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Marisa Warren, Managing Partner, Aliavia Ventures
Episode description
Marisa Warren is the Founder and Managing Partner of ALIAVIA Ventures, investing in female-founded tech startups across the U.S. and Australia. Established in 2021, ALIAVIA has delivered it's first exit, Loupe Art to Stingray (TSX: RAY.A; RAY.B), and invested in 12 early stage companies.With 26 years of experience at companies like SAP, Microsoft, and Workday, Marisa brings a wealth of knowledge and a relentless drive to create opportunities for women in tech. She’s also the founder of ELEVACAO, a not-for-profit that helped 175 women raise over $120 million in funding, leading to five exits.Hosted by Vidit Agarwal, Founder of Curiosity Center and The High Flyers Podcast.It’s now time to explore your curiosity.CLICK the links below to listen and enjoy now!
Show notes
Published 22nd January, 2025.
Our guest this week is Marisa Warren in episode #191, and this conversation is packed with grit, reinvention, and inspiration.
Marisa is the Founder and Managing Partner of ALIAVIA Ventures, investing in female-founded tech startups across the U.S. and Australia. With 26 years of experience at companies like SAP, Microsoft, and Workday, Marisa brings a wealth of knowledge and a relentless drive to create opportunities for women in tech. She’s also the founder of ELEVACAO, a not-for-profit that helped 175 women raise over $120 million in funding, leading to five exits.
What our host, Vidit loved about Marisa’s story is the full circle of her life. She grew up constantly on the move—seven schools across three countries and five cities—thanks to her dad’s career as a landscape architect. That early exposure to change taught her how to adapt quickly, build relationships, and embrace uncertainty—skills that would serve her well later in life. Her mother, who worked in politics as an advisor to prime ministers, and her grandmother, a pioneering art gallery owner in Canberra, were both powerful female role models who instilled in her a belief that you could achieve anything you set your mind to.
Vidit and Marisa dive into her journey, including:
- How a career that started in high school with a job serving drinks at her grandmother’s art gallery evolved into leading sales at companies like SAP, Microsoft, and Workday.
- Moving countries multiple times from multiple cities within Australia to the UK and USA and adapting to new challenges including three redundancies.
- How she built ALIAVIA Ventures during the pandemic with an innovative “try before you buy” funding model.
- Her move to New York after a second redundancy—without a job, contacts, or even a place to live—and how she turned that risk into founding ELEVACAO.
- The highs and lows of building a career, and navigating the balance between being a mother and entrepreneur.
This is a story of resilience, leadership, and breaking barriers.
It’s time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!
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Timestamps
About us
The High Flyers Podcast is a "meticulously researched audio biography" that uncovers the untold stories of remarkable people and companies—redefining what it means to be a high flyer. Launched in 2020, it has ranked in the global top ten for past two years, with listeners in 27 countries and over 200 episodes released. A flagship product of the Curiosity Center, it has been featured in Forbes, Daily Telegraph, and at SXSW, offering raw, relatable insights from childhood to career, helping listeners become 1% better every day.
200+ guests have joined Vidit Agarwal on the show from 15+ countries, including The CEO's of multi-billion dollar companies like Bunnings, Australia Post, Woolworths; Board Members at Macquarie Bank, ANZ, Reserve Bank; Former Prime Minister of Australia; Globally renowned tech leaders from Google, Microsoft, Xero; Successful Venture Capital and Family Office Investors; CIO's at the world's biggest superannuation funds; Leading Entertainers; Olympic Gold Medal Winning Athletes and interesting minds you wouldn't have heard of that are changing the world.
Our parent company, Curiosity Centre is your on-demand intelligence hub for knowledge, connections and growth to achieve your potential, everyday. Join 200,000+ Investors, Founders, Functional Leaders, CEOs and Emerging Leaders. Learn with the world's best and be 1% better everyday at https://curiositycentre.com
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