Keith Nilsson is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Xplorer Capital and primarily focuses his efforts on deal sourcing and execution, supporting portfolio companies, and general management of our Firm. Keith has more than 25 years of experience in venture capital, corporate and private equity technology investment and M&A. Previously, Keith was a Partner with private equity firm TPG, where he led technology investments for TPG’s Growth Fund. Keith also served as a senior executive at Yahoo! for 12 years, where he led all investments, acquisitions and strategic partnerships as the Head of Corporate Development. Prior to Yahoo Keith held investing and management roles with Intel, Alex Brown, and Bankers Trust.
Keith received an MBA and an MIA from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from the University of California.
Jonathan McQueen is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Xplorer Capital and primarily focuses his efforts on sourcing and diligencing investment opportunities in robotics and automation, and supporting portfolio companies. Jonathan has more than 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur working on emerging technologies and early stage businesses. Jonathan is a serial entrepreneur who founded Canvas Technology, an Xplorer portfolio company, which was sold to Amazon. Prior to founding Canvas, Jonathan served as a CEO of a manufacturing turnaround. Jonathan has also worked in engineering roles with QUALCOMM and General Atomics.
Jonathan received an MBA from Columbia University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California.
Nathan Feltz is a Principal at Xplorer Capital where he primarily manages our deal pipeline and investment management processes and works closely with portfolio companies supporting financial and fundraising activities. Nathan has more than ten years of experience working within asset management and early stage companies and previously served as the CFO of Canvas Technology, an Xplorer company. Nathan was instrumental in facilitating the sale of Canvas to Amazon in 2019. Prior to Canvas Nathan was a Senior Financial Analyst at the activist hedge fund manager Discovery Equity Partners in Chicago. Nathan received his MBA from the University of California Berkeley, holds a CFA designation, and received his BA in Finance and Accounting from Depaul University.
Nima Keivan is a Venture Partner with Xplorer Capital and primarily focuses his efforts on robotics, AI, and autonomous vehicles. Nima has more than 15 years of experience in robotics and automation and previously served as a Principal Applied Scientist with Amazon. Nima was also the CTO of Canvas Technology, which was acquired by Amazon in 2019. Prior to Canvas, Nima worked with Google participating in the Tango mobile AR project and with Toyota’s Autonomous Driving team. Nima holds a PhD in Computer Science from University of Colorado Boulder with a focus on visual-inertial dense and sparse SLAM as well as planning and control for autonomous vehicles. He received his degree in Mechanical and Space Engineering from the University of Queensland.
Rob Genovese serves as a Principal and Head of Investor Relations at Xplorer Capital, where he manages fundraising and investor relations activities and supports portfolio-level fundraising activities. Rob has more than ten years of experience working within private equity and early stage companies. Prior to joining Xplorer, Rob served as a Senior Vice President and led investor relations for a Shanghai-based private equity manager investing in Chinese consumer businesses. Additionally, Rob ran marketing and client services for a Shanghai-based early stage financial data and information company. Rob received a degree in Economics and in International Relations from Hobart and William Smith Colleges.
Andrew Hoffman joined Xplorer Capital as an Entrepreneur in Residence in 2021, where he assists existing portfolio investments and prospective new investments with technology decisions and technical mentorship.
Andrew has 20 years of startup experience as a first or early hire at three companies, including 16 years in the robotics industry. Andrew has two successful exits, Kiva Systems (now Amazon Robotics) and Canvas Technologies (now Robotics at Amazon). In his roles, he has advised clients facing technical decisions, designed and built major technology and infrastructure components, led major technical initiatives, and is co-inventor on 24 published patents in the robotics industry.
Andrew received Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees from Cornell University in 1998 and 2000.
Molly Parsons is an Associate at Xplorer Capital, where she performs thematic research, assists with diligence of pipeline opportunities and supports portfolio company investments. Molly has deep experience within climate tech and is a key contributor to Xplorer’s efforts on climate tech and climate change mitigation. Molly holds dual Master’s degrees in Environmental Management and Environmental Economics + Climate Change, earned through a joint program with Peking University and the London School of Economics. Previously, she worked as a management consultant at PwC, focusing on financial effectiveness and sustainability in the tech industry. Molly received a BS in Economics & Finance from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.