Shaq Vayda

Principal
Invests in the pioneers defining the century of biology

About Shaq

Shaq joins the Lux team with a passion for technology and a desire to invest in people. Helping turn their vision for a better world into reality. Specifically, he is excited by “building block” ideas where the value and markets unlocked downstream are greater than that of a single product. Some examples of these building blocks include: biotech, drug discovery platforms, molecular & computational tools, synbio, data infrastructure, and developer tools.

Shaq’s career journey in some ways mirrors the ethos of Lux, investing at the intersection of technology and the natural sciences. Shaq started his professional career in the aerospace and defense sector spending time at NASA and Northrop Grumman. Following, Shaq got exposure to the emerging life sciences sector at Illumina, seeing firsthand the impact DNA sequencing has had on ending human suffering. Most recently, Shaq worked at Parthenon (SSG) in San Francisco, where he advised premier private equity and growth equity firms on enterprise technology and healthcare investments.

The future is already here... it's just not evenly distributed yet. — William Gibson

Growing up on the Space Coast, Shaq earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida. He is passionate about pursuing his lifelong goal of living up to his name and finally dunking a basketball. He loves partnering with his companies, and helping them think strategically on how to stay ten steps ahead of the competition. Competitive from a young age, Shaq is obsessed with being a team player and helping whatever team he’s on to win, whether that is his peers at Lux or the entrepreneurs he works for.

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“The future is already here... it's just not evenly distributed yet.” — William Gibson
Outside of work
You can catch Shaq exploring California through his hobbies of skiing, biking, golf, and of course searching for the greatest bagel in the entire Bay Area.
Built a high-altitude balloon spacecraft in high school to photograph the curvature of Earth
Avid fan of the Florida Gators!
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Selected Investments

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Anagenex
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Atavistik Bio
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Creyon
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Enveda Biosciences
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Gandeeva Therapeutics
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LabGenius
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Nomic
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Rivet
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other team members

Peter Hébert
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Investing
Josh Wolfe
Co-founder and Managing Partner
Investing
Deena Shakir
General Partner
Investing
Shahin Farshchi, PhD
General Partner
Investing
Brandon Reeves
General Partner
Investing
Bilal Zuberi
General Partner
Investing
Grace Isford
Partner
Investing
Lan Jiang
Associate
Investing
Adam Kalish
General Partner
Development and Operations
Steven Brody
Chief Operating Officer
Development and Operations
Scott Rubin
Chief Marketing Officer
Development and Operations
Segolene Scarborough
Chief Financial Officer
Development and Operations
Sean Traynor
General Counsel
Development and Operations
Alex Nguyen
Partner
Development and Operations
Samuel Arbesman, PhD
Scientist in Residence
Development and Operations
Danny Crichton
Head of Editorial
Development and Operations
Tracie Rotter
Platform Partner
Development and Operations
Saunaz Moradi
Director of Communications
Development and Operations
Chris Gates
Producer
Development and Operations
Andrew Wilson
Associate General Counsel
Development and Operations
Brad Gritsch
Fund Accountant
Development and Operations
Stevie Lee
Assistant Controller
Development and Operations
Samantha Cho
Controller
Development and Operations
Bibi Masara
Office Manager
Development and Operations
Debbie Elsen
Executive Assistant
Development and Operations
Dana Riley
Executive Assistant & Office Manager
Development and Operations
Jasmine Rainey
Executive Assistant and Marketing Coordinator
Development and Operations
Lindsay Morris
Executive Assistant
Development and Operations
Cristina Morris
Executive Assistant
Development and Operations
Bree Morgan
Executive Assistant
Development and Operations
Andrew Wilson
Jasmine Rainey
Tracie Rotter
Stevie Lee
Steven Brody
Shaq Vayda
Shahin Farshchi, PhD
Segolene Scarborough
Sean Traynor
Scott Rubin
Saunaz Moradi
Samuel Arbesman, PhD
Samantha Cho
Peter Hébert
Lindsay Morris
Lan Jiang
Josh Wolfe
Grace Isford
Deena Shakir
Debbie Elsen
Danny Crichton
Dana Riley
Cristina Morris
Chris Gates
Bree Morgan
Brandon Reeves
Brad Gritsch
Bilal Zuberi
Bibi Masara
Alex Nguyen
Adam Kalish