Rani Langer-Croager

About Rani Langer-Croager

I am passionate about entrepreneurship as a means for creating intergenerational wealth and resilient communities. As an entrepreneur, I know it takes a strong support system of education, advising, and community to launch and grow a business. I started Uptima to make education and mentorship more accessible to a diverse group of entrepreneurs. I have drawn on 20+ years of advising organizations, from startups to Fortune 100 companies, on strategic and financial planning, capital raising, and mergers and acquisitions, to develop the model for Uptima. Prior to co-founding Uptima, I was a founding executive team member of Altius Education, where I raised over $30 million of capital to fund development of the company’s educational ecosystem. I spent the first part of my career as an investment banker and have led and participated in over 30 financing and M&A transactions, representing over $15 billion in value.

Experience

1. Founder & Co-CEO

   Uptima Entrepreneur Cooperative

   Feb 2014 — Present · Oakland, CA, US

   Founded the first cooperatively owned business education and consulting organization- Built Uptima\'s Business Academy, which is now a licensed school for entrepreneurship offering certificate programs to startup and early stage business owners - Partnered with small business loan funds, business support organizations, and city and state governments to provide consulting services to help small businesses and cooperatives access capital, grow, and stay in their communities- Grew organization from single location to national scale that has supported businesses that have rasied $20MM+ in capital and created jobs

Education

• Duke University

  A.B., Double Major in Mathematics & Economics

  1995 — 1999

Skills

• Analytics
• Business Strategy
• Due Diligence
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Valuation
• Portfolio Management
• Mergers
• Competitive Analysis
• Start-Ups
• Higher Education
• Strategic Partnerships
• Leadership
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Entrepreneurship
• Risk Management
• Financial Planning
• Strategic Consulting
• Management Consulting
• Corporate Finance
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Leveraged Finance
• Venture Capital
• Business Development
• M&a Experience
• Financial Analysis
• Private Equity
• Financial Modeling
• Executive Management
• Business Planning
• Strategic Financial Planning
• Corporate Development
• Program Management
• Investment Banking
• Strategy
• Strategic Planning
• Finance
• Investments
• Equities
• Nonprofits
• Emerging Markets