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Saum Vahdat is CEO of Bridgewest Ventures (BV) where he leads investment strategies and incubation programs, including BVNZ's partnership initiative with the Government of New Zealand.

With hands-on oversight and pragmatic management methodologies, Saum guides portfolio companies through the common challenges faced by young businesses, to accelerate and improve commercialization timelines. Utilizing a core team culture that capitalizes on development platforms and expertise ecosystems within BV and BVNZ, entrepreneurs, CEOs and partners actively share best practices and business relationships, resulting in heightened product impact and economic success.

Previously, Saum worked with Johnson & Johnson's venture capital platform, assisting with commercialization strategy formation and market research. Prior to J&J, Saum led financial analysis and business development for a global real estate investment firm. Saum graduated from Cornell University with an MBA focused on Finance and is an active member of the San Diego Chapter of Young Presidents Organization (YPO).