Bridging finance, data, and entrepreneurship: How rigorous investment thinking shapes startup growth in the US

Photo courtesy of Rosa Mehrabi.

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Combining deep expertise in finance, entrepreneurship, and data-driven decision-making can materially improve how innovation is funded and scaled in the United States. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the work of Dr. Rosa Mehrabi, whose efforts blend multiple sectors of influence and have resulted in sustained contributions to investment analysis, venture capital, and startup support, grounded in rigorous research and real-world execution.

Who is Dr. Rosa Mehrabi?

Dr. Mehrabi holds a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship from the University of Tehran and has over a decade of academic and professional experience at the intersection of entrepreneurship, venture capital, financial markets, and data-driven investment analysis. Her scholarly research has focused on entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, decision-making, venture finance, sustainable financing, and healthcare entrepreneurship, resulting in multiple peer-reviewed publications in international business and entrepreneurship journals.

At the intersection of these sectors, Dr. Mehrabi has also provided direct mentorship to over 70 startup founders. She has guided these individuals through fundraising strategy, financial modeling, investor engagement, and connection facilitation with venture capital and institutional investors.

Alongside her academic pursuits, Dr. Mehrabi has taken on senior investment and analysis roles at various venture capital firms, financial institutions, and international tech companies. Her experience includes serving as an Investment Analysis Director at a venture capital firm, where she managed due diligence for hundreds of investment prospects across sectors such as FinTech, AI & Enterprise, EdTech, MedTech, and digital health. 

Dr. Mehrabi’s responsibilities also covered valuation, financial modeling, and cash flow forecasting.

A dynamic approach: Data-driven investment decisions

To strengthen the financial rigor of her work, Dr. Mehrabi completed an advanced master’s degree in finance. This combination allowed her to bridge entrepreneurial theory with practical financial analysis and investment decision-making. 

As Dr. Mehrabi transitioned from academia into venture capital, financial institutions, and global startup ecosystems, she saw firsthand how access to capital, data, and informed decision-making can shape entrepreneurial success. 

During this time, Dr. Mehrabi also became increasingly aware of the structural challenges faced by women entrepreneurs, particularly in securing funding, gaining visibility, and securing leadership representation. 

She says, “That awareness has been an important driver in my work, both in research and in practice, where I focus on building analytical frameworks and investment processes grounded in merit, data, and long-term value creation, in ways that foster diversity and inclusion.”

Multi-faceted work: Women in entrepreneurship 

Unlike many professionals who specialize in a single domain, Dr. Mehrabi has worked and continues to work across the full lifecycle of innovation, from studying how entrepreneurs recognize opportunities, to evaluating startups and allocating capital, to designing data pipelines and AI-enabled dashboards that inform real-time investment decisions. This interdisciplinary background enables her to uniquely connect human judgment, financial structure, and data-driven insight in ways that are both holistic and efficient.

Beyond venture capital and entrepreneurship, Dr. Mehrabi is actively involved in sustainable finance and exploring how capital can foster long-term economic and social benefits. She focuses on integrating sustainability, risk management, and responsible investing into decision-making processes rather than treating them as afterthoughts. Dr. Mehrabi’s insights are shaped by her academic studies and her professional background in financial markets. 

A brighter future: Sustainable finance

Moving forward, Dr. Rosa Mehrabi is committed not only to advancing her own career but also to reducing the structural barriers women entrepreneurs face. Through direct mentorship, fundraising strategy, and financial and data-driven guidance for startups, as well as by helping investors and institutions adopt merit-based, transparent decision-making frameworks, she is working to achieve these goals. 

Ultimately, Dr. Mehrabi’s goal is to bridge research, capital, and execution, helping startups grow sustainably while contributing to innovation environments that provide women entrepreneurs with fair and lasting opportunities to succeed.