Welcoming Isha Mehrotra and Belle Tangkuptanon to the Uncork Investment Team

As Uncork and our portfolio have continued to grow, we're excited to expand our investment team with two new Associates: Isha Mehrotra and Nichatorn Belle Tangkuptanon. 

Associates play a critical role at Uncork. They're often the first people founders meet at the firm, and they bring new perspectives and unique relationships that make our entire team sharper. In Isha and Belle, we found two people who know the startup world firsthand. Both have operated and invested in the kinds of companies we back, and they'll work across our key areas of focus, including AI infrastructure, AI applications, frontier tech, and consumer.

We’re thrilled to have them on board! Here’s a little more on each of them.

Isha Mehrotra

Isha came into our orbit from Obvious Ventures, where she was conducting diligence on AI and developer tools for the firm. During our conversations with her, what immediately stood out to us was how well-formed her perspectives on markets and technology were. 

We specifically wanted someone with a strong technical background who could help us navigate the fast-changing world of AI, someone who’d stay on top of trends and test out products firsthand. Isha checked that box and then some. As a former founder and investor herself, she understands the founder's journey intuitively, which I think our portfolio companies will greatly appreciate. She started her career as a software engineer at Google, spending four years working on Docs and Ad Manager. She then co-founded a quantitative hedge fund startup, so she knows what it’s like to build a team from nothing and make high-stakes decisions with no playbook.

While at Obvious Ventures, she worked on the firm’s investment into OpenHands, an open- source AI coding agent, and supported portfolio company Eka Robotics, a robotics foundation model company. She also served as Managing Partner for Chicago Booth’s Tarrson Impact Investment Fund, where she led their investment into Kwema, a smart badge reel for worker safety. 

Isha holds a BS in Computer Science and an MBA, both from UChicago, where she was a Siebel Scholar. Outside of work, she's a lifelong Indian Classical and Bollywood dancer, an avid board game player, and shares her birthday with both her twin sister and her dad.

Nichatorn Belle Tangkuptanon

Belle came to us in the most direct, admirable way possible: a cold email making a strong case. We were all immediately impressed by both her background and hustle. She’s an incredible operator and a community builder in the truest sense, with both startup and venture experience. 

Before Uncork, she was the Growth Lead at Hyperbolic Labs, an AI compute company, where she worked alongside AI research teams and early-stage founders and built community events that drove both revenue and partnerships. She saw firsthand how early-stage AI companies go from idea to traction, and she brings that operational intuition to her work here. At UC Berkeley, she was a Venture Fellow and Head of Community at General Catalyst, supporting 150+ student-founded companies and awarding grants to several of them. She also ran the Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator as Managing Director and was already investing in early-stage startups.

Belle has been embedded in the startup ecosystem for years, and has built deep relationships with founders along the way. She’s a connector and the kind of person who naturally brings people together and creates conditions for partnerships and deals to happen. 

Outside of venture, Belle was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and graduated from Berkeley's M.E.T. program with dual degrees in Industrial Engineering and Business. She's a competitive solo harpist who has performed at Carnegie Hall and hosted harp therapy sessions at local hospitals. You can also find her practicing taekwondo, skiing on the slopes, or playing soccer. 

Please join us in welcoming Isha and Belle to the Uncork team!