Partners & Principals
We are former founders, product leaders, and engineering executives. Our operational backgrounds define how we invest.
James Whitfield
James co-founded Nurauca Capital after a decade as a founder and operator in enterprise software. He previously co-founded Stackr (acquired by ServiceNow in 2019) and served as VP of Product at Palantir. His investment focus is enterprise SaaS, developer infrastructure, and applied AI.
James has led or co-led investments in 14 portfolio companies and sits on seven boards. He brings a conviction-driven approach shaped by years of navigating product-market fit, enterprise sales, and organizational scaling.
Background: Stackr (Co-founder, acquired), Palantir (VP Product), Stanford CS & MBA.
Amara Singh
Amara leads Nurauca’s investments in B2B marketplaces and fintech infrastructure. Before joining the firm, she founded Meridian Labs (Series B, backed by Andreessen Horowitz) and served as Chief Product Officer at Stripe. She brings rare insight into platform dynamics and network-effects businesses.
Amara is particularly focused on underrepresented founders building in financial services, healthcare, and climate tech. She has championed Nurauca’s commitment to diverse founding teams.
Background: Meridian Labs (Founder), Stripe (CPO), IIT Delhi & Wharton MBA.
Robert Callahan
Robert focuses on developer tools, cloud infrastructure, and AI/ML platforms. He spent eight years as an engineering leader at companies including GitHub and HashiCorp before transitioning to venture. His technical depth allows him to evaluate architecture decisions and engineering velocity at a level most investors cannot.
Robert is often the first call for founders navigating technology architecture decisions, hiring senior engineers, or building developer communities. His network in the OSS ecosystem is unparalleled within the firm.
Background: GitHub (Engineering Director), HashiCorp (VP Engineering), MIT Computer Science.
Leila Nazari
Leila leads sourcing and early-stage diligence for Nurauca, with a particular focus on enterprise vertical SaaS and climate technology. Before joining Nurauca, she was a product manager at Salesforce and early team member at two YC-backed startups. Her proximity to the founder ecosystem drives much of the firm’s deal flow.
Leila is fluent in Arabic, Farsi, and English, enabling the firm to evaluate opportunities across MENA and South Asian founders building for global markets.
Background: Salesforce (Senior PM), Axiom Labs (Early Team), UC Berkeley, Haas MBA.
Thomas Brennan
Thomas supports the investment team across market research, deal sourcing, and portfolio company support. Before Nurauca, he was a software engineer at two early-stage startups and worked in investment banking coverage of technology companies at J.P. Morgan. He brings both technical fluency and financial rigor to the team.
Thomas is building Nurauca’s proprietary market mapping capability and leads the firm’s outbound sourcing program targeting technical founders at top research universities.
Background: J.P. Morgan (Tech IB), Arcline Systems (Engineer), Carnegie Mellon CS.