Meet the Moderne Team.

Constance Freedman is the Founder and Managing Partner of Moderne Ventures and the Moderne Passport, a multi-stage investment fund and industry immersion program. Freedman invests in transformative technologies like Enterprise SaaS, AI, Robotics, Deep Tech, Sustainability, Data and Digital Transaction Management that can be applied within multitrillion dollar industries like real estate, finance, insurance, and sustainability and have the ability to scale into broader markets to deliver outsized venture returns. Moderne manages over $600M AUM, has invested in 50 high growth technology companies and admitted over 150companies into the Moderne Passport and partners with 1,500+ industry executives and corporations to help its portfolio companies build strategic value and scale.  

Freedman’s funds have produced top decile returns including 5 IPOs, 8 Unicorns, and 25+ successful exits. Constance is an active member on multiple boards, past and present, including DocuSign [NASDAQ: DOCU], Porch [NASDAQ: PRCH], Homesnap (acquired by CoStar), EquityLifestyles[NYSE:ELS], LiveEasy (acquired by Appfolio), ICON, Aerwave, and Trust & Will.

Prior to launching Moderne Ventures, Constance was the head of Strategic Investments at the National Association of Realtors where she launched and managed its venture fund, Second Century Ventures (SCV) and founded its industry immersion program, REach. Previously, Constance was an investor with Cue Ball, an early and growth stage investment fund focused on information media and consumer investments.

Freedman began her career as an operator at technology start-ups Molecular (acquired by Isobar) and Account4.com(acquired by Lawson) where she spent seven years helping Fortune 500 companies define their strategies and transform their businesses for digital transformation. Constance initially began her career as a top performer selling and leasing real estate in Boston.  

Constance has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including Crain’s Business 40 under 40, Crain’s Chicago Top Tech 50 (3x), Swanopoel’s Power 200 and Inman’s Top 101 in Real Estate. Constance is frequently an invited keynote speaker at nationally and internationally renowned venture industry, real estate and fintech conferences.

Constance is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), is a Global Governing Trustee for the Urban Land Institute (ULI), and is a Board Member for Illinois Venture Capital Association(IVCA). She previously served on the Advisory Board for the National Venture Capital Association’s (NVCA) Corporate Venturing Group, was on the board of overseers for the non-profit, From the Top, and the advisory panel for Fannie Mae’s Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge.

Constance earned a BS from Boston University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Wai Yee Cheng is a Managing Director and Head of Capital Formation and Investor Relations for Moderne Ventures.

Wai Yee is responsible for overseeing the firm’s investor partnerships and communications. Wai Yee works across all of Moderne’s ventures and growth equity strategies to deliver the firm’s capabilities and develop long-term partnerships with its investors globally.

Prior to joining Moderne, Wai Yee was an Executive Director at GCM Grosvenor and an Associate Director at PAAMCO Prisma, working with the largest institutional investors around the world. In addition, Wai Yee was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company, managing multi-billion dollars for its Alternative Fixed Income and Private Credit portfolios. Wai Yee began her finance career with Goldman Sach’s FX sales and trading team.

Wai Yee is an active member of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM)and a CFA Charterholder. She previously served on the board for Chicago Scholars, a non-profit based in Chicago.

Wai Yee earned a BS in Economics from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Lila Trickle is Chief of Staff and Chief Communications Officer at Moderne Ventures.

Lila oversees firm operations and strategic initiatives, and communications for the firm. Previously, Lila was the Senior Director of Marketing on the Executive Leadership team at IA Collaborative, a global design and innovation consultancy firm, where she led marketing and communications and created structures and processes to help the organization scale. Previously, she was VP of Corporate Communications in the Corporate Affairs and Reputation Management department at Edelman for over a decade where her roles included equal parts primary account lead, senior project manager and trusted advisor to the C-suite for Edelman’s global Fortune 500 clients.

A champion for women in business, Lila’s work has been recognized by Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas awards. Lila serves on the Executive Board at Friends of Prentice, an organization committed to funding the future of women’s healthcare in partnership with Northwestern Medicine Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Lila earned a BA in Marketing Communications & Journalism from Columbia College Chicago.

Carolyn Kwon is the Head of Platform at Moderne Ventures.

Carolyn is responsible for the key operational activities of the Moderne Passport which include partnering with the firm’s Passport participants, logistics and event management, strategic guidance and the Moderne Network relationship management.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, Carolyn worked at LinkedIn on the Enterprise Talent Solutions team. She partnered directly with high-growth companies to develop and launch their corporate recruitment and marketing strategies. Previously Carolyn held digital strategy positions with the Kraft Sports Group (the New England Patriots) and Bain &Company, Inc.

