Aaref Hilaly
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
I love working with talented, hungry people who have big ideas. It’s why I moved halfway across the world to Silicon Valley, and then started a company (CenterRun). When that was acquired, I tried again (Clearwell) – except better, because this time I had some relevant experience and was more able to cope with the terror and euphoria involved in leading a start-up.  

Looking back, at both companies I was lucky to have venture investors who helped me recover from my rookie mistakes, and who enabled me to grow from an inexperienced founder into a confident CEO. I became an investor with the goal of now helping other founders do the same.
Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/company/bain-capital-ventures
BCV helps technical founders build businesses around their ideas. We invest early (seed / Series A), and commit -- working closely with founders on recruiting, early customers, messaging, launch and scale. Our team brings deep domain expertise in AI-powered apps, machine learning, cloud infrastructure, fin-tech, commerce-tech and more, and taps the unique network and portfolio of Bain Capital.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQEq4VDJhm5M-g/company-logo_100_100/0/1625146609708?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=z5HoDWwa9KRI4Zgp0cio7QxrQ_6COJAwYwGHo2L9jLA
Partner
Felt
https://www.linkedin.com/company/feltmaps
Felt is a simple, delightful, browser-first mapping app that lets its users think in maps. With Felt, anyone can create a beautiful map within five minutes through pre-built templates and easy-to-access data sets, and then share them publicly or privately. Sign up for the private beta at www.felt.com.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQGgXchi4sPmxA/company-logo_100_100/0/1628477368668?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=EOH-oUvl0oclzBtFtoQHHGckSPZJF2M5mTWColeS9pM
Seed Investor + Board Member
Recharge Payments
https://www.linkedin.com/company/recharge-payments
ReCharge is the leading provider of subscription management software for e-commerce. It enables online sellers to turn transactions into relationships with their most valuable customers. As of May 2021, the company had 15,000 customers and 20 million subscribers across 180 countries on its platform.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQFRi8TMR6QAOQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1625055692865?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=cMAFL5H4hZLmrcTDYrSZhuZYivQl8wmkNWqWYTlPnxE
Series B Investor + Board Observer
Truera
https://www.linkedin.com/company/truera
Truera helps data science teams improve model quality and build trust in AI. Based on six years of research at Carnegie Mellon University, it provides visibility into how neural networks and other AI models work, improving performance and fighting unfair bias.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQEYGrK8afhOtA/company-logo_100_100/0/1595868603657?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=7pFzGq193Sb3k44pXaRZ58KiK7-esLvNMMOk0_uPZJk
Seed Investor + Board Member
Clari
https://www.linkedin.com/company/clari
Clari's revenue operations platform has become the way many sales leaders run their business. It complements Salesforce to provide actionable forecasts, pipeline management and activity intelligence.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQHcrKDXe_-Npw/company-logo_100_100/0/1625872833543?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=rD3s6yXdaUUDYLuythz1FzJHTMBUM9Ao9PFOMqbb7jE
Seed & Series A Investor + Board Member
LightStep
https://www.linkedin.com/company/lightstep
LightStep provides observability into deep systems. It breaks down the false distinction between "metrics", "logging" and "tracing" to provide a single integrated view into what matters, so engineering and ops teams can manage distributed apps. In 2021, the company was acquired by ServiceNow.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQFSeY2Cgnr1qQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1585351668127?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=2AfyIHoQkfvd_kqrPVu1KsG-SMSdftgBhdPolPDn5OM
Series B Investor + Board Member
Guardant Health
https://www.linkedin.com/company/guardanthealth
Guardant Health is a precision oncology company that's conquering cancer with data. The company went public in October 2018 (NASDAQ: GH) and is presently valued at over $10 billion.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQE7AQTx0c74cA/company-logo_100_100/0/1643673100295?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=iFWXdrT-pIWvUiCZcTDSQ0KorZtFi0yQd6yZ1lRnMtM
Series A Investor + Board Member
ThousandEyes
https://www.linkedin.com/company/thousandeyes
ThousandEyes provides a "Google Maps for network traffic", enabling ops teams to deliver better digital experiences. The company was acquired by Cisco for ~$1 billion in 2020.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQEdBcLW3-T1UQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1634303487613?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=vUir5cudELJ7copqkvJKgCCAAgtVVeRzaIc9EUWAMLQ
Series A Investor + Board Member
Sequoia Capital
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sequoia
Sequoia is dedicated to giving mission-driven founders the edge they need to build transformative companies. Our goal is to help entrepreneurs push the boundaries of what is possible. In partnering with Sequoia, companies benefit from the skills and lessons we’ve learned working with the founders of Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Yahoo, Google, PayPal, LinkedIn, Palo Alto Networks, Dropbox, AirBnB, ServiceNow, WhatsApp, Square, and many others. Some examples of the companies I work with are below.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQEpt9WnLvadYQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1638904114684?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=Seb1CI2m-LLTrctipgS56PXZBylmYqrx1vPOFuSx6C4
Partner
Symantec
https://www.linkedin.com/company/symantec
Symantec helps consumers and organizations secure and manage their information.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQF5BoUTkHLKmQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1572893180175?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=6w_ASxLVkEWM0j3xBAhaMTvCHUCAbLPAAC-XiTVUM5g
Vice President, Engineering
Clearwell Systems
https://www.linkedin.com/company/clearwell-systems
Led company from the early stages of product development to its acquisition by Symantec for $410 million in 2011. Clearwell's SaaS analytics application transformed the way corporations and government agencies perform electronic discovery of email and documents. At the time of its acquisition, Clearwell's revenue run-rate was over $100 million, and the company had been profitable for the prior 10 consecutive quarters.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E0BAQHZGf6ito1ToQ/company-logo_100_100/0/1519892559914?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=mQgFN4TxU0gKepiGfh9ILGN5ZeyPd2eow2sHbtlVe7k
President & CEO
CenterRun
Led company from inception to its acquisition by Sun Microsystems in 2003 for $66M. CenterRun pioneered data center automation, and later formed the basis of Sun's N1 product suite.
Founder & CEO
MBA
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D0BAQF_DkXTlZVo1w/company-logo_100_100/0/1639781479002?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=l319Pf-89pA2rD3_fLwV8K8jjBQf03vqKZMtCyej7NE
Harvard Business School
https://www.linkedin.com/school/harvard-business-school/
MA
Economics
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C510BAQFvv1npMZWzKA/company-logo_100_100/0/1519855882412?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=vkHO0MiTDLihGNnAYD_ygUmSwQeMyIg9tKZZO200w7U
McGill University
https://www.linkedin.com/school/mcgill-university/
BA
Philosophy, Politics & Economics
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C560BAQGwPZs3spXFqw/company-logo_100_100/0/1539693367639?e=1655942400&v=beta&t=xgQPJ9V8ZdumzWGCFENaRJ7xuj7nduxl5HvhKebaOnU
University of Oxford
https://www.linkedin.com/school/oxforduni/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinanphillips
San Francisco, CA
Christina Melas-Kyriazi
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajay1agarwal
Palo Alto, CA
Ajay Agarwal
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/samcrowder
San Francisco, CA
Sam Crowder
VC at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-williams-895296b0
San Francisco Bay Area
Jeff Williams
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinzhang711
San Francisco, CA
Kevin Zhang
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures & Crypto
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawit-heck-b49a9212b
New York, NY
Dawit Heck
Investor at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascal-croak-86a883aa
New York, NY
Pascal Croak
Investor at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushisinhahaha
New York, NY
Ayushi Sinha
Investor @ Bain Capital Ventures
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/hkanji
London
Hussein Kanji
Early stage venture capitalist
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rakgarg
San Francisco Bay Area
Rak Garg
VC at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandazajac
Boston, MA
Amanda Zajac
Investor at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahbreslow
New York, NY
Noah Breslow
Operating Partner at Bain Capital Ventures / 
Former Chairman & CEO at OnDeck (NYSE: ONDK)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimleang-svay-33a60316
Boston, MA
Kimleang Svay
Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeeza-cole-014007134
San Francisco, CA
Zeeza Cole
Principal at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/aatifawan
San Francisco Bay Area
Aatif Awan
Founder & Managing Partner at Indus Valley Capital
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcharris
New York, NY
Matt Harris
Partner at Bain Capital Ventures
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danscheinman
San Mateo, CA
Dan Scheinman
Angel Investor in Enterprise Tech
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravimhatre
San Francisco Bay Area
Ravi Mhatre
Founder, Managing Director, Lightspeed Venture Partners
https://www.linkedin.com/in/pemckay
Greater Boston
Peter McKay
CEO Snyk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikespeiser
United States
Mike Speiser
Sutter Hill Ventures
Ming Chen
      
