Marta Zava
Sept/Oct 2026: find me in New York • Boston • Rome • Milan

Curriculum Vitae

An overview of my academic and professional path. The full CV is available as a free PDF download.

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PDF, updated May 2026.

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Research Interests

Venture capital; entrepreneurial finance; complex systems; financial networks; network science; artificial intelligence applications to finance; tokenization and blockchain in finance; capital markets; banking.

Current Appointments

  • AcademicAssistant Professor of Practice, Finance Area, SDA Bocconi School of Management.Sept 2025 – present
  • ResearchFellow, Baffi Center, Bocconi University.Jan 2020 – present
  • ServiceBoard Member, Executive Council of the Complex Systems Society.Nov 2025 – present
  • ServiceBoard Member, Council of the Complex Systems Society (2nd mandate).Nov 2022 – present
  • ServiceBoard Member, Council of the Network Science Society.Mar 2026 – present
  • Public ServiceEconomic Expert, Capital Markets, Ministry of Economy and Finance (Italy).May 2026 – present
  • Public ServiceEconomic Consultant, European Central Bank.Jul 2025 – present

Education

  • PhDEconomics, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. Dissertation on venture capital and complex networks (with Prof. Uwe Walz). Magna cum laude.Nov 2019 – Jun 2025
  • MScEconomics & Management of Government and International Organizations, Bocconi University (with Prof. Stefano Caselli).Sept 2016 – Mar 2019
  • BScInternational Economics, Management and Finance, Bocconi University. Major in Finance (with Prof. Carmelo Cennamo).Sept 2013 – Oct 2016

Professional & Research Experience

  • ECBSupervision Analyst — methodology and standards development, risk modelling and supervision tools, member of the securitisation advisory group.Feb 2018 – Dec 2019
  • EU CommissionRepresentation of Milan — assistant to the digital & communication director.Jun–Oct 2017
  • ResearchResearcher, MUSA (Italian PNRR Grant), Department of Finance, Bocconi University.Jan 2022 – Dec 2025
  • ResearchResearcher, Bocconi–Equita Lab.Jun 2021 – Dec 2024

Awards, Grants & Honors

  • AwardPhD Award Nominee, European Financial Management Association.Jun 2025
  • HonorTop-3 PhD Dissertation in Complex Systems (French Complex Systems Society).May 2023
  • GrantMUSA grant (Italian PNRR), three years of funding.Jan 2022
  • ServiceChair, Venture Capital Networks, Financial Management Association, Vancouver.2025
  • ServiceChair, Fineconets Satellite, Conference in Complex Systems, Salvador Bahia.2023

Publications, Books & Reports

Working papers

  • Kingmaking: VC in the AI Era

    I define the kingmaking phenomenon: a company receiving a valuation exceeding one billion dollars prior to first product launch & revenue generation.

  • VC Ecosystems

    I study the micro-structures underlying the boom of entrepreneurial ecosystems across the US.

  • AI in VC decisions

    How is artificial intelligence transforming decision making in venture capital?

  • VCs as international M&A brokers

    Venture Capitalists investing abroad appear to help foreign companies accessing their domestic M&A market, only if the nature of the company is "unbounded" (i.e. not linked to where they are located at the time of the investment).

  • Funding Attraction (for startups)

    For your company, the best investor today might not be the best investor tomorrow. We developed a score to help you figure that out.

  • Strategic VC Networks

    We gathered all the published evidence on when networks intervene across the venture capital investment cycle.

  • How do VCs become influential?

    By having already established VCs invest in their portfolio companies, regardless of the company financial success.

  • Midas: are investors missing out?

    The chicken or the egg? Midas (best ranked VC investors) seem to invest only on founders who were previously backed by a Midas.

Books and chapters

Teaching

Professor

Teaching Assistant

Academic Supervisor of Business Activities

  • EssilorLuxottica M&A Challenge

    2021 – 2024 — International Finance, MSc in International Management, Bocconi University.

  • Citi Bank New York

    2021 – 2025 — Seminars in Pre-Liquidity Events (M&A and IPO), CEMS MSc, Bocconi University.

  • Zurich Insurance

    2021 – 2025 — Seminars in ESG Supply Chain, CEMS MSc, Bocconi University.

Skills & Languages

  • ProgrammingPython, STATA, VBA (advanced); R, SQL, SPSS, Tableau, EViews, SDK (good).
  • LanguagesItalian (native); English (TOEFL 113/120, IELTS 8); Spanish (DELE C1); French and Portuguese (B1).
  • CertificationsMaster in Artificial Intelligence (UNAM); Master in Blockchain (MasterZ); Data Engineering, Machine Learning and Data Science (DataCamp); HarvardX Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies; Certified Sommelier (AIS III level).

Contact

For anything not covered here, please get in touch.