Jay W. Schmelter
Jay W. Schmelter co-founded RiverVest in 2000 and serves as managing director. He previously worked at Crescendo Ventures, Piper Jaffray & Co., and Medtronic, Inc. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
What Jay can write
RiverVest writes $3M to $30M checks, larger than 93% of firms in the atlas.
Bars: how many firms report each check band. Highlighted: RiverVest.Career
- Medtronic, Inc. · marketing executive
- Piper Jaffray & Co. · medical device research analyst
- Crescendo Ventures
- RiverVest Venture Partners · co-founder & managing directorNow
- Crescendo Ventures
- RiverVest · Co-founder and Managing DirectorNow
Companies founded
Investments named in public bios
Focus
Education
Also at RiverVest
Partners like Jay
At firms with a similar stage, sector and check size.
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One email when Jay's firm raises a fund, adds a partner or shows new activity.
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Raising a pre-seed or seed round? We write $1M to $5M first checks and help founders with distribution. A partner reads every deck.
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Who is Jay W. Schmelter?
Jay W. Schmelter co-founded RiverVest in 2000 and serves as managing director. He previously worked at Crescendo Ventures, Piper Jaffray & Co., and Medtronic, Inc. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
How much does Jay W. Schmelter invest?
Jay W. Schmelter invests through RiverVest, which writes checks of $3M to $30M at pre-seed, seed, series a, series b.
How do I pitch Jay W. Schmelter?
Email [email protected], the firm's inbox for founders, and name Jay in the subject. A warm intro from a founder RiverVest backed works better.
What did Jay W. Schmelter do before RiverVest?
marketing executive at Medtronic, Inc.; medical device research analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co.; Crescendo Ventures; Crescendo Ventures.
Last updated 2026-10-15. Is this you? Ask for a correction.