Partner / President

Guha Bala is President of Velan Ventures, Inc. an innovation investment company with a focus on video games and game related technology companies, and Velan Studios, Inc. a game studio that focuses on the discovery of new play patterns.

Previously, Guha co-founded Vicarious Visions with his brother, Karthik, in 1991. Vicarious has since grown to become an industry-leading game developer, helping to shape popular culture around the world. The company has grown into one of the most prolific creators of video games in North America, accounting for multi-billion dollar entertainment franchises such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Crash Bandicoot. After leading Vicarious Visions for 25 years, the brothers transitioned out of the company in 2016 to become entrepreneurs again.

Guha enjoys mentoring start-up ventures and was honored as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2013. He is a Board Member of St. Peter’s Health Partners, the Albany Symphony, and Woodland Hill Montessori School. Guha holds an AB in Chemistry from Harvard College, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Partner / CEO

Karthik Bala is CEO of Velan Ventures, Inc. an innovation investment company with a focus on video games and game related technology companies, and Velan Studios, Inc. a game studio that focuses on the discovery of new play patterns.

Previously, Karthik co-founded Vicarious Visions with his brother, Guha, in 1991. Vicarious has since grown to become an industry-leading game developer, helping to shape popular culture around the world. The company has grown into one of the most prolific creators of video games in North America, accounting for multi-billion dollar entertainment franchises such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Crash Bandicoot. After leading Vicarious Visions for 25 years, the brothers transitioned out of the company in 2016 to become entrepreneurs again.

Karthik holds dual degrees in Computer Science and in Psychology from RPI, and an MBA from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

Partner / CFO

Kerry A. Coffey is Chief Financial Officer for Velan Ventures. Kerry has more than 20 years of financial and management experience including areas such as accounting, sales, marketing, strategic planning and acquisitions. Kerry has worked with multiple start-ups in the technology industry. Most recently, Kerry had executive roles at the Center for Internet Security where she first served as VP of Finance and later transitioned into the SVP for Business Development where she led all Sales, Marketing, and Business Development functions. Kerry is a certified public accountant in the state of Massachusetts.

Partner / Entrepreneur-in-Residence

Rob has worked in software and services for over 25 years, in firms of varying size, including 2 successful exits (Dazel and Celarix) as well as building the specialized software services firm Elyxor with his partners prior to joining Velan Ventures. Rob leads the investment review process for Velan Ventures working every day with entrepreneurs as potential partners. The final investment decisions are made within a full team review as a principle of our methodology. Rob often lends technology and operations expertise to portfolio companies even taking on CxO roles when needed in alignment with Velan Ventures desire to be an active partner with all portfolio companies. Rob holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, an M.S. in Computer Engineering from Syracuse University and a B.S. in Computer and Systems Engineering from RPI.