Michael Palank

General Partner
Michael Palank

Michael Palank has been General Partner at MaC Venture Capital since its inception in January 2019. At MaC, Michael focuses on seed-stage consumer and enterprise startup investing across a number of sectors. Prior, he was General Partner at M Ventures, a Los Angeles and Bay Area based early-stage venture fund.

Michael was a member of the founding team of MACRO Media, a disruptive media company founded by Charles D. King and focused on the multicultural market where he led digital strategy and operations. Michael has six and a half years experience working both inside and alongside early-stage startups in the media and technology sector. He ran business development and became GM of TopFloor, a venture-backed e-commerce startup formed out of technology studio Science. Additionally, Michael has consulted with over two dozen startups aiding in business model development, financial modeling and early-stage fundraising strategy. Michael worked closely with LA-based media and events company BeautyCon on their initial seed round which included investments from Hearst, Raptor Group, CAA, Maker Studios (now with Disney) and Fullscreen (now with AT&T). Michael entered the LA tech ecosystem in 2012 as a new business consultant for Amplify, one of LA’s top incubators turned early-stage venture capital firms.

Prior to working in startups, Michael spent eight years working in media and entertainment, first as an agent trainee and agent at The William Morris Agency and then as Director of Business Development at Will Smith’s production company, Overbrook Entertainment.

Michael started his career as a financial analyst at the Chicago-based hedge fund Coghill Capital Management. He has degrees in finance, accounting and psychology from DePaul University where he graduated with honors in the top 5% of his class.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Kottie and their two kids, Teddy and Lola.

Partner News

Insights and Coverage

Exclusive: MaC VC raises $150 million for its third fund in four years

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Carta Acquires Tactyc, Giving Private Funds Data-Driven Insights to Strategize and Allocate Investments in Real Time

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Volta Space Technologies unveils plans for lunar power satellite network

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Safire Group Raises $8 Million in New Financing to Deliver Lithium-ion Battery Safety Technology to Government, Automotive Markets

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Buzz Solutions Harnesses AI To Prevent Wildfires And Blackouts

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Lifting the Veil on Chef and The Future of Embodied AI in the Food Industry

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Robot-packed meals are coming to the frozen-food aisle

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Agent to Investor, with Mike Palank

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Stoke Space test-fires new booster engine

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The quest for a better tampon comes as women’s sports surge

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Xona Space Systems closes $19M Series A to build out ultra-accurate GPS alternative

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AI Gets to Work: How 7 Startups Are Deploying AI Right Now

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How AI is helping to prevent future power cuts

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Buzz Solutions Raises $5M to Accelerate Adoption of its AI-Powered Platform for Visual Grid Infrastructure Inspections and Monitoring

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Deic Power 100 List

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How to Make Shipping to Grocery Warehouses and Distribution Centers a Success

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Geospatial technology startup Nuview acquires Astraea to accelerate plans ‘years faster’ than imagined

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Chef Robotics Hits 10M Meal Milestone in Under Two Years. The Secret? AI-Powered Robots Trained With Lots of Field Data

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Chef Robotics eyes commercial kitchens with $14.75M raise

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This Startup Aims to Rival SpaceX With Reusable Rockets

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A New Global Perspective

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Washington reusable rocket startup Stoke Space raises $100 million

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Crate: Get Your (Online) Life in Order

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VFX artists show that Hollywood can use AI to create, not exploit

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Ex-Pinterest Staffer Launches AI App to Beat Pinterest, Raises $5 Million

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Ox Launches Complimentary Productivity Assessment to Enhance Warehouse Efficiency

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Avala Launches Platform For Ethical AI Deployment

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Cyber Crusaders

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Actor Leonardo DiCaprio Invests in NUVIEW’s LiDAR Satellite Constellation.

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AWS announces startups selected for the AWS accelerator.

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Nothing Ventured Podcast Primer – Michael Palank.

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Nuview emerges from stealth with plans to map the Earth using lidar.

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Ox Raises $12.6M to Pioneer Human Centered AI to Dramatically Improve Frontline Supply Chain Operations.

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Real Estate Tech Company DwellWell Solves Every Homebuyer Need in One Place.

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Portfolio construction trends and best practices with CEO Anubhav Srivastava.

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Your Gen Z Co-Worker Is Hustling More Than You Think.

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With a TikTok Ban on the Horizon, Zigazoo Is Working To Attract Teens.

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Kid-focused short video app Zigazoo launches a TikTok competitor for Gen Z.

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Wonder Dynamics puts a full-service CG character studio in a web platform.

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WWE to partner with Zigazoo, the No. 1 Social Media App for Kids, in the weeks leading to WrestleMania 39!

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Bill Gates’ Climate Investment Firm Is Backing This Reusable Rocket Startup.

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Top 10 startups across 10 trending industries in 2022.

