Jennifer Fonstad
Headshot of Jennifer Fonstad
NationalityAmerican
Alma materGeorgetown University, Harvard Business School
Occupation(s)Venture Capital Investor, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Owl Capital Group
Websiteowlcapital.com

Jennifer Fonstad is an American venture capital investor and entrepreneur. She is the managing partner and a co-founder of the Owl Capital Group, a venture firm based in Silicon Valley.[1] Fonstad was Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) for 17 years.[2] She is also co-founder of angel investing network Broadway Angels.[3][4][5] Fonstad has been recognized as a top 100 tech investor on Forbes’ Midas List twice[6][7] and was named 2016 Venture Capitalist of the Year by Deloitte.[8] She is also a Founding Member of All Raise.[9]

Education

Fonstad earned a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.[10] While a student at Harvard, Fonstad co-founded the New Venture Competition, an annual competition for HBS student entrepreneurs.[11]

Career

Early career

Fonstad began her career at Bain & Company after spending a year teaching high school math in sub-Saharan Africa.[12] She joined venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson as a Kauffman Fellow in 1997 and became a partner in 1998.[13] Fonstad spent 17 years with DFJ, helping to grow the firm from $150MM to $3.5Billion under management.[14] Through her career Fonstad has participated in many successful investments including Athenahealth,[15] Tesla, Solarcity,[16] the Real Real, Chime Bank, Hotmail, Netzero, Box, Redfin, and others.[17]

In 2010, Fonstad and Sonja Hoel Perkins were among the founders of Broadway Angels, an angel investing network of senior women from the fields of technology and venture investing.[14][18]

Aspect Ventures

In 2014, Fonstad co-founded Aspect Ventures, an early stage, all-female venture-capital firm, with fellow venture capital investor Theresia Gouw.[19] Gouw and Fonstad worked together early in their careers at Bain & Company and at Release Software.[20]

During the first year, Aspect Ventures made several Series A and seed investments funded by the co-founders' personal capital. Aspect secured $150 million for its debut fund,[21] which included outside capital from Limited Partners,[22] and followed it with a second fund of $181 million in early 2018.[23][24] It had 116 rounds of investments in 67 companies and had 13 exists.[25]

The firm made investments in companies including ForeScout (FSCT), Cato Networks,[26] Exabeam,[27] The Muse, Crew, Silverfort, Eden Health, Pie Insurance, and PredictHQ.[25]

The founders decided to split in 2019 over clashing management styles.[28][23][24] In the same year, both founders started new venture capital firms.

Owl Capital Group

Fonstad launched Owl Capital Group,[23] which focused on early-stage startups.[29] Her current investments include Vida Health, Ohmconnect, Grokker, Stem.io, Roofstock, WelcomeTech, and Owlet.[30][31][32]

Board member and advisor

Fonstad serves on the Board of Directors of several private companies. She also serves on the board of the Mastercard Foundation, a $35B AUM foundation based in Toronto, Canada.[33] She is a Founding Member of All-Raise, a Managing Member of Broadway Angels, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[34][35][36]

Recognition and awards

  • One of “The 50 Most Powerful Moms” by Working Mother (2017)[37]
  • “Venture Capitalist of the Year” by Deloitte at the Technology Fast 500 (2016)[8]
  • Portraits of Power, Marie Claire (2016)[38]
  • Forbes Midas List (2008, 2009)[6][7]

Speaker and commentator

At the Catalyst Conference 2017, she spoke at the Fireside Chat.[39]

Fonstad is a frequent media contributor on issues pertaining to women in tech, cyber-security, the future of healthcare and the venture capital industry. Her commentary appears in Fortune,[40][41] Fast Company,[42] Entrepreneur,[43] Re/code,[44] Yahoo Finance,[45] Forbes,[46] Bloomberg,[47] and CNBC.[48]

