President & CEO at Viridus, Inc.
Greater Boston Area
- Current
-
- Founder / President / CEO at Viridus, Inc.
- Past
-
- Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Softbank Capital
- President / CEO / Chairman at Pivot Solutions
- CFO / EVP at Eze Castle Integration
- Vice President at Altgate Capital
- Vice President at Petstore.com
- Director of Finance & Corporate Development at Amerigon
- Project Manager / Team Leader at University of Michigan Solar Car Team
- Education
-
- Harvard Business School
- University of Michigan
- Recommended
-
20 people have recommended Furqan - Connections
-
500+
connections
- Industry
- Computer Software
- Websites
Furqan Nazeeri’s Summary
Entrepreneur with background in financial services software industry, alternative energy and new media. Looking to meet other entrepreneurs and experts.
Furqan Nazeeri’s Specialties:
Building great teams that do extraordinary things.
Furqan Nazeeri’s Experience
-
Founder / President / CEO
Viridus, Inc.
(Internet industry)
December 2007 — Present (2 years )
Virid.us is a place where business professionals share expertise, challenges and knowledge on environmental responsibility and sustainability.
Membership is free, however only professionals with responsibility for their organization's environmental or social impact may join. -
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Softbank Capital
(Venture Capital & Private Equity industry)
April 2007 — May 2008 (1 year 2 months)
Worked with the Softbank investment team evaluating new market opportunities, performing due diligence, assisting portfolio companies and developing new business ideas.
Looked at 200+ investment opportunities, made 2 investments and served on their boards.
Looked long and hard corporate sustainability and ultimately founded Viridus as a result. -
President / CEO / Chairman
Pivot Solutions
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Financial Services industry)
February 2004 — March 2007 (3 years 2 months)
The company is a leading provider of technology solutions and the developer of IMTRADER, a community of investment professionals that leverages instant messaging to connect members and manage valuable relationships.
The company has a long-term strategic partnership with AOL to provide enhanced connectivity for the IMTRADER community to AIM, the leading instant messaging network.
Customers include Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Jeffries, Instinet, Goldman Sachs, many other broker dealers and hundreds of hedge funds.
Investors include Softbank Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham Ventures, Hudson Partners, Wasatch Ventures, Boldcap and Eze Castle Integration. -
CFO / EVP
Eze Castle Integration
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)
October 2001 — February 2004 (2 years 5 months)
ECI acts as a "virtual CTO" for hedge funds and other financial services firms. ECI has specialties in ongoing IT infrastructure management, startup & relocation consulting and implementation and business continuity planning. The company also provides Internet Connectivity and hardware/software procurement for its clients. Clients include a whos-who of the hedge fund industry; over 400 of the largest hedge funds and many broker dealers rely on ECI for their critical IT infrastructure management. In 2001, negotiated the acquisition of a boutique telecom equipment provider turning ECI into the largest provider of Avaya phone systems to the hedge fund community.
As CFO I was responsible for all financial aspects of the business. In addition, I was also responsible for our software / custom application development group which we later spun-out as Pivot Solutions. -
Vice President
Altgate Capital
(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Financial Services industry)
February 2000 — July 2001 (1 year 6 months)
Research-based provider of institutional-quality hedge fund services and distribution to private banking industry. The firm conducted extensive business and legal diligence on US-based hedged fund managers and sold that research and investment access to UK and Swiss private banks and institutions. Business functions included a talented research team in New York, a sales and account management team based in London and a technology platform that spanned the globe. Managed external financing, internal financial control and all operational, human resource and IT projects. Extensive interaction with Board, investors and management committee.
-
Vice President
Petstore.com
(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)
April 1999 — January 2000 (10 months)
Joined after founders but before first round of funding. Spent most of the time raising money from VCs and strategic investors (over $150MM) and negotiating partnership deals with companies including Yahoo!, Microsoft, AOL, QVC and others. Negotiated several acquisitions for the company and sold the entire firm in 2000 to Pets.com (NASDAQ: IPET) as the bubble burst.
-
Director of Finance & Corporate Development
Amerigon
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; ARGN; Automotive industry)
June 1994 — July 1997 (3 years 2 months)
NASDAQ-traded tech firm developing advanced products for worldwide auto industry including variable temperature seats (heats and cools seats in luxury cars), in-car audio navigation systems and electric vehicle technology.
At Amerigon I designed and built prototype electric vehicles originally for the US market (at the time of California's ZEV regulations) and then shifted to forming a joint venture in India after the market failed to materialize in a timely fashion. Created a joint venture with an Indian manufacturing company to create the REVA Electric Vehicle company, which has since attracted investment from DFJ and grown to become the largest manufacturer of EVs in the world. -
Project Manager / Team Leader
University of Michigan Solar Car Team
(Educational Institution; 10,001 or more employees; Higher Education industry)
September 1990 — December 1993 (3 years 4 months)
While an undergraduate engineering student, elected team leader of largest student-run group (before or since) at University of Michigan. Managed an $800K cash budget ($2.2M total budget) to design, build and race a solar powered racecar. The team won the US Championship (1,000 miles over seven days) and placed 11th in the World Championship (2,000 miles over five days) held in Australia. Was a full-time team member (i.e. not taking classes) for 1.5 years over the 3 year span of the project.
The team has gone on to become the winningest team in solar car racing winning 5 national championships (out of 9 races) since formation in 1989.
Furqan Nazeeri’s Education
-
Harvard Business School
MBA , Business , 1997 — 1999
While in school, co-founded a company (Powerdeck / Mambo.com) along with some other HBS classmates that provide online invites (a la Evite) and online payments (a la PayPal). Interned with McKinsey & Company.
-
University of Michigan
BSE , Aerospace Engineering , 1988 — 1994
For 3 years (1990-1993) ran the largest student group on campus (U-M Solar Car Team). Won a national championship and placed 11th in the world. http://www.umsolar.com/
Additional Information
Furqan Nazeeri’s Websites:
Furqan Nazeeri’s Interests:
Technology, hedge funds, capital markets, alternative energy, new media, professional (as opposed to "social") networking, current events, solar cars, instant messaging, politics, world events, adventure travel, parenting, entrepreneurship, leadership, mentoring, racquetball, news...
Furqan Nazeeri’s Groups:
International Society of Sustainability Professionals
-
University of Michigan Solar Car Team Alumni -
Harvard Business School Alumni -
Virid.us
Furqan Nazeeri’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
