April 24, 2012 - CHICAGO - Venture capital firm and startup foundry Sandbox Industries said on Monday that it has hired experienced finance specialist Vanessa Rollings as CFO and Managing Director and familyFINDS CEO Lindsay Cohen as VP in the Sandbox Startup Foundry, who will help manage the firm's growing team.
Rollings, formerly a VP at William Blair & Company, has more than 15 years of experience working with public and privately held businesses in finance and accounting. Before becoming an investment banker, Rollings spent five years at Kraft Foods in various finance positions and three years working with technology start-ups and a tech-focused venture capital firm. She began her career as an auditor at Arthur Andersen and is a Certified Public Accountant. Rollings earned her M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and her B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Notre Dame.
Cohen, the current CEO of deal site familyFINDS (www.familyfinds.com), previously co-founded mamaloot, a daily deals site for moms that was acquired by familyFINDS in January 2011, just five months after the launch of mamaloot. Cohen brings to Sandbox extensive marketing and consulting experience along with her entrepreneurial track record – she was previously a senior manager of email marketing at Orbitz. She holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business, and a BA in Economics and the Mathematical Methods in Social Sciences program at Northwestern University. Cohen will continue to run and grow familyFINDS while taking on her new role as VP at Sandbox.
"We are thrilled to have Vanessa and Lindsay on board," said Nick Rosa, Co-founder and Managing Director of Sandbox. "They both bring meaningful experience to the table and are already making a huge impact on our team."
Sandbox Industries operates under a unique model that combines venture capital investing with operating entrepreneurs within its startup foundry. Additionally, Sandbox has founded two startup accelerators: healthcare-focused Healthbox (www.healthboxaccelerator.com) and Chicago-based Excelerate Labs (www.exceleratelabs.com).
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About Sandbox Industries
Sandbox Industries (www.sandboxindustries.com) is a venture capital firm and startup foundry based in Chicago. The firm, founded in 2003, manages BlueCross BlueShield Ventures Funds I and II, Cultivian Sandbox Food & Ag Fund II, and the Sandbox Venture Fund. Sandbox's Startup Foundry is a unique model that launches, grows, and invests in new businesses within the firm, producing companies like doggyloot (www.doggyloot.com), Marbles: The Brain Store (www.marblesthebrainstore.com), CakeStyle (www.cakestyle.com), and Lab42 (www.lab42.com).
