Our Team

Ariane Tom, PhD

Founder & Managing Director

Dr. Ariane Tom is the Founder and Managing Director of Kaleida Capital, overseeing capital allocation across brain–machine interfaces, neural data systems, and cognitive AI. A Stanford-trained neuroengineer, she began her work in 2008 designing bioelectronic interfaces for the brain, co-authoring early research with Karl Deisseroth and Zhenan Bao that helped establish the technical foundations of today’s neural-interface ecosystem — well before the category was investable at scale. Her contributions to brain–machine interfaces, neuromodulation, and neural data systems have been featured in Science, Nature, Time, and Scientific American, and continue to inform the evolution of the neurotechnology landscape.

Following Stanford, Dr. Tom built her career across intellectual property, venture capital, and translational science, developing a longitudinal understanding of how frontier technologies move from lab discovery to scaled deployment. As an Associate at Schox Patent Group, she operated in Silicon Valley patent law and technology commercialization, advising founders and investors on IP strategy, prosecution, and diligence for deep-tech and life-science startups—experience that now shapes Kaleida Capital’s emphasis on defensible infrastructure and durable value.

She later joined Anzu Partners, a leading industrial and deep-technology venture firm, where she honed a critical eye for opportunities spanning advanced materials, bioengineering, and AI-enabled life science platforms. During her tenure, she drove investment and supported the Boards of multiple Nobel Prize–winning research–derived companies and category-defining platforms, contributing to portfolio-level performance exceeding 6× MOIC.

As an independent investor, Dr. Tom subsequently built a high-performing early portfolio that includes Anthropic and Manifest Technologies (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), earning the trust of family offices, research institutions, and strategic partners seeking credible access to NeuroAI. She founded Kaleida Capital to institutionalize this edge— structuring NeuroAI exposure with the discipline of infrastructure investing, rather than episodic venture bets.

Dr. Tom holds PhD, MS, and BS degrees from Stanford University in Materials Engineering and Bioengineering. She is a member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle and NVIDIA VC Alliance, and is a frequent speaker at internationally recognized forums, where she brings a global perspective on the future of intelligence—at the intersection of neural data, computation, and human performance.

Kevin Carlberg, PhD

Venture Partner

Dr. Kevin Carlberg is a Venture Partner at Kaleida Capital, where he contributes expertise at the intersection of applied AI systems, contextual intelligence, and wearable/spatial computing. He was previously Director of AI Research at Meta, where he led multidisciplinary teams across AI, HCI, engineering, and design to develop novel AI and simulation technologies for next-generation wearable and mixed-reality platforms, spanning the CTRL Labs acquisition through Reality Labs Research. Prior to Meta, Kevin spent over eight years at Sandia National Laboratories, where he initiated and led research programs advancing AI-driven model reduction, large-scale uncertainty quantification, and real-time physics simulation for high-consequence national security applications.

Dr. Carlberg holds a PhD and MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. He also serves as an Affiliate Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington. At Kaleida Capital, Kevin works closely with the investment team on NeuroAI and applied AI opportunities, while also building his own company at the intersection of embodied AI and wearable computing.

Srihari Sritharan, PhD

Venture Fellow

Dr. Srihari (Sri) Sritharan is a Venture Fellow at Kaleida Capital, bringing deep operating and transactional experience across neurotechnology and neuro-biopharma. Dr. Sritharan has executed high-impact industry partnerships, including a $100M+ Takeda partnership at Beacon Biosignals, a leading neurotech startup monitoring sleep data, and a ~$1B RNA therapeutics deal for Acadia Pharmaceuticals’ neurodegenerative disease pipeline. Prior to industry, his doctoral work with Penn Neurosurgery advanced wireless neuromodulation for sensory restoration, contributing to modern-day brain-computer interfaces and neuromodulation technologies.

Dr. Sritharan holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Neuroscience from Brown University.

Sharena Rice, PhD

Venture Fellow

Dr. Sharena Rice is a Venture Fellow at Kaleida Capital, specializing in clinical translation, execution risk, and market analysis across neurotechnology platforms. She has worked closely with early-stage neurotech companies to design and operationalize multi-site clinical trials, partnering across product, engineering, and clinical teams to support translational readiness and scale. In parallel, Dr. Rice is a contributing editor at Neurotech Reports, where she has authored more than two dozen in-depth analyses on neurotechnology companies, business models, regulatory pathways, and market dynamics. Her work bridges scientific rigor with market insight, providing a practitioner-informed view of how neurotechnology platforms move from development into deployment.

Dr. Rice holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Michigan, where she was awarded the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award, and a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology with minors in Psychology and Philosophy from California Lutheran University.

Chad Sadili

Operations Associate and Executive Assistant

Chad Sadili is the Operations Associate and Executive Assistant at Kaleida Capital, where he supports firmwide operations, marketing workflows, and investor communications. With a background spanning graphic design, HR, and research coordination, Mr. Sadili brings a versatile and detail-oriented University, equipping him with cross-functional capabilities to support a dynamic venture platform