Summit 2024

Kate (Mitselmakher) Laurence is the CEO, Founder & General Partner of Bloccelerate VC, a Web3 focused venture fund investing in category-defining blockchain companies since 2018. Kate leads the strategy and investments of the fund. She is passionate about bringing about self-sovereignty of money, assets, and data leveraging blockchain technology. Prior to founding Bloccelerate VC, Kate spent ~ 10 years at the world’s largest technology research firm, Gartner (NYSE: IT). While at Gartner, Kate supported leading investors in Silicon Valley including A16Z, Sequoia, KKR around their enterprise technology investments. Kate graduated from Harvard University and is regularly featured on Bloomberg, Forbes, Geekwire, and at the World Economic Forum in Davos. She is also a part of Milken YLC (Milken Leadership Circle).

Sam Yilmaz is the COO, Co-Founder & General Partner of Bloccelerate, Sam is keen on bringing blockchain immutability, auditability, and censorship resistance to bear in the world. Prior to Bloccelerate, he co-founded and served as a managing partner of Decentralized Applications Fund, the first vehicle to raise all of its investment capital in cryptocurrency and invest only in decentralized applications. Previously, he had co-founded and managed BitAngels, growing the network to the world's largest angel group of its time. He adds an edge with his detail-orientation and diligence on legal compliance, economic models, structuring financing rounds, team building, and crafting of partnerships. He is a published author. He has a triple degree bachelors, a masters in engineering, and another one in economics and finance, from Johns Hopkins and Bogazici respectively. He is regularly quoted in Barrons, Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg. He is also YGS member of World Economic Forum.