Our Team

Dr. Brailean co-founded Karmel Capital in 2013 and is a Managing Partner of the firm. Dr. Brailean also co-founded Pelagos Ventures LLC in 2016, which invests in early-stage companies with disruptive technologies or manufacturing processes. Prior to Pelagos, he founded PacketVideo Corporation in 1998 and became its CEO in 2000. PacketVideo launched the world’s first commercial end-to-end wireless mobile media delivery platform in 2000. PacketVideo helped create a new industry for wireless multimedia communications. PacketVideo was acquired by NTT DOCOMO, a large Japanese telecommunications company in October 2010. Dr. Brailean has served on several public and private company boards of directors including DivX (NASDAQ: DIVX), Sonic Solutions (SNIC), NextWave Corporation (NASDAQ: WAVE), and Nik Software, Inc. (acquired by Google). Dr. Brailean received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University in 1992 and his B.S.E.E. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1985. Dr. Brailean has over 20 patents in the area of video compression and transmission. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mobile Entertainment Forum for his contributions to the acceleration of the development and adoption of mobile multimedia services worldwide. He has also received Distinguished Alumni Awards from both the University of Michigan – Dearborn and Northwestern University for his business & social achievements.

Mr. Neuberger co-founded Karmel Capital in 2013 and is a Managing Partner of the firm. Previously, Mr. Neuberger was CFO of Whistle Labs, Inc. in 2015 and up to and after the 2016 acquisition of Whistle Labs by Mars Petcare. He joined Whistle Labs in its acquisition of Snaptracs, Inc. in 2015. Mr. Neuberger was CEO of Snaptracs from 2013 until 2015. In 2013, Karmel Capital acquired 85% of Snaptracs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM). Snaptracs developed, manufactured, and sold Tagg, a wearable device for dogs that tracked their GPS location and exercise. Prior to Snaptracs, Mr. Neuberger was President of Infocore Inc. a data-driven marketing firm dedicated to transforming one-to-one marketing. While at Infocore from 2009 – 2013, Mr. Neuberger grew the revenue of the firm 3x and increased its profits significantly. Mr. Neuberger started his business career as a co-founder of Collegeboxes Inc. while an undergraduate and was CEO of the company until it was acquired in 2008. Collegeboxes provides shipping and storage services to students at 50 colleges and universities in the U.S. Collegeboxes is now owned by AMERCO (NASDAQ: UHAL). Mr. Neuberger received his B.S.B.A in Finance from Washington University in St. Louis in 2003.

Mr. Buckley is the General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of Karmel Capital and participates actively in all aspects of the fund operations. Christian formerly practiced technology, corporate, and securities law at Gunderson Dettmer, LLP, and Cooley, LLP. He is also a founding partner in Pelagos Ventures, LLC, a seed stage technology investment and incubation fund. Over the past decade, he has advised and helped run numerous technology start-ups including Valona Labs, The Glue Network, Covered Images, and others. Christian received a Juris Doctor with a specialization in Business Law from UCLA.

Antolin Garza is a Partner at Karmel Capital. In this role, Antolin primarily focuses on sourcing private market investments, investment fund development and is a member of the Firm's Investment Committee. Prior to Karmel, Mr. Garza served as an Executive Director and Investment Specialist at JPMorgan Private Bank. While at JPMorgan, Mr. Garza managed investment portfolios on behalf of family offices and ultra-high net worth individuals. Mr. Garza's career spans nearly 20 years of alternative investment experience at Artivest (now iCapital), Altegris Investments, and NEPC, LLC. He has been responsible for portfolio management, macroeconomic analysis, manager sourcing, investment research, product structuring, and deal due diligence across a wide variety of alternative investments and strategies. Antolin received his B.B.A. in Finance from The University of Texas at San Antonio. He also serves as a board member of Natural High, an award winning nonprofit drug prevention program serving thousands of schools across all 50 states.

Mr. Dobies is a Principal at Karmel Capital, where he plays a key role in sourcing, evaluating, and executing investments, with a focus on late-stage software and AI businesses. Since joining the firm in 2018 as an early team member, he has been actively involved in originating and closing a number of investments. Prior to Karmel Capital, Kevin was a private equity analyst at Cliffwater LLC, where he performed due diligence on private equity, venture capital, and real estate investments for institutional clients. He began his career as a research analyst at Frontier Global Partners, where he analyzed public equities in pre emerging markets. Kevin is currently an MBA candidate at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and earned his B.S. in Finance from the University of Alabama.

Mr. Jamijian is primarily involved in sourcing, evaluating, and monitoring Karmel Capital investments. Prior to joining Karmel in 2021, Jay was the Director of Mergers & Acquisitions for Hamilton Thorne (NASDAQ: HTL) between 2019 and 2021. HTL is a leading provider of fertility products. While at HTL he completed three acquisitions which doubled the company’s size and profitability. Prior to HTL, Jay founded Pivot Stage Partners (PSP) to provide M&A advisory consulting services. During this time, Jay sourced and closed two sell-side M&A transactions for his clients totaling $35m in transaction value. Prior to PSP, Jay was an Associate investment banker at Progress Partners. A sell-side M&A advisory firm where he completed six acquisitions totaling $180m in transaction value. Mr. Jamijian received his MBA with honors distinction from Babson College in 2014.

Mr. Spivack leads Investor Relations and Capital Formation at Karmel Capital. Seth has over a decade of experience in business development, fundraising, and asset management across public and private capital markets. His competitive drive, shaped by his Division I and professional baseball background, drives him to successfully navigate complex objectives and engage effectively with investors and business leaders. Prior to joining Karmel Capital, Seth worked at a Silicon Valley-based MIT Media Labs startup within the Franklin Templeton Accelerator Program. He has also served in elected positions for the LA County Sheriff’s Department Youth Foundation through a partnership with Major League Baseball. Seth holds a BA in History from the University of California, Berkeley, an MS in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from the USC Marshall School of Business, and an MBA from the Quantic School of Business & Technology.

Mr. Hernandez is the Investment Operations Manager for Karmel Capital. Thomas is responsible for investment lifecycle and corporate governance. Prior to joining Karmel Capital, Thomas served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, achieving the rank of Major and holding command of over 600 Marines. His military career was focused extensively on operations, leadership, and training, with some experience in strategy, business development, communications, and compliance. Thomas received his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 2014 and holds Project Management Professional and Certified ScrumMaster certifications.

Mr. Banham is the Principal Data Scientist at Karmel Capital, where he builds and maintains the Firm's proprietary data platform supporting sourcing, diligence, and portfolio monitoring. He joined Karmel in January 2026. Prior to Karmel, Alex was a Software Engineer at WorqAgent, an AI-powered platform serving service businesses. He previously held software engineering internships at Onclave Networks and Flock Freight. Mr. Banham received his B.S. in Computer Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2025.