Rani Langer-Croager, Co-Founder & CEO, Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative

Rani Langer-Croager founded Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative to address the challenges of traditional entrepreneurship programs and business accelerators in providing accessible education and mentorship to a diverse group of entrepreneurs. Rani has drawn on more than 15 years of experience advising organizations on strategic and financial planning, capital raising and mergers and acquisitions to develop the model for Uptima. Prior to co-founding Uptima, Rani was a member of the founding team and vice president at Altius Education where she raised over $30 million of capital to fund development of the company’s educational ecosystem. Rani began her career as a successful investment banker and has led and participated in over 30 financing, merger, acquisition and joint venture transactions, representing over $15 billion in value, for leading technology companies. She has extensive experience supporting very early stage entrepreneurs as an organizer, coach and judge for numerous hackathons and startup challenges. Rani also supports the loan underwriting process for RUNWAY’s Friends & Family Loan Program in Oakland, a collaboration between RUNWAY, Self-Help Federal Credit Union, and Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative. Rani serves as a Board member of the California Association for Microenterprise Opportunity (CAMEO) and on the advisory boards of numerous nonprofits, small businesses, and startups. Rani received her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Mathematics and Economics from Duke University, was a recipient of the university’s prestigious William J. Griffith university service award and was selected as a semifinalist for Young Trustee on the university’s Board of Trustees.