Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Investment Partner

David Schonthal is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where he teaches courses in new venture creation and leads the school’s internal startup accelerator – the Zell Scholars program. He also serves as a Business Designer at the global innovation and design consultancy, IDEO, where he focuses on venture design and corporate entrepreneurship.

David is also a co-founder of Fusion Ventures, an investment and advisory firm focused on growing technology startups in the early stages of their development. He was formerly Director of Strategy and Venture Development at Tavistock Life Sciences, a private investment firm located in San Diego, CA., and has held numerous senior management positions at startups in the technology and life sciences sectors. David began his career as a management consultant for Andersen, Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers based in both the United States and United Kingdom.

David serves as a member of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship council, ChicagoNext and was previously an advisor to the State of Illinois’s Invest Illinois Venture Capital Fund. He currently mentors and advises with several startup accelerators and incubators throughout the United States, including TechStars, CONNECT, San Diego Sports Innovators (SDSI), and Chicago Innovation Mentors.

David earned his MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his B.A. in International Relations from Boston University.