Jai's Expertise

Jai supports the investment team with deal sourcing and execution, portfolio management, demand aggregation, fundraising, and impact and ESG activities. Before joining Ariel, Jai worked in a dual role at Detroit Venture Partners and Guardhat where he analyzed early-stage startups for potential investment and defined go-to-market strategy for product specific use cases. Prior to those roles, he worked for Aspire Power Solutions in Lagos, Nigeria as a chief of staff to the founder where he developed small- to mid-scale solar infrastructure projects and supported their seed-stage capital raise. Earlier in his career, Jai worked at BNY Mellon for six years in various roles, ending as a vice president in investment management finance strategy. Jai holds a BA in economics with a concentration in organizational leadership from Rutgers University and an MBA from University of Michigan, where he chairs career advancement for the Black business alumni association board.