Fellows Pushing the Needle by Rethinking Where Innovation Happens
How Abhinav Patibandla Turned the DVRGNT Ventures Fellowship into a Mission to Strengthen the Great 38™ and Expand Access to Venture Capital
Abhinav Patibandla is a junior at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, where he is pursuing a double major in Finance and Economics with a minor in Philosophy. He first became involved with DVRGNT Ventures as a fellow, where he developed a structured framework for evaluating early-stage companies through market sizing, product differentiation, and founder assessment. He states the fellowship helped align his perspective from being broadly interested in startups to thinking rigorously like an investor.
DVRGNT Ventures’ thesis centers on investing in high-potential, tech-enabled startups across “The Great 38™” — the Midwest, South, and Mountain West — a region that represents the majority of the U.S. population and a substantial share of GDP, yet remains meaningfully undercapitalized. DVRGNT Ventures conviction is that capital shapes opportunity. By intentionally allocating resources to overlooked founders and ecosystems, the firm aims to drive economic equity, combat systemic bias, and build sustainable innovation infrastructure.
I am proud of Abhi for blazing a path to extend access to investment farther and beyond where it’s been available in the past. He is the type of person that makes me hopeful for the future!
- Jeremy Veatch, Partner at DVRGNT Ventures
Through the fellowship, Abhinav internalized this thesis. By learning to see venture capital as a tool for ecosystem development and building long-term relationships before writing checks, Abhi was able to further push DVRGNT Ventures mission past his time in the program. During his time he engaged hands-on to de-risk early decisions and backed companies that lifted communities. The emphasis on developing winners reshaped how he thinks about value creation and long-term impact.
Since completing the DVRGNT Ventures fellowship, Abhinav has focused on applying those investing principles in real-world settings across both investment banking and venture capital. As an Investment Banking Intern at Dinan & Company, he has supported live M&A processes, built financial models, and contributed to diligence and CIM preparation. In parallel, he has been involved with Realmspark, ASU Enterprise Partners’ venture arm, where he works on the InvestU Angel Network to evaluate early-stage opportunities, participate in sourcing discussions, and support the broader Arizona investing ecosystem and directly contributing to strengthening capital formation within the Great 38™ region.
One of his earliest success stories during the fellowship was his involvement in closing out the Precision Epigenomics round at DVRGNT Ventures. Building on that experience, Abhinav later brought the same company to the InvestU Angel Network through the relationships he cultivated, where it was selected as a finalist by their deal committee. This demonstrated his ability to engage deeply with the venture ecosystem and champion high-conviction opportunities across multiple platforms - a reflection of DVRGNT Ventures ecosystem-first approach.
Most recently, Abhinav launched Helios Ventures, a student-led venture capital club at ASU designed to create a structured pipeline for sourcing and evaluating early-stage startups across the university ecosystem. Through Helios, he is building a fellowship program that teaches students how to conduct diligence, write investment memos, and think critically about venture capital as an institutional discipline. The initiative also aims to connect student investors with alumni, angel investors, and early-stage founders to expand access to venture education and deal flow within Arizona and across the broader Great 38.
He credits DVRGNT Ventures as a foundational catalyst in this trajectory, providing both the intellectual toolkit and confidence to pursue opportunities in investment banking and venture, but also a broader mission: building infrastructure in underinvested regions and creating pathways for talent to thrive. By focusing on the Great 38™, DVRGNT Ventures is actively reshaping where innovation can happen, Abhinav’s work reflects that same commitment to creating opportunity, strengthening regional ecosystems, and expanding access to venture capital beyond traditional hubs.