# Joanne Chen

> Joanne Chen is a General Partner at Foundation Capital, a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm, where she leads the Enterprise practice with a focus on AI-first B2B applications and data platforms. The daughter of Chinese immigrants - a mathematician father who came to North America after Tiananmen Square and a computer scientist mother - Chen built her first client webpage at age nine, studied electrical engineering at UC Berkeley, and went from Cisco engineer to Wall Street banker to startup co-founder before landing in venture capital. She became Foundation Capital's second female General Partner in its 26-year history in 2021 (the first since co-founder Kathryn Gould), has backed category-defining companies like TubiTV (acquired by Fox for ~$500M), Jasper.AI, and Tonkean, and is a recognized voice on AI investing through TEDx talks and podcast appearances.

- **Role:** General Partner at Foundation Capital
- **Organizations:** Foundation Capital, Jasper.AI (board), SafelyYou (board), Tonkean (board), Tennr (board), Arcade (board), CaptivateIQ (board)
- **From:** Canada
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- **Known for:** Became Foundation Capital's second female General Partner in 26-year firm history (2021), Backed TubiTV, which was acquired by Fox Corporation for ~$500M, Named to 'The AI 50 2023' list

## Career timeline

- **~2003** — Engineer at Cisco Systems
- **~2006** — Co-founded mobile gaming startup focused on educational math learning apps
- **~2008** — Bank analyst at Jefferies & Company, advising tech companies on IPO and M&A
- **2012** — Enrolled in MBA at University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- **2012** — Angel investor at Hyde Park Angels
- **2013** — Summer Investment Associate at Formation 8
- **2014** — Joined Foundation Capital as an investor
- **2019** — Gave TEDx talk 'Confessions of an AI Investor' at TEDxMarin
- **2019** — Led seed investment in Tonkean, joined board
- **2020** — TubiTV (portfolio company) acquired by Fox Corporation for ~$500M
- **2021** — Became General Partner at Foundation Capital - second female GP in firm's 26-year history

## Achievements

- Became Foundation Capital's second female General Partner in 26-year firm history (2021)
- Backed TubiTV, which was acquired by Fox Corporation for ~$500M
- Named to 'The AI 50 2023' list
- TEDx speaker on AI investing with talk 'Confessions of an AI Investor' (TEDxMarin 2019)
- Recognized early AI investor, studying the space since approximately 2009
- Built first client webpage at age nine
- Led seed investment in Tonkean (intelligent automation platform)
- Portfolio company Mya acquired by Stepstone
- Portfolio company EraDB acquired by ServiceNow

## Latest updates

- **2025-10** — Featured on 'Venture with Grace' podcast discussing AI-first enterprise investing
- **2025-03** — Foundation Capital raised new fund (latest funding round)
- **2023-11** — Appeared on Apple Podcasts episode 'AI and the Future of Work'
- **2023-07** — Featured on DataCamp DataFramed Podcast discussing generative AI
- **2023-01** — Named to 'The AI 50 2023' list

## Links

- Website: https://foundationcapital.com/member/joanne-chen/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-chen-8486677
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/joannezchen
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/foundationcapital

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joanne-chen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-18