Board of Directors

Mark Friedman, is a founding member and current President and member of the Board of Directors of RTP Capital Associates, Inc., an angel investor network based in Research Triangle Park, NC. Mark has held numerous senior level positions throughout his career, and is currently CEO of Lakeview Business Advisory and Management, Inc., a business assistance firm he formed in 2018. Mark is also chairman of the nationwide series of educational conferences, the Mid-Sized Retirement and Plan Management Conferences. Prior to that, he served as CEO of Cutting Edge Information, LLC, a leader in providing Fair Market Value databases and market research to the pharmaceutical industry.

Mark Granville is a former senior executive, general manager, and early-stage investor with extensive software industry experience in both large multi-national organizations and early, technology-driven start-ups. Mark has spent 40+ years leading key aspects of a technology company, including development, service delivery and support operations, and client acquisition. He was previously Senior Vice President, Analytic Services for a large healthcare analytics company, and COO of a high growth software company with payer marketplace offerings, and as part of the executive team took the company public and then to an acquisition. . Having been directly involved with five growth company exits, he is also an active early stage investor and LP in several venture funds. Mark earned an MBA from the University of Wyoming and an BS in Finance and Information Systems from Bowling Green State University.

Marty is an aerospace engineer and spent his early career working on the Space Shuttle, Space Station, and planetary mission planning programs. He served as a Senior Program Director at the National Academy of Sciences’ Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, founded the Hampton Roads Technology Incubator in late-1998, and has been involved ever since in supporting the local, national, and global innovation and entrepreneurial community as a consultant, advisor, investor, mentor, and therapist.

Managing Director, 757 Collab

Paul Nolde has over two decades of experience in the banking, finance, and venture capital sectors, serving in multiple business development and management roles. As the Managing Director of 757 Collab and the Executive Director of 757 Angels powered by VentureSouth, Paul sets the strategic vision for both organizations and oversees day-to-day operations in accelerating and funding venture capital-appropriate startups from idea to seed stage. 757 Collab includes 757 Startup Studios (the “front door” incubator to Hampton Roads’ entrepreneurial ecosystem), 757 Accelerate (a nationally recognized venture accelerator), 757 Angels (one of the nation’s most active angel investment groups), and 757 Innovation Partnerships (innovation programming for organizations and companies). Prior to this he served as the Executive Managing Director of Lighthouse Labs, another nationally recognized venture accelerator based in Richmond, VA, and before that he was the Fund Manager and Managing Director of Riverflow Growth Fund, a seed stage, healthcare-focused venture capital fund. Prior to Riverflow he served as a director at NRV, also an early-stage venture capital firm, having previously managed the angel investment portfolio of a family office. Earlier in his career he held various sales and strategy positions at multiple national and community banks.

He is an active participant in, and advocate for, Virginia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, serving on the boards of several local and regional organizations, including the Activation Council, CAV Angels (immediate past president), Innovate Hampton Roads, the Norfolk Innovation Corridor, Hampton Roads’ Regional Organization Presidents’ Council, and The Launch Place Seed Fund (former chair). Additionally, Paul sits on various advisory and governing boards at the University of Virginia, where he also serves as an adjunct professor of impact investing in its Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

Paul graduated from UVA with a B.A. in Foreign Affairs, complemented by post-grad business studies through the McIntire School of Commerce Business Institute.

Gary Evans career spans four decades and has included roles in a wide range of both public and private sector organizations and academic institutions.  With a background in chemistry, physics, and software development he has led the commercialization of new technologies and has also served in economic development roles focused on knowledge-based industries and has been involved in the creation of more than 20 companies. 

Bob Creeden joined the UVA Licensing & Ventures Group in September 2016 as its first Managing Director of the UVA Seed Fund & New Ventures. Bob's experience includes launching the Partners Innovation Fund at Partners HealthCare in Boston, one of the first academic medical center venture funds of its kind in the country. Bob is a senior entrepreneurial executive with extensive experience commercializing new technologies, as well as more than 25 years experience as an early-stage venture capitalist.