Carolyn received a BA in Sociology and Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies, summa cum laude, from Tufts University.

Mark Michelson is a VP of Finance at Moderne Ventures.

Mark has spent 14 years in finance and accounting roles across real estate and private equity.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, Mark was a Vice President with the Bank of New York Mellon's fund administration practice, serving open-ended and closed-ended multi-billion dollar real estate and private equity funds. Previously, Mark was with Green Courte Partners where he oversaw the reporting and treasury management processes for the firm’s funds and joint ventures. Mark started his career at Deloitte and Touche's Chicago audit practice, serving both private and public clients, largely in the investment management, securities brokerage, technology, and private equity practices.

Mark is the founder of the Chicagoland Theatre Fund, an impact fund dedicated to supporting theatre and film projects with geographic focus in the Chicagoland metropolitan area, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Mark earned a BS and a Master of Accounting Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

Liza Benson is a Partner with Moderne Ventures and helps lead and manage investment activity with a particular focus on high-growth technology companies that can achieve rapid adoption and scale. Prior to Moderne, Liza was a Partner with StarVest Partners, focused on expansion stage B2B SaaS investments. Previously, Liza was a Managing Director of Highbridge Principals Strategies and invested primarily in online video, digital media, and marketing technologies and prior to that she was a Managing Director with Bear Stearns’ Constellation Growth Capital and an investment banker at Patricof & Co and First Union where she started her career.

Constance and Liza first began formally working together in 2015 where they served together on the UrbanBound Board while Liza was a Partner at StarVest Partners.

Liza is also an active member on multiple boards, past and present, including Cxense [FRA:CXH], Widevine (sold to Google), Webify (sold to IBM), Siperian (sold to Informatica), K12 [NYSE: LRN], UrbanBound, Bend, Xeal and Caribou. She also led an investment in Capital IQ which was sold to McGraw-Hill.

Liza received a BA in Mathematical Economics, summa cum laude, from Colgate University.

Sam Delisi is an Operating Partner at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, Sam Delisi was a mentor within the Moderne Network for more than 10 years.

Sam leverages his 40-year career in property management leadership and commercial brokerage to guide Moderne’s Passport and portfolio companies, as well as lead the Moderne Network. Before joining Moderne, Sam held senior roles at Newmark Knight Frank, CBRE, Insignia ESG, and U.S. Equities Realty. Sam was most recently the Global Head of Property Management Services for WeWork, setting up a third-party property management business.

Highlights of Sam’s career include developing and leading CBRE’s Premier Property Platform focused on delivering experiential, tech-forward property management services to enhance the workplace for tenants and their employees. In that role Sam was responsible for thought leadership and tip of the spear sales. In two years, the team acquired more than 70 million square feet of new management and leasing assignments throughout the United States.

Sam led the CBRE property management regions of the US and Canada with more than 200 million square feet, over 1,500 employees and P&L responsibility totaling more than $200 million annually. Notable property management and leasing assignments that CBRE won under Sam’s leadership include the Sears Tower, 311 South Wacker Drive, the Renaissance Center, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 3 Bryant Park, Chase Manhattan Plaza and the US Bank building in Seattle.

Sam led the Receivership/Distressed Property Management component of the CBRE’s national Restructuring Services group. He brings a broad range of real estate expertise to his Moderne Ventures Advisory role, including experience as a brokerage leader, consultant, tenant representative, leasing agent, and property manager. He has also leased or directed leasing for 33 properties in downtown Chicago. Many of these buildings are recognizable landmarks including the Santa Fe Building, One Financial Place, 120 South LaSalle Street, the John Hancock building, and 311 South Wacker Drive.

‍

‍

Rachel is an Investor Relations Associate at Moderne Ventures.

Rachel works closely with Moderne’s Partners and Head of Capital Formation & Investor Relations to support the firm's investor partnerships and communications. Prior to joining Moderne, Rachel served as a Senior Investment Analyst at Plan PILOT, specializing in institutional investment consulting. In this position, Rachel managed several client relationships and played a key role in acquiring new business. She conducted in-depth financial research, led investment recommendations, and contributed to the firm’s thought leadership initiatives. Prior to Plan PILOT, Rachel gained M&A experience at Benchmark International evaluating potential acquisition targets as an analyst. She also worked briefly as a sales intern at Signature Lacrosse, a student-led startup in Tampa, FL. 

Rachel earned a BS in Economics, summa cum laude, from the University of Tampa and an MS in Finance, summa cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago.

‍

Seth Corder is a Managing Director at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, Seth was a Partner at High Alpha, a leading venture fund focused on early-stage B2B SaaS companies across North America. During his six-year tenure, High Alpha invested in over 70 high-growth B2B companies. Seth was instrumental in leading the investment team, serving as a voting member of the investment committee, and providing strategic guidance to founders across the portfolio. He served as a board member or observer for nine companies, providing hands-on support to help drive growth and success.

