# Cheryl Heller

> Cheryl Heller is a seed investor at CommonWise backing Hardware and Telecommunications. See 1 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [CommonWise](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/commonwise)
- Location: Pittsburgh, United States
- Total investments: 1
- Last investment: Jul 2014
- Lead investor: 0%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylheller
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/cherylheller
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.heller.9

Cheryl Heller is a seed investor at CommonWise in Pittsburgh focused on Hardware and Telecommunications. Cheryl is the Founding Chair of the first MFA program in Design for Social Innovation at SVA and the founder of the design lab CommonWise. She is a business strategist and communication designer who has founded two companies and taughtcreativity to leaders and organizations around the world, helped grow businesses from small regionalenterprises to multi-billion global market leaders, launched category-redefining divisions and products, reinvigorated moribund cultures, and designed strategies for hundreds of successful entrepreneurs. Cheryl received the prestigious AIGA medal for her contribution to the field of design in 2014.She is a Matrix Award winner for excellence in communication and has been profiled through articles in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, BusinessWeek and many others. Her work in included in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Hardware | 1 | 100% |
| Telecommunications | 1 | 100% |
| Enterprise Software | 1 | 100% |
| Consumer Electronics | 1 | 100% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| BRCK | BRCK is an integrated hardware and software company based in Nairobi, Kenya that designs and engineers a rugged, self-powered, mobile WiFi device which connects people and things to the internet in areas of the world with poor infrastructure. Our vision is a world connected, where the last-mile of internet connectivity is as seamless for someoneliving in Africa as it is in Europe or the US. Ushahidi is a global organization that empowers people to make serious impact with open source technologies, cross-sector partnerships, and ground-breaking ventures. | $1.2M | Seed | Jul 08, 2014 |  |

1 of 1 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Invested Development](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/invested-development) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Omvestments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/omvestments) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Synergy Growth](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/synergy-growth) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Third Sphere](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/urban-us) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About CommonWise

VC Fund



2 contacts available at CommonWise.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cheryl Heller | Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cheryl-heller |
| Gary Scheft | Founding Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gary-scheft |

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## FAQ

### What does Cheryl Heller invest in?

Cheryl Heller invests primarily in Hardware, Telecommunications and Enterprise Software startups, most often at Seed stage. Most of the 1 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Kenya. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Cheryl Heller last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Cheryl Heller closed in Jul 2014. Shizune tracks 1 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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