Soraya Darabi is a first-generation venture capitalist who learned the industry from scratch as the daughter of an Iranian immigrant cab driver, then co-founded the visual food app Foodspotting (acquired by OpenTable) after building The New York Times' early social media strategy. She now runs TMV as a "go-to-market agency" for founders, staffing her fund like a creative shop and focusing on underinvested areas like the care economy and sustainable logistics while backing a portfolio that's 65% women and minority founders.

• Deep commitment to transforming healthcare by replacing unreliable internet searches with clinically verified information. She actively promotes portfolio companies like Roon, which connects patients with video answers from real doctors to navigate complex conditions like dementia, rather than relying on random search engine results.
• Focus on artificial intelligence that balances high growth with ethical standards and integrity. She predicted that Anthropic would reach a massive valuation specifically because of its narrative combining integrity with profitability, and she frequently discusses her firm's thesis on investing in ethical AI platforms.
• Strong interest in modernizing legacy industries, particularly maritime and shipping logistics. She highlights her firm's dedicated events for maritime tech startups and celebrates portfolio wins in the sector, such as Harbor Lab, while emphasizing the human aspect of global trade and shipping.
• Support for technologies that improve the professional lives of essential workers and small business owners. She detailed her investment in In-House Health, a platform designed to streamline staffing workflows for nurses using patient data, and celebrated Topline Pro for its recognition in the SMB tech space.
• Appreciation for the evolution of digital media and the power of online communities. She shared personal anecdotes about her early career proximity to Reddit and Condé Nast, reflecting on how community-driven platforms have revolutionized the way content is consumed and shared over the last two decades.
• Personal connection to founders and the problems they solve. She often links investments to her own life experiences, such as mentioning how a personal health journey made her wish for an app like Qi, or how she met the founders of Weave Bio through her late brother.