Meet the Team

True Wealth Ventures brings more than money to the investment relationship. We bring knowledge and networks in the markets in which we invest, along with personal entrepreneurial and operational experience. More than that, though, we bring a woman’s point of view, enthusiasm, encouragement, dedication, and passion – with the ability and willingness to roll up our sleeves and problem-solve issues alongside the team.

General Partners
Sara T Brand, Ph.D.
Sara T Brand, Ph.D.Founding General Partner
Wikipedia
Sara Brand is the Founding General Partner of True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing in women-led businesses improving environmental and/or human health. She is also the co-founder of (512) Brewing, the largest draught-only, self-distributing microbrewery in the U.S. before COVID. Sara was previously in venture capital and management consulting in the Bay Area as well as in a variety of strategic and operational roles in large tech companies. Sara holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in green design and manufacturing from UC Berkeley and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from UT Austin.

Kerry Rupp
Kerry RuppGeneral Partner
Wikipedia
Kerry Rupp is General Partner at True Wealth Ventures, an early-stage VC fund investing in women-led businesses improving environmental and/or human health. She also teaches for NSF’s I-Corps program. Kerry was previously CEO at DreamIt, a top-ten US startup accelerator and VC fund, with HealthTech, EdTech, Minority & Women-focused programs. She was the founder of Holiday Golightly, a group travel service for women, and held VP positions at AllRecipes, Jobster, Classmates and LexisNexis. Kerry holds an MBA from HBS and a BA from Duke.

Sara and Kerry are known for being on the forefront of women-focused and women-led investments. As thought leaders in their fields, they are frequently sought out as speakers, coaches and judges as well as contributors on topics such as the advantages of investing in women entrepreneurs and the importance of engaging more women as investors. Each of the women has a set of skills and background experiences that not only guide them in their investment decisions, but add significantly to the success of the companies they join as board members and advisors. Having them at your side as the company quickly scales is invaluable.

Outside of work, Sara and Kerry take pride in being actively involved in a community that never ceases to inspire them. Being a working mother with two young sons brings another level of appreciation to Sara’s perspective on the challenges of entrepreneurship.  Happy to live in Austin, they soak up the area’s vibe whenever they can – on any given day you might find Sara at Taco Deli Westlake or Kerry at Houndstooth at 4th and Congress.

True Wealth Ventures Team
Abbie Strabala
Abbie StrabalaAssociate

Abbie joined the team in mid-2022 and helps with every aspect of running True Wealth Ventures. Abbie previously served as an Investment Analyst at RH Capital and Finance & Operations Manager at Rhia Ventures, driving innovation, access, and equity across the reproductive and maternal health landscape.

The Fund is also continuously supported by a Venture Fellow from the UT McCombs MBA Venture Fellows Program who helps to manage the deal flow and deal screening process. Our “VF” is supported by up to a handful of interns at any one time who we are training to be in the future venture and/or startup ecosystem.
Advisors to True Wealth Ventures

“More than 80% of True Wealth’s limited partners are female.” – Wall Street Journal, 2018

Through us, our portfolio companies gain access to an amazing network of Limited Partners behind the Fund who meet with the portfolio company leadership twice a year and often co-invest alongside the Fund. We have an extensive and unique group of LPs who are passionate about investing in gender-diverse teams along with being accomplished entrepreneurs and operators themselves with deep networks and the ability to navigate existing ecosystems. We are also proud to say that we have an unprecedented number of our LPs who are women – either a single woman or a woman that led the investment decision on behalf of a couple, family office of foundation. Please read more about some of our impressive LPs and advisors backgrounds below.

Susan K. Nestegard
Susan K. Nestegard

Susan is an experienced corporate director who brings strategic thinking, operational excellence, integrity, collaboration, and courage to the boardroom. She is a transformational leader with a track record of creating significant shareholder value through innovation, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships through 9+ years at Ecolab – as Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer and then Executive Vice President and President Global Healthcare – and 20+ years at 3M Company. Since 2009, she has served on the board of Hormel Foods, and recently joined the board of ALLETE. Inc., an energy company.

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Pam Ryan, Ph.D.
Pam Ryan, Ph.D.

As Founder and Managing Partner of the Tingari Group, Pam manages a portfolio of business partnerships, organizations and investments. She chaired the boards of Psychology Beyond Borders (an international NGO) and Issues Deliberation Australia (an international think tank and research institute) for ten years each. Dr. Ryan has authored and co-authored many public policy reports, conference papers and academic articles relating to diverse projects, including “Why Some Venture Capitalists Escalate and Others Don’t,” “The Psychology of Microfinance,” and “The Future of Social Entrepreneurship and Impact.”

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Jason Seats
Jason Seats

Jason is a Partner at Techstars Ventures, the venture capital arm at Techstars, a start-up accelerator considered one of the best in the world. Jason was most recently the Managing Director of the Techstars programs in Austin, and Cloud in San Antonio. Prior to joining Techstars, Jason was a founder of Slicehost, an early cloud computing hosting company that was acquired by Rackspace. Jason continued on at Rackspace until 2010 as VP of Software Development for Rackspace Cloud. Jason has a BS in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Saint Louis University.

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