Zaria Smith

Zaria Smith is a Co-Founder of Wasabi Partners, where she works at the intersection of venture, go-to-market strategy, and founder infrastructure.
Before entering venture, Zaria built her foundation in technology and go-to-market at Salesforce and Amazon Web Services (AWS), where she worked closely with startups and small and midsize businesses on growth, cloud adoption, customer acquisition, and strategic execution. Her work supporting the startup ecosystem at AWS earned her the AWS Startups Pathfinder Award and recognition in Forbes.

Zaria later transitioned into venture, serving as a Program Director at Nex Cubed at Sway Capital, where she led national accelerator programs, supported founders from diverse backgrounds, and worked alongside the fund's General Partners on investment decisions and portfolio development.

Zaria holds a B.A. in Speech Pathology and Audiology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She is a proud North Carolina native and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring the latest in AI, listening to podcasts, attending art shows, and trying new experiences with friends.