In a traditionally male-oriented field, entrepreneurship can be tough for women. In order to avoid some of the prejudices or miscommunication with male investors, some woman entrepreneurs specifically seek out female investors when raising cash for their startups.
According to a Fortune Magazine analysis from February 2014, just 4 percent of senior partners at venture capital firms are women. However, the number of VC firms that include women on their staff is increasing. TechCrunch Shanghai will invite three female investors who are helping to change the face of tech and investment.
Jenny Lee, Managing Partner at GGV Capital
A Managing Partner at GGV Capital, Jenny joined the firm in 2005 and was instrumental in setting up the GGV presence in China. Jenny’s areas of focus are on Consumer Internet and SAAS companies especially those in the Mobile Social, IOT, Finance and Education sectors. Jenny led GGV’s investments in hiSoft (NASDAQ: PACT), 21Vianet (NASDAQ: VNET), SinoSun (SHE: 300333), YY (NASDAQ: YY) and successfully saw them go public.
Jenny’s previous operating and finance work experience with Singapore Technologies Aerospace, Morgan Stanley and JAFCO Asia enhanced her role as a preferred board mentor and investor to many entrepreneurs in China. Jenny graduated from Cornell University with a Masters and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.
Jenny has been recognized by Forbes magazine in four consecutive years since 2011 in the Global Top 100 VC Midas list and most recently in 2015 as the top female venture capitalist.
Ruby Lu, General Partner at DMC
Ruby is the general partner of DCM. Through her role as a board member, she has helped several companies go from startups to large public companies. She sourced and led DCM’s investments in VanceInfo (NYSE: VIT) which later merged with HiSoft to create Pactera (NASDAQ: PACT), BitAuto (NYSE: BITA), and Dangdang (NYSE: DANG).
Prior to joining DCM, Ruby was a Vice President in the Technology, Media and Telecom Investment Banking Group of Goldman Sachs. She joined Goldman Sachs directly out of school and worked in several different offices: Hong Kong, New York, Menlo Park and San Francisco.
Ruby gained her Bachelor degree from University of Maryland and Master’s from Johns Hopkins University.
Wu Haiyan, Partner at China Growth Capital
Wu Haiyan joined China Growth Capital in 2006 with focus on online finance, consumption, enterprise software and service.
During 2012 to 2014, Wu has led the investments in Tongbanjie, efunbox, Just BB, ForMax, FraudMetrix, Singbada Inside. She graduated from Tsinghua University.