Rich Nelson

Rich Nelson is the Founder and Managing Director of Nelstone Ventures, an early-stage technology investment fund and syndicate he launched in 2015 to source, participate in, and syndicate deals to a network of co-investors. He began actively investing in technology companies in 2013, drawing on a career that combined more than two decades of M&A experience with over ten years operating in internet, technology, and media businesses.

Nelson started his professional career as a mergers-and-acquisitions and corporate finance attorney at Skadden, Arps. He then joined Ronald Lauder's telecommunications company, RSL Communications, where he led M&A and served as President of an operating subsidiary. In 2003 he joined the founding team of Trendum USA, Inc.—one of the first social-media-mining companies—as President, raising Series A funding from The Nielsen Company. That work led into Nielsen BuzzMetrics, where he helped consolidate social-media-mining firms (including BuzzMetrics and Intelliseek) and became company President.

Following Nielsen's full acquisition of the business in 2006, Nelson led Nielsen's Online Corporate Development group. In 2011 he moved to IAC/InterActiveCorp as Managing Director of M&A, and in 2013 he returned to The Nielsen Company as Senior Vice President, Global M&A and Venture Investing. More recently he has served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development at Vericast. He holds a business degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan (graduated with High Distinction) and a law degree from New York University School of Law (cum laude).

Through Nelstone, Nelson has built a syndicate backed by roughly 185 unique LPs, positioning it as a curated access vehicle to selective early-stage opportunities rather than a broad blind-pool fund. He markets his edge as a combination of deal-sourcing, capital, relationships, and—reflecting his background—strategic M&A and exit advice.

• Invests in and syndicates ~5–6 deals per year, primarily in the internet and technology space; typical syndicate check size around $1M.
• Focus sectors: enterprise software, gaming, healthcare, consumer internet, and technology-enabled B2B companies.
• Looks for "strong management teams with a disruptive idea where there is a large market opportunity and competitive differentiation."
• Beyond capital, offers "strategic capital, a network of relationships, investment insights, strategic M&A and exit related ideas and advice" — a direct reflection of his corporate-development and M&A career.
• Positions Nelstone as a curated, selective syndicate (~185 LPs) rather than a broad fund, backing capable teams in sizable markets with defensible positions.