Sebastien Boyer
Technical Advisor
Seb is a tech entrepreneur who started and was CEO of Farmwise, a category defining company that successfully pioneered robotics application in the real world by bringing deep learning based vision systems to farming machines. He grew the team to about 100 people and raised more than $80m before moving to a non-executive chairman role in 2023. His product has been featured in the TIME best innovation of the year list and he was recognized in the MIT 35 under 35 innovators and Forbes 30 under 30 list (without making it to prison!).
Seb studied theoretical math at Ecole Polytechnique in France before moving to Cambridge to study Computer Science at MIT where he worked on predicting success of online students using behavioral data. He worked as a mathematician for IBM (on traffic congestion) and a data scientist for Facebook (on data-driven UI design) before starting Farmwise when he was 24. Seb is on the board of directors of series A and B startups in robotics, fintech and gaming, advises a number of companies such (incl Mistral AI, LLMs) and is a Technical advisor for BSV, providing hands on help to BSV founders on topics ranging from fundraising, AI, hiring and managing of engineering team.
He grew up swimming competitively and spent a year as an officer in the French Navy (during which he avoided being in a situation where he had to put his swimming skills to use, fortunately). From his year spent living on a remote french island in the middle of the pacific ocean he kept a deep passion for the ocean and can be often seen on or around Ocean beach in San Francisco.
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Eduardo Fonseca
Technical Advisor
Eduardo Fonseca is a technologist, entrepreneur, board member and startup advisor with over 25 years of experience in software engineering and 15+ years in leadership roles. As the former CTO of GoodRx, Eduardo grew the team from 7 to 120+ across engineering, data, compliance, QA, security and more, helping take the company from its early days through to a successful IPO. He led the due diligence and integration of multiple acquisitions, implemented a complete architectural transformation, and ensured compliance with key regulations, including HIPAA, PCI, and SOC 2.
Eduardo’s expertise spans the full stack, from hardware and firmware to software, and from consumer mobile apps to large-scale infrastructure managing terabytes of data. He has built computer vision models for real-time image segmentation, NLP models for conversational interfaces, optimized systems for resource-constrained embedded devices, and developed technology for regulated industries. Eduardo was one of the tech leaders that advised the White House on COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
At Basis Set, Eduardo works closely with founders to navigate product development, scaling, compliance, and technical challenges, drawing on his deep technical and operational expertise.
A private pilot and aviation enthusiast, Eduardo is currently building Aboard AI, a platform leveraging machine learning to create actionable insights from real-time flight data. His passion for innovation and impact continues to drive his work with startups and founders alike.
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Luke Kim
Technical Advisor
Luke is the founder and CEO of Spice AI, a VC-backed startup in the Pacific Northwest that creates technology to make artificial intelligence and machine learning more accessible to developers. Before founding Spice AI, Luke was the founding manager and co-creator of Azure Incubations at Microsoft where he led cross-functional engineering teams to create and develop technologies like Dapr.
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Catherine Stewart
Board Partner
Catherine is the former Chief Business Officer at Automattic, the company behind WordPress. She built and ran the company’s revenue-generating functions, driving an increase in the company’s valuation from $1B to $7.5B. While at the company, she led the acquisition and integration of five companies including Tumblr and WooCommerce. Catherine also served as the Chief Operating Officer at Shippo, a shipping software company backed by Bessemer, during their growth from a $280M valuation to $1.25B. She previously led teams at Facebook, Penguin Random House, and McKinsey.
As Board and Venture Partner, she helps Basis Set’s portfolio companies find product-market fit and grow revenue. Catherine has advised at the board and executive level with companies including DyDx, Hologram, and Aledade. As an investor, Catherine has written angel checks into companies such as Oura Ring, Honey Homes, Ergeon, Galileo and more.
Catherine has played violin for tips on the streets of New York, London, and Philadelphia. While an undergraduate, Catherine conducted Yale’s string orchestra. She now teaches her four year old son how to play Twinkle Twinkle. One day, she aspires to potty train her toddler.
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Sheila Vashee
Board Partner
Sheila Vashee is the Chief Marketing Officer at Figma, where she leads the marketing, communications, brand design, growth, and support teams. Prior to Figma, Sheila was the VP of Growth at Opendoor, where she was responsible for growth across the buyer and seller marketplace. She took Opendoor from 4 to 21 markets and billions in GMV in a few years. Prior to that, she was the second marketing hire at Dropbox, where she helped 12x the Dropbox user base to 600M users and >$1 billion in revenue.
Sheila has always loved the intersection of math and creativity, pursuing a degree in Economics at Stanford, while also taking classes in art and technology. She started her career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley, but a little over a year into her time there, she left to pursue more adventure in her career, taking roles in retail, strategy, and finally landing in a marketing role at Apple, which she held during graduate school.
A first generation Indian American, Sheila draws strength and resilience from her roots and culture, giving her a strong work ethic, a deep love of family, and a commitment to the betterment of her community. In her downtime, Sheila enjoys spending time with her kids, doing puzzles and brain teasers, and studying European history.
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Kurt Varner
Design Advisor
Kurt is Vice President of Design at Adobe, where he leads teams focusing on collaboration, asset management, sharing, search, AI assistants, community, education, support, home experiences, and Adobe.com. Prior to Adobe, Kurt served as VP of Design at Frame.io, which Adobe acquired for $1.3 billion in 2021. His career also includes leadership roles at Dropbox, Shyp, and design agencies. Kurt has been an advisor to Basis Set since its inception, a connection that first started at Dropbox where he met Lan.
Kurt grew up in rural Pennsylvania with working-class parents. His father was a mail carrier, and his mother a secretary. He was the first of his family to receive a college education, earning a BS in Industrial Engineering. Kurt started his career as a Flight Test Engineer for the U.S. Air Force but quickly realized government employment was not a comprehensive representation of his life.
After one short year, and without much of a plan, he quit to pursue a career in the tech industry. This moment was the start of a wild journey that, at one point, included him living in his car. Through a mix of extreme passion, hard work, and luck, Kurt eventually found his path to success. The journey was difficult and filled with risks, but in hindsight, Kurt wouldn’t trade it for the world.
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