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Suriyaa Sundararuban

Venture Scout at First Momentum Ventures

Munich, Bavaria

Overview 

Suriyaa Sundararuban is the Head of Digital Operations at Elara Aerospace, where they co-founded the team. They have a strong background in entrepreneurship and venture scouting, with experience in operations tech lead roles and investments in various sectors including cybersecurity, AI, and FinTech. Suriyaa has made significant contributions to the startup ecosystem through roles at Elara Aerospace and First Momentum Ventures, while also investing in companies like EstateGuru and Fnatic. Their diverse skill set includes expertise in project management, web development, and a keen interest in supporting female and diverse founders through their investment activities.

Work Experience 

  • Venture Scout

    2024 - Current

    First Momentum is a German VC fund investing in pre-seed Deep Tech, Industry Tech, and B2B SaaS companies across Europe. As a Venture Scout, I identify promising startups and founders and represent First Momentum in my local ecosystem.

  • Fellow / Scholarship Holder - Cohort #4

    2025 - 2025

    18-week long program with 3 phases that helps ambitious and young career starters to become entrepreneurs, technologists, lawyers, investors, or multiplicators in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Only 200 scholarship holders worldwide are selected for the Bitcoin Talents program in each cohort. Launched in 2023, Bitcoin Talents is part of the wider Web3 Talents education initiative operated by Frankfurt School's Blockchain Center.

  • Member

    2023 - 2025

    TUM.ai is Germany’s leading student initiative focused on artificial intelligence, based at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Founded in 2020, the organization connects students, industry partners, and stakeholders to drive positive societal impact through AI. It brings together a diverse community of over 170 active members and a large alumni network, offering a collaborative environment for AI enthusiasts from various backgrounds.

  • Active Member - Finance & Legal Department

    2023 - 2024

    Financial Planning and Coordinating at the leading AI-centric student initiative in Europe

  • Founder's Associate

    2024 - 2024

  • Head of Digital Operations

    2023 - 2024

  • Co-Founder

    2023 - 2023

    Co-founded Elara Aerospace, a student-led initiative focused on pioneering advanced rocketry with a particular emphasis on reusable Methalox (methane and liquid oxygen) rockets. Our primary mission is to build the world’s largest reusable Methalox rocket constructed by young engineers (under 30), aiming to reach altitudes of up to 150 km, surpassing the Kármán line.

  • Operations Tech Lead

    2023 - 2024

  • Member (GEN2/GEN3)

    2023 - 2024

    TUM Boring is a student initiative from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) focused on innovating tunnel boring technology. We are building and developing the world's fastest tunnel boring machine (TBM) to compete in Elon Musk's "Not-a-Boring Competition". We won the Not-a-Boring Competition multiple times, including in 2021, 2023, and 2025, setting new records for tunnel boring length and speed.

  • Working Student - Cybersecurity

    2023 - 2024

  • Working Student - Car Fleet Management

    2023 - 2023

  • Working Student - Rollout Central-South-East & Procurement

    2022 - 2023

    IONITY is a high-power charging (HPC) network for electric vehicles operating across 24 European countries. It is a joint venture founded by major car manufacturers including BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz Group, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Group, and Volkswagen Group (which includes Audi and Porsche), with financial investment from BlackRock's Climate Infrastructure Platform. The company focuses on providing ultra-rapid charging stations positioned mainly along key highways, enabling long-distance travel for electric vehicle drivers throughout Europe. The network uses 100% renewable energy, supporting sustainability and decarbonization of mobility. Their charging stations typically feature multiple ultra-fast chargers to minimize wait times and facilitate quick recharging.

  • Member of German Chapter

    2021 - 2021

  • Lead of Web Strategy

    2019 - 2021

  • MediaWiki Developer

    2013 - 2021

  • Wikipedian

    2013 - 2021

Wikimedia Foundation encourages the development and distribution of free educational content with projects such as Wikipedia.

Raised $158,980,000.00 from Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Google.org, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

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