At Roble Ventures, we don’t just invest in the future of work — we live it. That means thinking critically about how the next generation of professionals enters venture capital, and making sure we’re opening doors for more women and underrepresented students to be part of this industry from day one.
This summer, we’re proud to welcome two exceptional interns from Wellesley College to the Roble team as part of our Roble Rise program: a holistic professional development experience designed to expose undergraduate women to the world of VC.
From helping us refine internal systems to supporting portfolio and fundraising initiatives, these two have already hit the ground running. Venture capital is a fast-paced, opaque, and sometimes intimidating space to enter, and both have impressed us with their ability to quickly grasp its nuances and complexity with curiosity, confidence, and care.
One of our interns has requested to stay behind the scenes for this post, but has nevertheless contributed greatly to multiple firm-wide priorities.
Noely Irineu Silva
Noely Irineu Silva is an undergraduate student at Wellesley College majoring in Economics and Education Studies. She has contributed to interdisciplinary projects exploring labor markets and artificial intelligence, education and immigration, and social policy. Her academic and professional interests lie at the intersection of social justice, economic opportunity, and equitable access to education.
Why were you interested in this opportunity?
"It shows how innovation and entrepreneurship can come together to drive economic and social change, impacting education and labor markets. As someone who has been engaged in research in both areas, especially in understanding AI's effect on the global labor market, I felt it was an amazing opportunity to gain exposure to real-world challenges and decision-making beyond just theories."
What's something interesting you've learned so far?
"This is my first time in the VC world and it feels like I’ve been dropped into a new country that speaks "venture capital." What’s been most interesting is seeing how understanding certain concepts and terms shapes the way decisions are made and how businesses are approached. From working on a founders’ guide to sitting in on meetings, I’ve learned at Roble Ventures the importance of understanding these terms but also to challenge and question them."
What's a misconception that your peers may have about VC and the startup world?
"I've heard a lot that venture capital is mostly about money, just investing capital to make a profit. But in reality, VC involves much more than that: it’s about building relationships with founders, understanding markets, providing strategic support, and much more. It’s not that the financial side isn’t important, but I believe these other aspects aren’t always discussed among my peers."
How do you think you'll use this experience in your own entrepreneurial/professional journey?
"I’m discovering that a career in VC offers a unique way to combine my interests in ways I hadn’t considered before. This experience has given me a framework and mindset that I’ll carry in my professional journey: staying curious, staying up-to-date with emerging technologies, building strong relationships, thinking critically, and approaching problems with creativity, openness, and resourcefulness."
The Roble Rise program was born out of a simple but urgent belief: if we want to build a more inclusive innovation economy, we have to start upstream. That means investing not just in uncommon founders but in the future funders, platform leaders, and ecosystem builders who will shape what this industry becomes.
We’re so excited to continue learning with and from our interns this summer — and we can’t wait to see where they go next.
About the author
Roble Ventures is a future-of-work focused fund investing in technologies that enable people, teams, and organizations to achieve their most ambitious work.
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