References

  1. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Two Silicon Valley Investors Venture Out on Their Own". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  3. ↑ "Broadway Angels". Broadway Angels. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  4. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Broadway Angels. Broadway Angels.
  5. ↑ Yesil, Magdalena. "Coming out as a woman in venture capital: opinion". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  6. 1 2 "The Midas List 2008". Forbes.
  7. 1 2 "The Midas List 2009". Forbes.
  8. 1 2 "The Broadsheet". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  9. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad - Founding Member at All Raise". THE ORG. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  10. ↑ "Executive Profile Jennifer Scott Fonstad". Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P.
  11. ↑ "Harvard Business School's annual contest for entrepreneurs is a case study unto itself". Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.
  12. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Aspect Ventures. Aspect Ventures.
  13. ↑ "Fellows Directory". Kauffman Fellows. Kauffman Fellows.
  14. 1 2 "Bridging The Funding Gap: An Interview With The Women Behind Aspect Ventures". Forbes.
  15. ↑ "Athenahealth Funding". AngelList.
  16. ↑ "Form S-1". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  17. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad AngelList Profile". AngelList.
  18. ↑ Yesil, Magdalena (July 22, 2016). "Coming out as a woman in venture capital: opinion". USA Today. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  19. ↑ Rao, Leena (2014-02-05). "Accel's Theresia Gouw And DFJ's Jennifer Fonstad Partner To Launch Mobile-Focused VC Firm Aspect Ventures". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  20. ↑ Newlands, Murray. "Bridging The Funding Gap: An Interview With The Women Behind Aspect Ventures". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  21. ↑ Boorstin, Julia (2015-05-14). "Aspect Ventures, a woman-led VC, raises $150 million fund". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  22. ↑ Schubarth, Cromwell (May 14, 2015). "VCs Jennifer Fonstad, Theresia Gouw raise $150M for Aspect Ventures' first fund". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  23. 1 2 3 Konrad, Alex. "Aspect Ventures Raises $181 Million Second Fund From Investors Including Melinda Gates". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  24. 1 2 Loizos, Connie (2019-09-17). "Aspect Ventures, founded by Theresia Gouw and Jennifer Fonstad, is splitting up". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  25. 1 2 "Aspect Ventures — 116 Investments, 13 Exits, 67 Portfolio companies". Unicorn Nest. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  26. ↑ Networks, Cato (2015-10-27). "Cato Networks Secures $20 Million in Series A Round From U.S. Venture Partners and Aspect Ventures". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  27. ↑ Shieber, Jonathan (2014-06-10). "Exabeam Raises $10 Million For Network-Tracking Security Software". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  28. ↑ Chernova, Yuliya (2019-09-16). "Venture-Capital Firm Aspect Ventures Breaking Up". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  29. ↑ Howell, Travis (2019-08-01). "Solo vs. Co: Under What Conditions Can Solo-Founded Ventures Perform as well as Co-Founded Ventures?". Academy of Management Proceedings. 2019 (1): 17923. doi:10.5465/ambpp.2019.17923abstract. ISSN 0065-0668.
  30. ↑ "Owl Capital Group Companies". owlcapital.com. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  31. ↑ Roof, Katie (September 28, 2021). "Cisco-Backed Acrew Capital Has $680 Million in New Venture Funds".
  32. ↑ Loizos, Connie (2019-12-18). "Theresia Gouw's 'multigenerational' new firm, Acrew, just closed a $250 million debut fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  33. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad". Mastercard Foundation. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  34. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad - Founding Member at All Raise". THE ORG. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  35. ↑ "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Broadway Angels. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  36. ↑ "Council on Foreign Relations Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations.
  37. ↑ "50 Most Powerful Moms". Working Mother. Working Mother.
  38. ↑ "Portraits of Power". Marie Claire. Hearst Communications, Inc.
  39. ↑ "Catalyst Conference Speakers". Girls in Tech. Girls in Tech.
  40. ↑ "What James Comey's Firing Means For the Future of Cyber Attacks". Fortune. Time Inc.
  41. ↑ "Here's How Snap's Wall Street Debut Could Spark An IPO Boom". Fortune. Time Inc.
  42. ↑ "Business Leaders Share Their Biggest Concerns About The Future Of Business". Fast Company. Fast Company, Inc.
  43. ↑ "To Impress This VC, Deliver on What You Promise". Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media, Inc.
  44. ↑ "After Ellen Pao, Now What?". Recode. Vox Media, Inc.
  45. ↑ "What Trump Doesn't Get About Silicon Valley's H1-B Visas". Yahoo! Finance. Oath Inc.
  46. ↑ "Women Investors' Best Advice For Startup Success In The Uncertain Trump Era". Forbes.
  47. ↑ "Free Speech Versus Abuse: Social Media Scrutinized". Bloomberg. Bloomberg, L.P.
  48. ↑ "Crashing the tech boys club". CNBC. CNBC, LLC.
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