies in 160+ countries, Carta’s platform of software and services lays the groundwork so you can build, invest, and scale with confidence. Carta’s Fund Administration platform supports 8,500+ funds and SPVs, representing nearly $185B in assets under management, with tools designed to enhance the strategic impact of fund CFOs. Carta has been included on the Fortune Best Large Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance and Best Workplaces in the Bay Area lists, Forbes’ list of the Worlds Best Cloud Companies, Fast Companys Most Innovative list, Inc.s Fastest-Growing Private Companies list, and is certified as a Great Place to Work for 2025-2026 (3 years running!). For more information, visit carta.com.

Founded in 2000, IVP is a team of 500+ professionals over 5 time zones, with in-depth domain expertise in buy-side strategies and front, middle & back office systems used to execute them. With over 20 years of consistent, innovative growth, we are uniquely positioned where finance and technology converge. 3.1% of global AUM for hedge funds currently runs across our unique product suite allowing clients to solve complex, enterprise-wide challenges in data management trade management, analytics, reporting, and data governance Advanced Solutions enables us to address our clients’ needs with flexibility and modularity allowing increased scale and cost reduction “Digital First” Managed services provide outsourcing with transparency and control. Consulting - Includes Advisory, Business Analysis & Bespoke Development Enterprise-Wide Solutions - Front Office and Middle/Back Office "Digital-First" Managed Services - Data Reconciliation, Data Management, Treasury, Regulatory Solution and EOD Reporting

Transact Capital Securities is a full service M&A firm that specializes in advising lower-middle market companies through sale, exit planning, valuation and similar services. Specialty verticals include: - Human Capital Management - Industrials - Healthcare - SaaS and similar technology Our team is made up of committed, trusted, experienced and proven professionals who have owned businesses, bought and sold businesses, held C-level positions with public companies, and are well-educated with civil, mechanical and system engineering degrees, MBA’s, CPA’s, and real world experiences. This combination allows us to focus on many industry sectors bringing the unique qualifications and hands-on experience to each client.