The Venture Dept. Founder Spotlight: Lily Yarborough and Connor Dougherty of Valinor
For The Venture Dept.’s Advisors, LPs, and Invited Guests Only
Session is virtual with in-person option available for those in NYC.
Join us for our next Founder Spotlight, an exclusive session featuring Lily Yarborough and Connor Dougherty of Valinor, one of The Venture Dept.’s most recent portfolio companies.
About Valinor
Valinor is a digitally native merchant bank building the trust layer for on-chain private markets, starting with institutional-grade alternatives reimagined for the fintech era.
Its platform and operating model combine structuring, principal investing, and distribution to bring high-quality private credit on-chain, with an initial focus on working capital and payments finance. Valinor’s tech-forward underwriting and monitoring is designed to enable real-time, programmable funding, improve asset-level transparency, and expand liquidity access for issuers and buyers across crypto-native rails.
About the Founders
Connor Dougherty is Co-Founder and CEO of Valinor. He previously worked in opportunistic and special situations credit, including as a Vice President at The Blackstone Group (GSO) and, before that, as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Financial Sponsors Group at Wells Fargo Securities. Prior to launching Valinor, he was a Principal at NovaWulf Digital Management. He holds a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Columbia University.
Lily Yarborough is Co-Founder and CIO of Valinor. She previously worked across credit and opportunistic investing, including as a Vice President at NovaWulf Digital Management and as an Associate at Blackstone (GSO Special Situations). Earlier in her career, she was an Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan and a Summer Analyst at Angelo, Gordon & Co. She earned an AB in Philosophy from Harvard University.
What to Expect
• A detailed conversation with Lily and Connor on Valinor's product offerings and long-term positioning.
• A direct Q&A session with Advisors and LPs
• Interaction and community building with members of The Venture Dept. ecosystem