Our goal is to harness the untapped potential of minority and women technology pioneers, a community which has been traditionally underserved by funding institutions. We seek to work with those who demonstrate promise to become market leaders and financial success stories. Not only have we walked in the shoes of entrepreneurs, we also know what it takes to grow a vibrant and enduring technology company.

Three Managing Partners form the foundation of ValenciaVentures:

Stephan Adams

A proven results-driven entrepreneurial executive, Stephan has a strong record of capitalizing on emerging market trends. He is recognized as a pioneer from the products envisioned and launched on emerging platforms from NeXT Computers, Talegent, and BeOS. Stephan successfully raised substantial venture capital and strategic funding to grow Adamation, a company he co-founded, that developed a first-of-kind cross-platform digital media consumer applications suite. Under his stewardship, Adamation won multiple industry awards for leading enterprise solutions, including Best of Show at the Database Expo for full office automation of real estate buying and selling process.

Stephan is a visionary leader of software product teams, a master of implementing the product life cycle, and a shrewd negotiator--having established strategic partnerships and global distribution channels with IBM, HP, Hitachi, Canon, and PC Connection. He also has merger and acquisition and asset divestiture expertise as an executive business development consultant at KANA Software. Stephan worked closely with the CEO and executive team to turn the company around and sell it to Accel-KKR. He also executed a successful acquisition strategy. And, as a Principle at Crucian Global, Stephan led a strategic initiative in the United States Virgin Islands to establish a data center and take advantage of favorable tax laws. He also spearheaded a community outreach program to garner support for a proposed private marina.

Mr. Adams earned a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California Berkeley.

Derrick Collins

A veteran venture capitalist, Derrick is Dean for the College of Business at Chicago State University. Previously, he was Assistant Clinical Professor of Finance at Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg School of Management, where he developed and taught courses in venture capital and private equity investing, and entrepreneurial finance. He also served as a General Partner at Polestar Capital Partners, a venture capital partnership focused on investing in minority-controlled technology companies. Derrick began his private equity career as President of the venture capital subsidiary of Shorebank Corporation, an Illinois bank holding company. While at Shorebank, he also served as a Commercial Loan Officer in the banking subsidiary.

Derrick has lectured extensively on venture capital and investing in entrepreneurial companies, speaking at the Credit Suisse International Business School, the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s Advanced Management Education Program, the National Football League’s Player Development Program, the National Basketball Players Association’s High Growth Entrepreneurship Program, the Chicago Urban League’s NextOne Program, the Wall Street Journal’s Black Entrepreneurship in America Conference, and on Chicago’s WGN-TV Minority Business Report. Derrick also serves as a bi-weekly contributor on economic and business topics via WVON Radio’s Urban Business Roundtable.

Derrick’s current and past board affiliations include Chicago Community Ventures; Adamation, Inc.; BridgeStream, Inc.; ViaNovus, Inc.; the National Association of Investment Companies; and he is a co-founder and board member of the accelerated entrepreneurial program, the Runners’ Club.

Mr. Collins earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

James Jones

A proven operational executive in the software industry, James has a diverse background in financial planning, operational efficiency, acquisition deal structuring, post-merger integration, and strategic consulting management. He has been at the forefront of industry-shaping transactions, having advised AT&T in their acquisition of TCI for $48 billion, and Executive Jet (NetJets) in their sale to Berkshire Hathaway for $725 million. He also recently spearheaded the operational strategy for the sale of KANA Software to Accel-KKR for $49 million.

He serves as Vice President for Business Planning and Analysis at KANA, previously holding the position of Director of Professional Services at Right 90. He honed professional consulting skills at Accenture as a Strategic Consulting Manager, gained product marketing skills as a Product Marketing Manager at Oracle, and developed his financial acumen at Goldman Sachs as a Mergers and Acquisitions Associate.

Before beginning his civilian career at Bway as Assistant to the CFO in a corporate turnaround capacity, James mastered his leadership skills as a Field Artillery Captain in the US Army. He served as second-in-command of a 110-soldier airborne unit and managed Army intelligence activities in Greece.

Mr. Jones earned a B.S. in Systems Engineering from the United States Military Academy and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.