Panel: Retail xx Investing

Andrew Maxman is a Partner at Imaginary, a $2B AUM venture capital firm dedicated to building and partnering with iconic, generationally defining consumer businesses. 

Imaginary invests at the pulse of consumer culture, brand, and desire. The firm is known for its investments in companies such as SKIMS, Westman Atelier, Glossier, Mejuri, GlossGenius, BERO, and Danielle Frankel, among others. 

At Imaginary, Andrew works with brands across categories and stages, from pre-seed to growth. He received his MBA from Columbia Business School and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Roberto Avila is a Partner at Sageview Capital, a growth equity firm with ~$1.5bn AUM that backs high-growth, industry-leading innovators to build enduring software and tech-enabled businesses. He leads one of Sageview’s four pods and is responsible for helping lead the firm’s investment ideation, sourcing efforts, transaction execution, and post-investment value creation efforts.

Roberto joined Sageview in 2015 as an Associate and was promoted to Partner in 2025. Throughout his time at Sageview, Roberto has been actively involved in 10 investments,

representing over $2 billion in total enterprise value and over $400 million deployed. Roberto currently serves as a director or observer at AtmosphereTV, CallRail, Closinglock, GroceryTV, and Impact Analytics. He was previously a board observer at Theatro and Elastic Path.

Before joining Sageview, Roberto was an Analyst in the TMT M&A group at Lazard Frères. He received a BS in economics, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rachel Citera is a Principal at Verlinvest, a global, family-backed investment firm focused on scaling high-growth, mission-driven consumer brands and digital platforms. At Verlinvest, she leads investments across Food & Beverage and 4-Wall Retail sectors, partnering closely with founders and management teams to drive strategic growth and long-term value creation. Rachel sits on the Board of Hint, Inc. and supports additional portfolio companies, Insomnia Cookies and K1 Speed. 

Rachel began her career in Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley before joining New Mountain Capital as a Private Equity Associate. She joined Verlinvest in 2022 to focus on backing category-defining consumer brands and purpose-driven entrepreneurs reshaping their industries. Rachel graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College with honors in Economics.

Maia Mirkin is an Investment Banking Vice President at Dyens & Co., a leading M&A advisory firm specializing in luxury, beauty, and premium consumer brands. She focuses on luxury goods, arts and cultural assets, and other premium branded consumer businesses, advising privately held companies and their owners on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and long-term value creation.

Prior to joining Dyens & Co., Maia was an Investment Banking Associate at Lazard in New York, where she was a member of the Consumer & Retail group. Earlier in her career, she advised senior executives at Richemont and worked with retail companies across Latin America. Maia began her professional career as a corporate lawyer at Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal in Buenos Aires.

Maia earned her MBA from Columbia Business School and holds a law degree with honors from Universidad de San Andrés.