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Buzz Solutions Announces $3.3 Million Round of Funding to Continue Safeguarding the World’s Energy Infrastructure

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New York Power Authority Deploys AI Technology for Drone-captured Power Grid Safety Analysis

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How One Young Entrepreneur Discovered A Way to Improve Supply Chain Logistics With Augmented Reality

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MEDU takes in $4M to develop reusable personal protective equipment

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Axiom taps Epsilon3 software platform for space station development

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Meet the ex-Amazon satellite engineers wanting to disrupt hardware workflow

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Moonbug Entertainment And Kids Social Platform Zigazoo Launch ‘Blippi’ NFT Collection

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NBA Invests in Celebrity-Backed Kids’ Social Network Zigazoo

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MaC Venture Capital Announces $203M Fund II After Strong Fund I Performance

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Epsilon3 raises $15 million for space project management platform

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Identity Verification API Eases Fraud Concerns in Africa’s Digital Space

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Launching Xona’s Ravens: Commercial Satnav from LEO

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Memorandum of Understanding signed by Hexagon | NovAtel and Xona Space Systems for development of assured precision PNT technology with new LEO constellation

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Does a Toddler Need an NFT?

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The Recent Resurgence of Dance-Based Fitness Is as Much About Catharsis as Cardio

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Crypto universe: How a 13-year-old makes millions selling NFT art

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Scoop: Zigazoo debuts kid-safe NFTs from Moonbug and Serena Williams

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Pareto thinks it shouldn’t be so hard to collect lead-generation data

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The Evolving Venture Stack – Episode 19 Podcast

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Michael B. Jordan tapped Serena Ventures and MaC Venture Capital to award one Black-owned business $1 million. Meet the entrepreneurs who gave it their best pitch.

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Epsilon3 lines up $2.8M seed round to modernize space and launch operations

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Sequel Launches To Raise Standard of Women’s Consumer Products, Starting With A Patented Better Performing Tampon

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Health And Wellness Platform Sequel Cofounded By Two Stanford Engineers Raises $5 Million

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The 20 booming DTC companies to bet your career on in 2022, from Vuori to Harry’s

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AI-powered VFX startup Wonder Dynamics raises $10M A round

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Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy leads $65M funding round for Stoke Space’s reusable rockets

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Tye Sheridan, Nikola Todorovic AI/VFX Startup Wonder Dynamics Raises $9M; Epic Games, Samsung Investors

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Universal Music Group and Genies Announce Global Partnership to Develop Avatars and Wearable NFTs

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The State of Tech & Culture: New Space

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Want to glimpse our metaverse future? Theme parks are already on the case

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The First Disney-Pixar Battle Arena Game Is Coming to Apple Arcade

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The Psychology Behind Meeting Overload

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Meta (Facebook) is buying Within, creators of the ‘Supernatural’ VR fitness app

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MaC’s investment in Dance Church

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Michael B. Jordan, Serena Ventures, MaC Venture Capital Partner To Give HBCU-Bred Founders A Chance To Win $1M

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Dance Church raises $4.7M to get your bootie back on the (virtual) dance floor

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Google’s provider of at-home Covid-19 tests is now a $3 billion company traded on Nasdaq

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Xona Space Systems fully funds GPS-alternative demo mission

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Stoke Space stakes its claim in the launch industry’s rush to fully reusable rockets

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Physical stores go hybrid with micro-fulfillment centers

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Social Media for Kids: Zigazoo is The Next Big Thing

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Camila Cabello, Paris Hilton, and Priyanka Chopra Invest in Avatar Startup Genies

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Business leaders can fuel the next generation of Black innovators and entrepreneurs. Here’s what it will take

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Black, Latinx and female entrepreneurs are still ignored by most venture capitalists

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Venture Diligence at the Seed Stage

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Tik Tok for Tykes: The Social Streaming Company Driving The Next Evolution in Kids’ Media

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A social media app that’s truly safe for kids? Celebrities bet on Zigazoo

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Constructing a Venture Fund Portfolio Model

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Closing on $110M, MaC VC is changing the face of venture capital

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MaC Venture Capital Closes $110M Fund Aimed at Diverse Founders

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MaC Venture Capital Raises Inaugural $110 Million Seed Fund

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MaC Venture Capital Raises Its First Fund Of $110M To Invest In Seed-Stage Companies

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MaC Venture Capital Raises a $110M Inaugural Fund to Invest in Visionary Tech Leaders Building the Future

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Majority Black venture capital firm announces $110 million fund to invest in entrepreneurs of color

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March Forth: Changing the Game in Venture Capital

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MaC Venture Capital Raises a $110M Inaugural Fund to Invest in Founders Building the Future We Want to See

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10 VCs say interactivity, regulation and independent creators will reshape digital media in 2021

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The State of Tech & Culture: The Gaming Takeover

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LA Venture Podcast features MaC VC General Partner, Mike Palank

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Contact Michael Palank