Before joining High Alpha, Seth spent nearly a decade advising and investing in technology companies. He began his investment career at Goldman Sachs, where he focused on private equity and venture capital. Seth also gained valuable experience in investment banking at Pacific Crest Securities, where he specialized in M&A transactions for B2B companies, particularly in the DevOps space, with a strong emphasis on Europe and Israel.

Seth's recent accolades include being recognized by Business Insider as one of the 39 Most Important VCs in the Midwest. He is deeply passionate about mentoring the next generation of venture capitalists, regularly speaking in college classrooms and serving as a mentor in programs such as Venture Forward.

Seth graduated from the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University, where he studied finance and accounting. Seth is also a Kauffman Fellow, the world’s premier venture capital fellowship.

Paige Evangelista is the Executive Assistant to Constance Freedman at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, Paige worked as an Executive Assistant at Agman, a family-owned investment firm focused on real estate, hospitality, and insurance. She provided administrative and personal support to the firm’s CEO and Principals. Paige started her career as an Account Manager at Hengli America, supplying leading construction equipment manufacturers with hydraulic equipment.

Paige received her Bachelor of Business Administration and a minor in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Dylan Ketcham is a Principal at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to Moderne, Dylan was a founding team member and Vice President of the Emerging Fintech investment banking practice at Barclays. In this role, Dylan advised financial services and fintech clients on strategic actions, including M&A and capital raising. Preceding Barclays, Dylan worked in investment banking and strategy roles at HSBC and Credit Agricole.

Dylan holds a BS in Finance and Accounting from Elon University and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He also serves as an Advisory Board Member at the Doherty Center at Elon University.

‍

Nicole Weldon is the Director of Partnerships and Passport at Moderne Ventures.

Most recently, Nicole served as SVP of Strategic Accounts at RealtyAds, where she led sales and customer success, scaling operations to serve 550 million square feet of office space across 100 markets.

Previously, Nicole was an early employee at Truss, a venture-backed firm, and played a key role in its growth leading up to its acquisition by Avison Young. At Truss, she spearheaded the launch of their first market and closed over 250 leases, consistently earning top sales performer recognition. Post-acquisition, Nicole helped integrate Truss' innovative technology into Avison Young's operations.

Nicole started her career in commercial real estate brokerage, working with office tenants in downtown Chicago. Seeing the industry's need for better technology inspired Nicole’s move into venture.

With over a decade of experience in commercial real estate and venture, Nicole’s proven ability to drive revenue and build high-performing teams is grounded in her commitment to bringing technological innovation to Moderne’s core sectors.

Nicole earned a BS in Marketing, Sales and Social Entrepreneurial from Northern Illinois University.

Theo Lim is a Senior Associate at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to Moderne, Theo was a Management Consultant with Bain & Company’s Private Equity Group where he conducted due diligence on over $5B of assets. He also worked with Fortune 500 clients in industrials, manufacturing, and B2B software.

Prior to Bain & Company, Theo spent several years at the intersection of real estate and tech. Theo was a product manager at Buildout, a growth-stage SaaS marketing automation firm for commercial real estate brokers where he led the development of a new CRM product that boosted ARR growth by 20%. Theo also has five years’ experience developing commercial office, mixed-use, and multifamily real estate with CBRE and Swenson Builders. While at CBRE, he worked with multidisciplinary project teams to develop the 70-acre Microsoft Redmond Campus and the first ever Microsoft Treehouse offices. At Swenson, he worked on medium- to large- scale mixed-use and multifamily projects in the Bay Area, CA through design and entitlement.

Theo is a mentor to low-income high school students and sits on the Associate Board for the Chinese American Service League (CASL) in Chicago. He is also an avid jazz pianist who performs with various groups around the city. Theo earned a BS from Stanford University and his MBA, graduating with distinction, from University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he received the Harry L. Davis Leadership Award.

Kelly Soljacich recently joined Moderne Ventures after working in commercial real estate Portfolio and Asset Management for over 23 years.  

Previously, as a Senior Vice President of Asset Management with LaSalle Investment, she initially oversaw a portfolio of assets across various funds and custom account clients before transitioning to Head of EST Innovation (Environmental, Social and Technology).  Her projects included vetting and evaluate hundreds of Proptech vendors, working with the sustainability group on innovative or technology focused sustainability initiatives as well as leading LaSalle’s partnership with the RedCross, Health and Wellness certifications and created and ran their Social Toolkit and programming. Mrs. Soljacich‘s professional responsibilities have covered multifamily, retail, office, medical office, student housing, showroom and industrial properties across the United States.  Mrs. Soljacich is also an active Board Member of the Red Cross of Illinois, as well as the Technology product council of ULI and advises several Woman’s professional and DEI groups.  

