Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Investment Partner

Sumant is Managing Director and cofounder of LA-based March Capital Partners, in addition to being cofounder of two leading technology incubators in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Hive, which focuses on AI and Blockchain driven companies, and The Fabric, which focuses on cloud, IoT and network infrastructure companies.  Sumant invests in Cloud Computing, IoT, AI/ML, and Network Infrastructure as well as companies focused on the Indian market.  Sumant currently serves on the boards of numerous market leading companies, including BillDesk, The Rubicon Project, CarTrade, IoTium, and Xage Security. 
 
In his nearly two decades of venture capital, Sumant has generated multiple meaningful exits in companies he has either incubated or been the first institutional investor.  Most recently, Sumant played an integral role in VMWare’s acquisition of cloud networking startup VeloCloud, as well as Cisco’s acquisition of machine-learning startup Perspica, both in late 2017.  As an active board member, and investor in both companies, Sumant fostered their development and growth since their formations at The Fabric and The Hive, respectively.  Other companies that he has incubated and helped lead to a successful exit include The Rubicon Project (NYSE:RUBI), Kosei (acquired by Pinterest), Appcito (acquired by A10 Networks), Deep Forest Media (acquired by Rakuten), Kazeon Systems (acquired by EMC), Mimosa Systems (acquired by Iron Mountain), Ankeena Networks (acquired by Juniper), Cetas (acquired by VMware), and Apture (acquired by Google).
 
In 2000, Sumant joined Clearstone Venture Partners where he went on to become a Managing Director four years later.  In 2014, he cofounded March Capital Partners, which has since grown to $500M under management.  Prior to Clearstone, Sumant spent more than eight years as an entrepreneur, starting companies in both India and the United States.  Sumant has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University.  He is a Charter Member of TiE.