Jenny Lee (venture capitalist)

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Jenny Lee
Jenny Lee - TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2017 (36516299413) (cropped).jpg
Lee at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2017
Born1972 (age 51–52)
Singapore
NationalitySingaporean
Alma mater
Cornell University

Kellogg School of Management

Occupation Venture capitalist
Known forSenior Managing Partner of Granite Asia
SpouseVincent Koh

Jenny Lee (born 1972) is a Singaporean venture capitalist and Senior Managing Partner of Granite Asia based in Singapore. Lee was the first woman venture capitalist to break into the top 10 of Forbes Midas List in 2015. [1] [2]

Contents

In 2019, she ranked #86 on Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women list, and in 2021, ranked #33 on The Midas List. [3] [4] She also appeared on the Midas List in 2024. [5]

Early and personal life

Lee was born in Singapore to a Chinese schoolteacher father and a housewife mother. Her brother Hong Meng is an engineer. She was a student of CHIJ Saint Nicholas Girls' School and Hwa Chong Junior College. [1] [6]

She is married to Vincent Koh.

Career

A ST Engineering scholar, she studied engineering at Cornell University in New York from 1991 to 1995 and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Science and a Master of Science. Upon her return, she joined ST Aerospace as a jet engineer. [6] [7]

In 2001, she obtained a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago. It was her two-year stint at Kellogg that opened her eyes to a different career path.

Seeing the US stock market boomed and then busted in 2001 and how the capital markets affected everyone, it made her realised "the big world outside and she wanted to get out there and learn some more." [6]

In 2001, she returned to Singapore.

She found a job with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. A year later, she joined Japanese venture-capital firm, JAFCO Asia.

In 2005, she joined GGV Capital as a managing partner [8] and was involved in setting up GGV presence in China. While working with GGV, the firm invested in startups such as Alibaba, Didi Chuxing, Xiaomi, Toutiao, and Grab. [9]

In March 2024, Lee and Jixun Foo led the newly formed firm, Granite Asia after it was split off from GGV Capital. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 Chen, May (4 July 2015). "Jenny Lee: A guiding star in the world of tech start-ups". The Straits Times . Archived from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  2. ↑ "#100 Jenny Lee". Forbes . 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-12-17. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  3. ↑ "She broke $300,000 bond to succeed abroad". The New Paper . 28 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  4. ↑ "Forbes Profile: Jenny Lee". Forbes . Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  5. ↑ "Forbes 2024 Midas List - The Top Venture Capital Investors Ranked". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
  6. 1 2 3 Chng, Grace (16 June 2013). "S'porean is top woman investor on Forbes list". The Straits Times . Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  7. ↑ Milian, Mark (13 June 2014). "Jenny Lee: The VC With an Eye for China's Rising Tech Giants". Bloomberg News . Archived from the original on 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  8. ↑ "Are unicorns dying in Silicon Valley?". CNET. 2017-10-18. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  9. ↑ "What does it take to be a good VC? Patience & resilience, says GGV Capital's Jenny Lee". DealStreetAsia. Archived from the original on 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  10. ↑ Loizos, Connie (2024-04-01). "GGV Capital is no more, as partners announce two separate brands". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2024-06-08.


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