Distinguished Speaker Series - 2013-11-22

Gabriella Draney
Cofounder and CEO of Tech Wildcatters
Friday, November 22nd - 10:00am to 11:30am
BLB 170

Gabriella Draney is Cofounder and CEO of Tech Wildcatters, a Top 10 seed accelerator for technology startups. She recently co-founded and is also a Partner in Health Wildcatters, a healthcare based seed accelerator. Also a part of the Wildcatters family is the international startup exchange GlobeStart. Prior to TW she was with HP Growth Partners, an early stage venture fund in Dallas, where she served on the Board of CelAccess.  She co-founded an aircraft scheduling software company in 1998 that ended in a profitable exit. She went on to work for Morgan Stanley in private wealth management. True to her entrepreneurial roots, she left to follow her passion for nutrition by opening a specialty foods retail store, and simultaneously spent three years consulting with numerous Dallas-based startups on strategic planning, finance and fund raising. Gabriella received her MBA in Strategy & Entrepreneurship from Southern Methodist University as a Cox Distinguished Merit Scholar, during which she interned for Silver Creek Ventures. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of North Texas with a BBA in Finance.

Gabriella currently serves on the Advisory Board of UNT’s School of Arts and Sciences, the Dallas Regional Chambers’ Innovation Council, the Advisory Committee for Southwest Venture Forum and the Board of Dallas Workforce Solutions.  She lives in Dallas with her son Philip.