Team

The Nine Four Team is committed to being active, long term investors and supported by in-market partners across the industries we invest in.
Investment Team
jeff

Jeffrey
Elowe

Founder
& General Partner
📍 Chicago

kurt

Kurt
Ramirez

General Partner
📍 Chicago

paul

Paul
La Londe

Partner
📍 San Francisco

sophia

SOPHIA GHADAMIAN KIER

Principal
📍 New York City

avi

Avi
Pradhan

Analyst
📍 Chicago

Intern Alumni

Rachel Aboodi

MBA Associate

Columbia Business School

David Ackerman

MBA Associate

Columbia business school

Lauren Celano

MBA Associate

Cornell university

Brit Elowe

Undergraduate Analyst

Indiana University

Sophia Gilani

Undergraduate Analyst

university of chicago

Caroline Giroux

MBA Associate

Columbia business school

Charlie hallene

undergraduate analyst

university of arizona

Nishita Lakhani

MBA Associate

chicago booth

Nicolle Lee

MBA Associate

the wharton school

Manuela Manrique

MBA Associate

columbia business school

Sam Mulholland

MBA Associate

the wharton school

David Russell

MBA Associate

The Wharton School

Andrew Schwalm

MBA Associate

cornell university

Valarie Sherr

Undergraduate Analyst

university of michigan

Megan Shkolyar

MBA Associate

CORNELL University

Chicago Booth

Jeffrey Elowe

Founder & General Partner

Laramar Group

Mr. Elowe founded The Laramar Group in 2001 after co-founding Elkor Realty Corp. and Elkor Properties in 1989. As President and CEO of The Laramar Group, Mr. Elowe oversees an institutional real estate portfolio valued in excess of $2 Billion; is a principal in the Laramar Multi-Family Value Fund (a discretionary commingled real estate investment vehicle specializing in multi-family investments throughout the U.S.); a principal in the L-A/Laramar Urban Neighborhood Fund (a specialty Fund which invests in urban neighborhood MF and mixed-use properties in 8 major U.S. markets);  a partner in the Lakeside Workforce Housing Fund (an affordable housing fund which invests in affordable MF housing throughout the U.S.); a partner in the Laramar/LMI joint venture (a JV with a major insurance company which invests in larger MF and mixed-use assets throughout the U.S.);a partner in Nine Four Ventures (a Real-Estate Technology Fund); and is a partner in Covington Realty Partners (a developer of MF and mixed-use properties in the Midwest and East Coast of the U.S.)

Laramar is a nationally recognized investment and property manager that has been ranked in the top 50 largest firms in the U.S. by the National Multi-Housing Council. Mr. Elowe is chairman of the investment committee and is responsible for the company’s overall strategic planning, investments, asset management and investor relations. Mr. Elowe has built a successful 30-year real estate investment track record having sponsored and participated in transactions totaling in excess of $5 Billion.

Mr. Elowe is the recipient of the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Mountain Desert region).  In addition, Mr. Elowe is on the board of directors of the National Multi-Housing Council (NMHC), is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is the former chairman of the board for the North Lawndale College Prep Charter Schools and a former board member of Chicago Jewish High School. Mr. Elowe has a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois and an M.D. degree from Northwestern University.

Kurt Ramirez

General Partner

Chicago

Kurt Ramirez is a Founding Partner at Nine Four Ventures. Based in Chicago, his responsibilities include leading originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities and supporting existing portfolio companies.
 
Kurt has been active in the PropTech space since 2015, and previously worked with a Chicago-based real estate tech accelerator and fund, where he was a member of the investment team and ran firm diligence and operations. He’s worked with countless PropTech companies and has experience investing across startups targeting all facets of residential and commercial asset classes.
 
Prior to founding Nine Four, Kurt was a consultant at Bain & Company, an investor at Cue Ball Capital, a venture capital firm focused on consumer and information media investments, and Greenfield Partners, a real estate private equity firm.
 
He received an MBA from Harvard Business School and BS/BA degrees from Vanderbilt University.

Paul La Londe

Partner

San Francisco

Paul is a Partner at Nine Four Ventures. Based in San Francisco, his responsibilities include originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities and supporting existing portfolio companies, particularly AgentSync, Built Technologies, Bungalow, Finley, Inspectify, Kojo, OpenSpace, Steadily, and Vontive. Paul joined Nine Four Ventures out of business school and during that time he worked at Transmedia Capital, an SF-based seed fund, where he worked closely with RangeMe (acquired by ECRM), Spacious (acquired by WeWork) and TalkIQ (acquired by DialPad) among others. Prior to business school, he worked for Goldman Sachs and SV Angel, where he worked closely with Carta, Fictiv, Instawork and Theorem.

Paul received an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Finance from Santa Clara University. He comes from a family of real estate entrepreneurs and is excited to combine his passion for real estate with his enthusiasm for tech and venture.

Sophia Ghadamian

Principal

New York

Sophia is a Principal at Nine Four Ventures. Based in New York, her responsibilities include originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities, as well as supporting existing portfolio companies, particularly Assured, Bowery Valuation, Branch Furniture, Handdii, Inspectify, Latii, OpenSpace, Pronto Housing, and Steadily. In addition, Sophia’s responsibilities include partner management, marketing, and helping manage Nine Four’s pilot program.

Prior to Nine Four, Sophia worked as an MBA Associate at Metaprop, an early stage PropTech fund, advisory, and startup acceleration firm. Sophia also worked as a Project Manager at The Marketing Directors Inc. (TMD), a real estate development consulting firm. At TMD, Sophia developed and implemented the strategy for more than 30 properties in the NY/NJ area. Her clients included developers such as Midwood Investment and Development, Ceruzzi Properties, Trinity Place Holdings, The Fisher Organization, and KRE Group, among others.

Sophia received an MBA from Columbia University’s Business School and a BBA from The Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan. She comes from a family of real estate professionals and is excited to bridge the gap between her passions for real estate and entrepreneurship through venture.

Avi Pradhan

Analyst

Chicago

Avi Pradhan is an Analyst at Nine Four Ventures. Based in Chicago, his responsibilities include originating, evaluating, and executing investment opportunities, as well as supporting Nine Four’s portfolio companies, partners, and marketing.

Prior to joining Nine Four, Avi worked as an Analyst at early stage funds Supernode Ventures and Muse Capital, as well as in Product Management at Odynn, a hospitality consumer FinTech startup. He also founded the EdTech company eBlackboard, a nonprofit focused on technologically enhancing disadvantaged schools in Nepal.

Avi received his BS from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.