He Spent 20 Years Catching Fraud. Now He Vets AI Startups. | Nikhil Mittal, Blue Ridge Ventures

<p>Nikhil Mittal spent nearly two decades investigating fraud, money laundering, and sanctions for major banks and fintechs, a career his own father also built. He evaluated roughly 250 startups before writing his first check, and now runs Blue Ridge Ventures, a pre-seed and seed fund backing AI native founders across every sector, part of Decile Access's inaugural cohort of 23 funds.<br /></p><p>We get into what he calls "smart capital," why his entire LP base is drawn from his own VC Lab cohort instead of outside investors, and the medtech and edtech opportunities he's most bullish on right now. Nikhil also breaks down what actually separates an AI native founder from a traditional one.</p>