Key Facts
Principal at Arc Ventures
Founded Grafiti, world’s first search engine for charts and infographics
Launched EPA Seed Fund
Launched DC NSF ICorps
Smithsonian National Zoo Volunteer
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
Biography
Akbar Dawood joined Arc Ventures in 2022 to manage pre-seed, seed, and series A investments and assist portfolio founders with strategy and business development.
Prior to his role at Arc, Akbar was on the founding team of multiple venture backed startups including a machine-learning, computer-vision startup focused on unlocking data and a biotech revolutionizing pathogen detection with novel microfluidics.
Akbar got his entrepreneurial start commercializing tech from universities and federal labs, creating a seed fund for the EPA, and launching an accelerator for NSF. He started his career as an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and on the trading floor at Credit Suisse. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics, Markets and Management from Duke University.
An animal and underground music lover, Akbar volunteers at the Smithsonian National Zoo and spends his weekends seeing new artists perform.