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Jonas Kavaliauskas
Climate tech VC investing across Europe and Israel
Jonas Kavaliauskas, Investment Associate at Contrarian Ventures
Jonas Kavaliauskas is an Investment Associate at Contrarian Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Lithuania. He is also the founder of Atlas Academy, an educational organization.
Some key facts about Jonas Kavaliauskas:
- He is currently completing his master's studies in Global Affairs at Tsinghua University as a Schwarzman Scholar.1
- His LinkedIn profile URL is https://lt.linkedin.com/in/jonas-kavaliauskas-92817b127.1
- He has over 500 connections on LinkedIn.2
- He previously interned at Contrarian Ventures, and his journey with the firm began 5 years ago.3
Jonas Kavaliauskas is an accomplished professional with experience in venture capital, education, and global affairs. His diverse background and educational pursuits at a prestigious university like Tsinghua suggest that he is a rising talent in the investment and entrepreneurship space.
Highlights
Excited to share that earlier this summer I graduated from Tsinghua University as part of the Schwarzman Scholars program, receiving my Master’s in Global Affairs with a 4.0/4.0 GPA.
Over the past 10 months, I got to know China, traversing its many diverse provinces, and wider Asia, visiting 8 other countries.
Some of the highlights of my experience:
- meeting local business owners and touring various Chinese factories thanks to the initiative and networking of my classmate Shivam Desai 邓世融
- camping inside a watch tower of the Great Wall of China
- celebrating New Year on a yacht on Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, put together by the wonderful Nik Cerutti 苏睿迪
- going on industry and cultural deep dives in and around Shenzhen, visiting the HQ of BYD, BGI, Orbbec, and other fascinating Chinese business pioneers
- writing my thesis on Emerging Market Venture Capital under the supervision of Jay Huh and Jingyi Zhang from the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank
- touring the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, meeting with some of the top sovereign wealth funds, venture capital funds, government officials, and leaders in other areas, thanks to the hard work and resourcefulness of Wendi Li
- getting to learn from my Mentor, Legend Capital’s co-CIO, Joon Sung Park, who’s been incredibly supportive and generous with his time, welcomed me to Seoul and always had excellent advice to share!
Tremendously grateful to Stephen A. Schwarzman and other benefactors who made it all possible, Amy Stursberg, W. Chad Futrell 傅强, Raphael X. Moffett who guided us throughout, Julia Zupko, Willard Korson, who always looked out for our well-being and success, and Professors Vasilis Trigkas, PhD, Gen. Karl Eikenberry, Ben Meng, Jake Cohen, Xiaoyang Tang and many others, who taught me so much!
I’d encourage everyone considering this program to go ahead and apply - applications close in a month! If you need any help, I’m happy to answer any questions!
As for my next steps, stay tuned - I'll have an exciting announcement soon!
I am beyond excited to announce that I was selected to become part of Schwarzman Scholars Class of 2024!
Schwarzman Scholars is one of the world’s most selective graduate fellowships, founded by Stephen A. Schwarzman, with a mission to build a deeper understanding between China and the rest of the world. Starting August 2023, I’ll be in Beijing, at Tsinghua University, studying Chinese history, culture, politics, foreign policy, as well as business and leadership, all while expanding my network throughout the country and East Asia during a one-year, fully-funded master's program.
I want to say a big thank you to Kornelijus Celutka for first planting the idea in my head back in 2019. To Michael Schmertzler, Tomas Krakauskas and Tomas Kemtys, who have taught me so much about finance and business, have become true friends and mentors in my professional journey, and have supported my application with their recommendations. To Vaidotas Bačianskas and the Center for Chinese Language and Culture here in Lithuania for teaching me Chinese this past year. To my dear friend Mikhail Zamskoy 周明山, already a Schwarzman Scholar, who took the time to share his experience of the program and help me prepare for the grueling admissions process. And, most of all, to my mom and my entire family, who've always been nothing but supportive of me pursuing my dreams. Couldn't have done it without you!
I'm attaching the link to the program - if you meet the criteria, definitely give it a chance next year!
