Alicia Robb

Alicia Robb is the Founder and CEO of Next Wave Impact and the Managing Partner of two early-stage venture funds. She is also the Research Director at Cruelty Free Investing and a Research Fellow at the University of Colorado, Boulder, bringing a rigorous research lens to impact investing and entrepreneurial finance.

Previously, Alicia served as a Senior Fellow at the Kauffman Foundation for more than a decade. She holds a Master of Science and a PhD in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and the Small Business Administration’s Office of Economic Research.

Alicia is a prolific author on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial finance. Her publications include A Rising Tide: Financing Strategies for Women-Owned Businesses and The Next Wave: Financing and Investing Strategies for Growth-Oriented Women Entrepreneurs, published by Stanford University Press, as well as Race and Entrepreneurial Success, published by MIT Press.

In addition to her writing, Alicia teaches workshops on angel investing and investor readiness around the world. She is an active angel investor, a limited partner in three early-stage venture funds, a mentor to emerging firms, and a board member for organizations including the Kachuwa Impact Fund, Compassion Without Borders, and Next Wave Foundation.

Alicia received the Hans Severiens Award in 2020, the Angel Capital Association’s annual award recognizing leadership in advancing the field of angel investing. She currently resides in Kanab, Utah, with her husband and a menagerie of rescued animals.

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