Jerry Varnado

Jerry is a Venture Partner at South Loop Ventures (SLV) in Houston, TX, and an Angel Investor with a portfolio of early-stage companies ranging from EV infrastructure and marketplaces, to platforms and vertical SaaS. His superpower is not just writing a check - he also works hand-in-hand with founders to help define and achieve product-market fit, develop scalable and sustainable business models, refine their message/pitch, and gain access to subsequent funding (institutional or otherwise). Prior to SLV, Jerry was a member of the Cross-Company Strategic initiatives team (CSI) at Meta (fka Facebook). There he was a strategic thought partner to Small Group (executive leadership), drove high-priority confidential projects, developed and executed business strategies, coordinated large cross-functional teams and directly influenced decision-making. Before joining Meta, Jerry was Director and Chief of Staff at ChargePoint, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure company. There Jerry designed, structured, and implemented various business strategies, plans and procedures, as well as managed and coordinated the executive leadership team prior to the 2021 IPO. Prior to that, Jerry was Chief of Staff to the COO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, where he structured and executed a wide array of growth initiatives, and led various M&A integration activities. Prior to that, he was an investment banker at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in their technology coverage group. Jerry began his career as an Air Defense Artillery officer in the US Army. Jerry received his MBA from Columbia Business School and B.S. in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He enjoys coaching and mentoring, spending time with his son.