Entrepreneur Spotlights

Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Tribogenics

Dr. Carlos Camara is Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Tribogenics, a leading innovator of portable x-ray technology for industrial and consumer applications. After receiving his Ph.D. in physics from UCLA in 2006, Camara continued conducting research as a postdoctoral scholar, which led to a breakthrough study in x-ray production through triboluminescence, the phenomenon on which this new technology is based.

According to Camara, the academic and technical training he received on campus was key to generating technology innovation and advancing entrepreneurship in the private sector. He first joined the UCLA community in 1998 while participating in an undergraduate exchange program from Mexico. Forming early bonds with the scientific community on campus helped him to grow both personally and professionally.

Chief Financial Officer of Kabbage Inc

Oneal is concurrently CFO of Flywheel, a venture backed transportation technology company, and a partner at TCW/Craton, a technology-focused private equity arm of TCW, an investment firm majority owned by The Carlyle Group with $180 billion of assets under management.

Growing up in San Jose, California, then the heart of Silicon Valley, Bhambani found himself drawn to the tech industry at an early age. As an undergraduate, he wrote Charles Schwab & Co.'s very first cloud-based web application, which used Java server-side solutions for a consumer-facing product, and, after graduation, pitched merger and acquisitions strategies to tech companies as an analyst for UBS Investment Bank in San Francisco.

Founder of Solar Universe

For Joe Bono, founder of Solar Universe, UCLA has been essential to opening doors and paving the way to a successful and socially-conscious business culture. Bono credits his forward-thinking leadership and strategic style to the strong knowledge foundation and opportunities provided by his alma mater.

“UCLA breeds ideas, it teaches you how to learn,” said Bono, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics. “I became an eternal student while attending college, which has allowed me to work for different companies in various industries as well as the privilege of starting many of my own businesses.”

President of Pasadena.IO

Before founding Pasadena.IO, Will helped Fortune 100 and biotech startups develop and improve products and processes in semiconductor, healthcare, securities trade desk, and biotech industries. Additionally, Will has launched – or been an early investor for – a number of startups of life science and related fields.

Most recently he has been working on PneuBreath, which reduces lung patient admissions, and Measured Medical, which enables informed health care related purchases. Will sees the VC Fund as "a natural fit for a UCLA Anderson engineer/entrepreneur devoted to tech and healthcare startups."

Co-founder and CEO of Nvestly

Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Otávio completed both a Master of Science in Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineering and a bachelor's degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA.

Prior to Nvestly, Otávio led the Latin American efforts and due diligence investments at Wilshire Private Markets, the latter of which resulted in over $11M of aggregate commitments to private equity funds. He has also held roles as a fixed income analyst at Capital Group and investment advisory at First Investors Corp.