Planet Positive Podcast with Investor Adrianna Samaniego
Join Bhuva Shakti, Founder & CEO at Wallet Max, as she speaks with investors looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments.
This month, Bhuva's guest is Adrianna Samaniego, a Partner at Cherryrock Capital, venture firm focused on leading an and co-leading Series A & B rounds in underinvested founding teams. At Cherryrock, Adrianna applies her extensive experience to support the best emerging technology startups in scaling from $1M to $100M+.
Wallet Max YouTube:
Please register in this luma page, and you will be notified when this episode goes LIVE @ Planet Positive Podcast.
About Adrianna Samaniego:
Adrianna Samaniego is a Partner at Cherryrock Capital, venture firm focused on leading an and co-leading Series A & B rounds in underinvested founding teams. At Cherryrock, Adrianna applies her extensive experience to support the best emerging technology startups in scaling from $1M to $100M+.
Prior to Cherryrock, Adrianna was a Partner at Female Founders Fund, a leading early-stage fund investing in female-founded technology companies across B2B, Healthcare, Climate, and Enterprise Saas. In this role, she managed the investment team and led over twenty-five investments in rapidly growing female-led startups. Additionally, Adrianna was instrumental in establishing and managing the FFF Scout Program, which targets early-stage Black, Latine, and Indigenous female founders, as well as the FFF Entrepreneur in Residence program and the FFF MBA Program. Her investment acumen and dedication to fostering diversity in tech drive her approach to building category-defining businesses.
Her expertise in scaling businesses is complemented by an eight-year tenure at Google, where she co-founded Emporium within Area 120, Google’s startup incubator, where she led the rapid development and launch of a B2B marketplace aimed at enhancing procurement opportunities for diverse-owned businesses. This complemented her leadership and creation of Google's Global Supplier Diversity Program, which generated over $2B in opportunities for diverse-owned companies.
Recognized for her trailblazing efforts, Adrianna has been honored with distinctions such as Fast Company Queer50, Business Insider Rising Star in VC, a Kauffman Fellow (Class 28), University of Georgia's 40 Under 40, an Alumni Society Class of '22 member, and receiving the Top Latinas in Tech Giants award.
A proud Mexican-American from Douglas, Arizona, Adrianna received a B.B.A. in Finance from University of Georgia and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.
About Wallet Max:
Wallet Max is an inclusive global community of corporate executives and venture capitalists with a mission to expand fundraising access for high-growth startups in the technology, AI, fintech, and climate sustainability sectors.
With more than 10 investments directly in impact entrepreneurs thus far, Wallet Max’s network of 2,000 innovators and 60 partners regularly meet in person and virtually throughout the year to mutually exchange connections and drive collective action. Wallet Max ecosystem of events and initiatives are prominent during the New York Fintech Week, the New York Tech Week, and the New York Climate Week every year.
Wallet Max's Planet Positive Podcast is a monthly interview with investors driving impact globally. Aligned with our mission to challenge the status quo, we showcase personal and professional journeys of diverse investors (Angels, VCs, PEs, Family Office, Corporate Venture) looking to leverage inclusion and impact without compromising growth of investments. Supporting sustainable innovations is good for people's wellbeing, planet survival, and financial profits.
Learn more about Wallet Max success and 2026 global initiatives: https://getwalletmax.com/climate-forward
About Bhuva Shakti:
Bhuva Shakti (she/her) is the futuristic founder and CEO driving sustainable innovation at Wallet Max, a global community of corporate executives, policy leaders, and venture capital investors expanding fundraising access for high-growth impact startups. With an MBA from Columbia University in New York and as a senior executive director on Wall Street for three decades, Bhuva has managed diverse financial portfolios and launched several digital transformation products for investment banks, capital markets, and payment networks.
Bhuva’s leadership and risk governance oversight, during the global financial crisis and the pandemic, was pivotal for the success of regulatory compliance and mergers acquisitions at the world's top banks and credit rating institutions. Bhuva is a board director and C-Suite advisor for people and planet friendly businesses, without compromising profits, and a keynote and TEDx speaker advancing economic inclusion and climate-fintech partnerships.
Bhuva is the USA country director for World Business Angels Investment Forum and the Chief Ethics & Culture Officer for Women in AI worldwide. She leads fundraising strategy and product operations for market expansion and manages investor relations from diligence to investment. Bhuva is the founder of Bhuva’s Impact Global, offering board and enterprise risk advisory services for public and private corporations.