Jessica Peltz-Zatulove is a Founding Partner at Hannah Grey, a first check venture capital firm investing in visionary founders reimagining everyday experiences to improve work and life.
Prior to founding Hannah Grey, Jessica was the Senior Managing Partner at MDC Ventures, the corporate VC fund of MDC Partners. She’s a known thought leader and was recognized on the Global Corporate VC PowerList for top CVC fund managers in 2019 and 2020. While focusing on investments addressing the needs of the Modern CMO, she scaled MDC Ventures into a robust operation, evaluating hundreds of early stage companies a year while educating marketers on the trends driving the advertising industry. She’s led investments in companies including Netomi, Gradient.io, Veritonic, Indicative, Catch & Release, Perksy, and Mezzobit (acquired by OpenX). She’s also an active angel with investments in breakout companies such as Lively (acquired by Wacoal), AspireIQ, Bennie, Alleyoop, and Sphere.
Before transitioning to VC, Jessica specialized in connecting marketers with tech and spent 10+ years working with brands including Verizon, Kraft, PUMA, 20th Century Fox, Jim Beam Brands, H&M, and others. She was the second employee at innovation consultancy Evol8tion, where she was instrumental in scaling the business while helping startups secure their first customers through brand partnerships. As a Vice President at Zenith Media, she was recognized as an industry pioneer in the mobile space and launched the Android device for Verizon; her cutting edge media partnerships were often featured in Mashable, Adage, and Mediapost. Her deep understanding of the intersection between customer needs, branding, and technology has enabled her to guide countless startups on positioning and commercializing their business effectively.
Jessica is a strong advocate for gender diversity in the venture community, running both NYC’s Women in VC group and creating the Global directory for Women in VC, which now includes 3,000+ women investors spanning 1,800+ venture funds across 180+ cities and 60+ countries. She also frequently devotes time as a mentor at Techstars, Entrepreneurs Roundtable, and #BuildByGirls, a program for promising young women in high school interested in technology careers. In addition to being featured on CNBC, Fox Business, and popular podcasts, she’s been named by Forbes as a “Women Leader in Corporate VC to Know”, and has been published in several industry trades including Adweek, CampaignUS, Venturebeat, and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).
