Five Two Five

#NeverEatAlone - MIT AI Conference Recap in NY edition! 🦫 🚀 🤖 Five Two Five + Sugar Free Capital once again brought together the MIT's 🦫 Founder + Funder community in New York 🗽! Last night, our Q4 2025 MIT Founders and Funders dinner 🗽 🌇 rounded out the MIT AI Conference with a conversation on AI optimism and skepticism - joined by an epic group of NYC-based MIT alumni founders at 🍽️ Market Table 🥗 in the West Village. A big thank you to the one and only, Tai Hutchinson, and J.P. Morgan for cohosting this meal with us! Most of all, a big shout to my fave, Sheena Jindal! You are always such a joy to champion the MIT community alongside. ❤️ 🦫 #MIT NYC Founders 🗽 - we will see you in Q1 for our next event! 🙌 P.S. One last shout to Kristie D'Ambrosio-Correll for driving her soon-to-launch luxury EV at Dacora Motors for us to check out IRL! Congrats on designing such an incredible vehicle! 🚗 ⚡

#NeverEatAlone - StartOUT edition 🏳️🌈 🚀 Last Thursday evening, we hosted the 14th StartOut Awards in NYC 🏳️🌈🗽 to celebrate a cause and mission at the center of everything that I do: #accessforall I firmly believe that the ability for an individual to be an entrepreneur should be based solely on their #character, #merit, and #genius, not based on circumstances under which they are born - and I am #proud to serve on the Board of Directors for an organization supporting LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs everywhere. 💕 Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Five Two Five table for the event, to my fellow board members, and to those who bought tickets and/or donated to the cause - you are directly contributing towards changing the lives of these founders, their teams, and the many in the community who aspire to follow in their footsteps. 👣 For those who were unable to make the Awards, or who may have never heard of StartOUT, but who would like to support the organization’s mission of access - particularly in these times - we are launching the #PrideAllYear campaign to allow any and all allies to contribute to changing the life of an LGBTQ+ entrepreneur. 👩🏻💼🧑🏾💻 No amount is too big nor too small; but, if this mission tugs on your heart strings like it does my own, it would mean the world to me for you to help us continue to fight for an inclusive startup ecosystem by contributing to the campaign: https://lnkd.in/eFsxz2dq Thank you 🙏🏾 from StartOUT, and most importantly from the many current and future LGBTQ+ founders whose lives have been changed immeasurably by its programs. ❤️

🏎️ 💨 #NeverEatAlone - Austin F1 Edition! 🤠 🚀 #Formula1 week in Austin is off to the races 🏁 ... and the #Texas startup and investor community showed up stronger than ever last night at our Founders and Funders dinner! 🍽️ First off, a huge thanks to everyone who came out to connect and share their work and passion for tech and entrepreneurship. 🙌 Second, kudos to Loro Asian Smokehouse 🥘 for never disappointing with the quintessential Austin ambiance and delicious food! 😋 🍴 Finally, a massive shoutout to my incredible partners-in-crime for this event: Heidi Hubbeling Leach (J.P. Morgan) and Kamo Jurn (Raymond James)! As always, we couldn't have pulled it off without you both! 🫶 Austin, you always bring good humans, great food, and amazing vibes! 🤘 🌵 ☀️

When a 30 min intro coffee ☕️ between #SFTechWeek events suddenly turns into a full 2 hr afternoon tea time 🫖🍵 chatting about all things tech, venture and life… you know you’ve found yourself surrounded by great humans! 🙌🏾 Cheers to adding Kim + Kim of U&I Ventures and Zach of South Loop Ventures to my favorite VCs list… 📝 ✅ …and continuing the #GoodHumansOnly campaign in venture capital! 🤝🏽 🚀

What an absolutely phenomenal two days last Thursday and Friday cohosting the 12th Angel Fair Africa (AFA@12) in NYC! 🗽 We opened with our founder's bootcamp on Thursday at Gentlemen's Factory and closed out with the AFA at Google's NYC offices -- and the energy around "Getting Deals Done" 🤝🏾 and optimism around the African innovation ecosystem was electric. ⚡️ 1️⃣ A massive thank you to all the Founders who shared their incredible visions and commitment to driving innovation across the continent: 🌍 Moka Lantum, Michael Ogundare, ABDULAZIZ omar, Baba Afolabi, Timbo Drayson, Radhika Bhachu, Cordy Joseph, Max A. Smith, Matt Nam, Agnes Mukuiya, and Mutembei Kariuki 2️⃣ A second huge thank you to our inspiring Keynote Speakers and Panelists for sharing invaluable insights and guiding the incredible discussions 🎤: Esther Dyson, Lou Jones, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Benjamin Fernandes, Barbara Iyayi, ALEXANDRE N'DJORE, Mabinty A. Koroma-Moore, Dr Ola Brown, Candice Morgan, Steven Grin, and Greg Moran 3️⃣ Finally, a special thank you to my brilliant cohosts and AFA12 planning team: 🙌🏾 Eric Osiakwan, Tinyiko Valoyi, Winnie Kimathi, Achumboro Ataande, Jeff Lindor, Tolulope Lawal, Tanaka Chikosi, and Kiana Sinclair 🎉 It was such a huge joy to bring AFA to the US for the first time with you all! 🤗 4️⃣ Lastly, this event wouldn't have been possible without our dedicated co-sponsors: Chanzo Capital, BAG Collective, Ataande & Advisors, XA Network Africa, and Gentlemen's Factory. At Five Two Five, we are committed to removing the proximity biases of venture capital, and it was such a joy to bring together such a global community to celebrate innovation! 🌐 Cheers to the next set of deals ignited by the AFA community! 🥂💡 #AngelFairAfrica #AFA12 #VentureCapital #AfricanTech #StartupEcosystem #FiveTwoFive #InvestingInAfrica 🚀📈

Ahead of the start of the AFA@12 tomorrow, Friday 19th September, the Entrepreneurs Bootcamp AMA panel is underway with Jason Scott of 525 and Greg Moran of Zeno, moderated by Kiana Sinclair of BAG Collective at the Gentlemen's Factory. Gentlemen's Factory Chanzo Capital Five Two Five BAG Collective Google Ataande & Advisors