          



            
              
        
              
  

    
        Aaref and I (together with Martin Escobar) were a crack-pot team (they were crack, I was pot) for our real estate project at HBS.  I totally forgot the topic we presented but I totally remember Aaref's smarts, good humor, and all round team player-ness. Durga P Pandey
      
          



            
              
        
              
  

    
        Aaref is easily the most inspiring CEO I have worked for. I learnt immensely just by watching him in action taking the company to profitability and beyond while creating a really fun, kickass workplace. A really nice, sharp as a knife, down-to-earth, awesome guy who knew and connected with every single employee in the company and inspired us to excel. Much loved and respected by all.
Liked by Aaref Hilaly
https://www.linkedin.com/signup/cold-join
Pumped to share the news of TruEra's Series B and welcome Tim Tully of Menlo Ventures to our board along with new investors Forgepoint Capital and B…
Liked by Aaref Hilaly
https://www.linkedin.com/signup/cold-join
The main reason why I’ve joined TruEra is to help companies deploy robust and trustworthy AI solutions at scale. In just two years, we have helped…
Shared by Aaref Hilaly
https://www.linkedin.com/signup/cold-join
Big milestone for TruEra. Aside from funding, we add a board member in Tim Tully who deeply understands this domain. Congrats to William Uppington…
Sequoia Capital
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C5607AQH2ckCFzxRCQQ/group-logo_image-shrink_92x92/0/1631005648928?e=1647694800&v=beta&t=NNFpKxXyj2VGGqeKJf8I31ogsFXKtuSu9gMdx2a61NE
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1776994
Cloud Computing
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C5607AQEmFrxjTCD4rg/group-logo_image-shrink_200x200/0/1631004060435?e=1647694800&v=beta&t=ycJnERj5MaXbNJwodFz7sJRZ0Uwa_vrDvvzWRhkE52A
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/61513
Harvard Business School Alumni (Official)
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E07AQFTLWhcT7-9mw/group-logo_image-shrink_92x92/0/1630999113383?e=1647694800&v=beta&t=cj-aOupUD3oHURHrwdsuzPrGyW_nSHYhhZ-_4kArJQI
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/81402
CEOs Forum
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E07AQHpWMp1nAKQdw/group-logo_image-shrink_200x200/0/1631374642524?e=1647694800&v=beta&t=7h_wQb6s_YYHXfysVf_zSSg84_YUg4I37tpsqIM1RAw
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1786920
Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, SaaS, Data Centre & Virtualization
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4D07AQG37VB8M0OUdA/group-logo_image-shrink_200x200/0/1631366309621?e=1647694800&v=beta&t=X281CjQBX9NgDYZTfQmgJDYZst9PHx_756TmLvF-4eM
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/45151