It is the second consecutive year that Michael Kim, principal at Rogers Venture Partners (RVP), the corporate venturing unit of the Canada-based phone operator, since 2012, has been singled out as a GCV Rising Star within his unit.
Most recently, he helped RVP’s source its latest investment in mobile 360 degree programmatic advertising platform Immersv, for which the investor led a $10.5m series A round.
In 2017, the unit also chipped into a $23.5m E round for mobile network authentication security services group Payfone, alongside 10 other investors.
The past year also saw RVP complete a number of exits, including the sale of smart-driving assistant Automatic Labs, backed by a large consortium of CVCs, to satellite radio company Sirius XM for $115m.
Kim said: “It has been an exciting year at Rogers Venture Partners, during which we have led industry deep dives with our latest findings in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
“As a fund, we have also made a more dedicated effort in regions outside the San Francisco Bay area, such as Toronto, Canada, and Austin, Texas.”
As part of his principal role, Kim has said he was involved in many of these initiatives. He is currently also a board member for vacation rental marketplace CanadaStays, and for Trapit, a platform helping enterprises increase their revenues through data-driven social selling and account-based marketing.
Prior to joining RVP, Kim was a senior associate on the tech equity research team at Morgan Stanley for two years, covering the communications and telecoms, infrastructure equipment, mobile devices, and semiconductors sectors.
He also served as analyst in technology and telecom investment banking both at Oppenheimer and CIBC World Markets, executing buy-side and sell-side M&A, IPOs, and financings for software, IT services, internet, e-commerce, and digital media companies.
RVP general partner Paul Sestili, who describes Kim as “an incredibly nice guy with whom it is a pleasure to work every day,” said last year: “Michael is an up-and-coming star in the VC world, and has added tremendous value to our CVC unit.
“His combination of analytical rigour and deep understanding of technology positions him for a long career in venture. He is a key piece of Rogers’ team, and has a bright future in our group.”
Kim, who originally graduated from University of Manchester, went on to complete a bachelor of arts in political economy at Georgetown University, based in Washington DC.