Backstage Accelerator / Locations
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, but it's also a flourishing tech ecosystem. With more engineers graduating in Southern California than any other metro area nationwide, Los Angeles has skilled talent ready to build. A minority-majority city, LA has long been recognized as one of the most diverse areas in the country. With multiple thriving economies and nearly 5 million residents, Los Angeles also holds the number one spot in the U.S. when it comes to the five-year survival rate of new businesses. On a different note, LA is personally meaningful for Backstage, as it's where we've been headquartered since we began in 2015. We're #LongLA.
City Team
Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis
Anastasia is passionate about empowering others, creating genuine connections, and striving towards financial independence through entrepreneurship. She co-founded bosa, a wellness and productivity app that enables consultants to provide the highest level of service to their clients. She's also an emerging real estate and angel investor. Anastasia was the first Internal Program and Culture Fellow for GRID110, an LA-based organization focused on supporting early-stage entrepreneurs. Prior to entering tech and venture capital full-time, she served as an Administrative Analyst for the City of Los Angeles and a Management Analyst for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. Anastasia has experience creating and leading programs in the non-profit, corporate, and public sectors. She's a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Amiah Sheppard
As a Director of Backstage Los Angeles, Amiah is an innovation curator. She spent years examining the myriad ways founders harness, strategize, and utilize their unique socio-cultural location to get to their desired successful outcome. A graduate of Columbia University in the City of New York, Amiah cultivated an academic and practical education leveraging sociology to explore gender and organizational leadership – specifically the experiences of Women and Women of Color – human resources, non-profit and social impact consulting, entrepreneurship, and business development. As a perpetual learner, she's prioritized creating and implementing intersectional solutions, previously at BRAVA Investments and Propper Daley. Amiah is particularly bullish on investment opportunities in beauty and wellness sector, and about the LA tech ecosystem.
Greer Engonga
Prior to joining the Backstage Los Angeles team as a Director, Greer joined the Backstage Crew as an Analyst on our Deal Flow Team, which played a key part in closing out our 100 investment milestone in 2018. Both for previous investments and the first cohort of Backstage Accelerator, she reviewed hundreds of founder applications, participated in due diligence, applicant interviews, and the company selection process. Before Backstage, Greer worked in the legal industry for 8 years primarily focused on emerging growth companies and venture capital. She holds a BA in Journalism from California State University Northridge. Greer is a mom with a young family, an avid sports fan, and a sneakerhead. 👟