Prior to joining LaSalle in 2017, Mrs. Soljacich was employed by Deutsche Bank (DWS) in Chicago in both the Asset Management and Portfolio Management groups since 2007, and before that with Vornado (MMPI) and General Growth Properties (Brookfield) in similar roles.

Ahmad is a Senior Associate at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to Moderne, Ahmad was a Director of Corporate Development & Investments at Matterport, a 3D spatial capture and digital twin company. In this role, he led inorganic growth strategy formulation, as well as managed M&A and venture investment processes. Previously, Ahmad was a Corporate Development Deal Lead at EPAM Systems, a global software engineering company. Preceding EPAM, Ahmad was an Investment Banker at Credit Suisse.

Ahmad earned a BS in Finance from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business and an MBA from Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business.

‍

Lindsay Hyde is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, Lindsay Hyde participated in the Moderne Passport Program as the co-founder and CEO of Baroo, a company providing services as amenities to leading Class A multifamily owners and operators. After successfully selling Baroo, she joined Moderne as a Venture Partner.

Lindsay works strategically with technology companies and members of the Moderne Network to source investments, build synergistic value between industry executives and the companies pushing new boundaries in our industries, and provides operating support to Moderne Portfolio companies.

Today, Lindsay splits her time between serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Moderne and as a professor at Harvard Business School. Earlier in her career, Lindsay founded and served as the Executive Director of the international not-for-profit organization Strong Women, Strong Girls, and worked to drive innovation at both BlackRock and the Downtown Project. Lindsay also serves as a public company director at Monro (NASDAQ: MNRO).

Lindsay earned her BA, magna cum laude, and MBA from Harvard University.

‍

David Tal is an Entrepreneur in Residence at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to joining Moderne Ventures, David Tal participated in the Moderne Passport Program as a founder. Following his completion of the program, David served as a mentor to other Moderne portfolio companies.

David collaborates closely with Moderne’s team and portfolio companies to help startups strategize and scale. David is a San Diego native, father of three, UCLA graduate, and two-time venture-backed startup founder. He has a proven track record of building and scaling successful businesses.

David has founded and exited two companies alongside his brothers, most recently an AI-powered customer engagement platform that was acquired by a large publicly traded company. His expertise spans artificial intelligence and industries such as real estate, housing, mortgage, financial services, and home services.

In his most recent venture, David led a company from inception to acquisition, successfully raising multiple rounds of venture funding, establishing strategic enterprise partnerships, driving continuous product innovation, and scaling a dynamic team from 0 to over 100 employees across the U.S. and internationally. His experiences navigating complex regulatory environments and global market challenges fuel his passion for supporting other founders on their journeys.

‍

Brianna Bernhardt is the Passport Coordinator for Moderne Ventures.

Prior to joining Moderne, Brianna created impactful marketing messages as the Assistant Marketing Manager for the Community Foundation of Utah, an investment institution advancing philanthropy and impact investing. Previously, Brianna directed Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute’s Skills Program, where she created events and content to connect entrepreneurs with learning resources.

Brianna earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Utah, studying Creative Writing and Modern Dance.

Matt Burns is a Senior Associate at Moderne Ventures.

Before joining Moderne, Matt was a Senior Associate at Cleveland Avenue where he helped identify, evaluate, and scale emerging consumer tech companies and brands. Previously, Matt worked in investment banking at Robert W. Baird & Co., advising onboth sell-side and buy-side M&A transactions. He began his career practicing law at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, specializing in mergers &acquisitions and investment funds.

Matt earned his B.S. in Business Administration, graduating magna cum laude from High Point University, and his J.D., graduating magna cum laude from Howard University School of Law.

Amol Mehta is a Senior Associate at Moderne Ventures.

Prior to Moderne, Amol was an early employee and Senior Director at Advocate Technologies, a SaaS platform providing insurance risk solutions and analytics for asset-based lenders and asset managers. In that role, Amol partnered closely with the Founder and led various aspects of business development, including growth strategy, sales/GTM, and core product development, taking the startup from ideation to hyper-growth with several revenue-generating enterprise clients. Prior to Advocate, Amol was an Investment Banker at Jefferies in the Housing & Real Estate Group. Amol began his career at Goldman Sachs where he helped manage the firm’s tactical and strategic positioning in the Business Selection & Conflicts Resolution Group.

Amol earned a B.S. and M.S. in Economics from New York University, where he was a Presidential Honors Scholar, as well as an MBA from Columbia Business School where he was on the Dean’s Honor List.