Rohati Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm founded by former Amazon executives, has strengthened its leadership team with the addition of three Operating Partners: Max Bardon, Charles Elkan, and Kurt Zumwalt.
This development marks a significant milestone for Rohati Capital as it continues building momentum and expanding its ability to support portfolio companies with unmatched operating expertise. Each new Operating Partner brings a wealth of senior leadership experience, notably from their time at Amazon, where they held pivotal roles in fintech, artificial intelligence, and global finance.
Together, their addition reflects the company's strategy of pairing deep operating experience with investment expertise to create lasting value for entrepreneurs and investors alike.
A Powerful Combination of Expertise
Rohati Capital has had the privilege of working with Bardon, Elkan, and Zumwalt in the past, and their return as Operating Partners underscores the firm’s commitment to providing exceptional guidance to portfolio companies and fund GPs.
- Max Bardon led Amazon’s global financial services, including lending and worldwide payments. His deep fintech expertise is instrumental in helping the firm evaluate investments across financial technology, lending, and payment systems.
- Charles Elkan previously led the Core Machine Learning team at Amazon in Seattle, leading AI initiatives across the company. Charles brings a critical perspective to fund evaluation and also works directly with portfolio companies, advising them on AI strategy and investments.
- Kurt Zumwalt, Amazon’s former Treasurer, raised over $120 billion in debt for the company and now provides unparalleled mentorship to entrepreneurs navigating financing strategies.
This concentration of top tech industry talent gives Rohati Capital a unique advantage in sourcing, evaluating, and supporting investments. Their operating experience is already helping Rohati Capital secure better terms as trusted technical advisors.
Their collective experience not only elevates Rohati Capital’s strategic capabilities but also reinforces the firm’s long-term vision of combining operational excellence with investment discipline.
For more information, visit www.rohati-capital.com.
About Rohati Capital ’s New Operating Partners
Each of Rohati Capital’s new Operating Partners brings a distinct background and proven track record of leadership, enhancing the firm’s ability to evaluate investments and support portfolio companies.
Max Bardon – Operating Partner
Bardon currently advises VC and PE firms, as well as companies in the payments and fintech sectors. He spent more than 12 years at Amazon as Vice President overseeing worldwide payments and financial services. His earlier career includes serving as CEO of WhitePages.com (now Ekata, acquired by Mastercard), co-founding GiftCertificates.com, and working as a consultant at Bain & Co. Bardon holds undergraduate degrees in Information Systems and Accounting from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago. His expertise strengthens Rohati Capital’s evaluation of fintech investments.
Charles Elkan – Operating Partner
Elkan is a venture partner at Fellows Fund, chief scientist of Poesis, and adviser through P Value Partners. Previously, he was the global head of machine learning at Goldman Sachs and Amazon’s first Fellow, leading R&D in AI for e-commerce and cloud computing as the head of the Core ML team in Seattle. He earned a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University and a mathematics degree from Cambridge University. Elkan has also served as a tenured senior professor at UC San Diego, where many of his students went on to leadership roles in academia and industry. His insights guide Rohati Capital’s approach to AI-driven opportunities.
Kurt Zumwalt – Operating Partner
Zumwalt was Treasurer at Amazon from 2014 to 2019, overseeing global cash management, debt financing, and treasury infrastructure as the company scaled from $8 billion to a $250 billion annual run rate. He previously held treasury and finance leadership roles at ProBusiness Services, Wind River Systems, PACCAR, Intel, Microsoft, and Bank of America. Zumwalt holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Washington. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Women’s Tennis Benefits Association. His financial expertise adds significant depth to Rohati Capital’s leadership team.
Together, Bardon, Elkan, and Zumwalt deepen Rohati Capital’s ability to pair world-class operating expertise with its investment strategy, positioning the firm to deliver greater value across its portfolio.
About Rohati Capital
Rohati Capital is an early-stage global venture capital firm founded by former Amazon executives Nick Talwar and Jason MacRae. The firm invests primarily in the United States, India, and other select global markets, with a mission to back the next generation of category-defining companies in fintech, AI, and beyond. With its expanded bench of Operating Partners, Rohati Capital continues to differentiate itself as a trusted partner for entrepreneurs and fund managers worldwide.
Disclaimer: This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies (including product offerings, regulatory plans and business plans) and may change without notice. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
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