Sam Heshmati

Sam Heshmati is the Head of Emerging VC and Innovation Banking and an Executive Managing Director at Citizens Private Bank™. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and has over 21 years of experience in the technology and venture capital ecosystem.

Career Background

Before joining Citizens Private Bank in June 2023, Heshmati co-founded and led programs that served the venture capital and tech community at First Republic Bank, where he worked for 12 years. His role involved cultivating relationships with emerging managers, accelerators, and entrepreneurs. Prior to that, he spent a decade at Silicon Valley Bank and Square 1 Bank, focusing on venture banking.

Heshmati has worked with more than 1,000 early-stage VC firms and several thousand venture-backed startups. He holds a bachelor's degree from San Jose State University, which has equipped him with the foundational knowledge necessary for his extensive career in finance and banking within the tech sector.1234