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Jennifer Fonstad

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American venture capital investor (born 1965)
Jennifer Fonstad
Headshot of Jennifer Fonstad
Born (1965-11-27) November 27, 1965 (age 59)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
OccupationVenture capital investor
TitleCo-Founder and Managing Partner, Owl Capital Group
Children4
Websiteowlcapital.com

Jennifer Fonstad (born November 27, 1965) 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. Fonstad was the Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) for 17 years. She is also a co-founder of angel investing network Broadway Angels.

Education

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

Career

Early career

Fonstad began her career at Bain & Company after spending a year teaching high school math in sub-Saharan Africa. She joined venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson as a Kauffman Fellow in 1997 and became a partner in 1998.

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.

Aspect Ventures

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

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, which included outside capital from Limited Partners, and followed it with a second fund of $181 million in early 2018. It had 116 rounds of investments in 67 companies and had 13 exists.

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

Owl Capital Group

Fonstad launched Owl Capital Group in 2019, which focused on early-stage startups.

Board member and advisor

She serves on the board of the Mastercard Foundation and on the board of the Mastercard Foundation Asset Management Company (MFAM). She is a Founding Member of All-Raise, a Managing Member of Broadway Angels, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Fonstad works on a volunteer basis with the Red Cross and has been selected to be the Head of Delegation for the 2024 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies - IFRC General Assembly.

References

  1. Garland, Russ (October 10, 2016). "Garland's Take: Thoughts on Diversity, From Jennifer Fonstad". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. "Fact Sheet – Jennifer Fonstad". Venture Capital Journal. January 12, 2001.
  3. "Jennifer Fonstad". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  4. "Two Silicon Valley Investors Venture Out on Their Own". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  5. "Broadway Angels". Broadway Angels. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  6. "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Broadway Angels.
  7. Yesil, Magdalena. "Coming out as a woman in venture capital: opinion". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  8. "Executive Profile Jennifer Scott Fonstad". Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P.
  9. "Harvard Business School's annual contest for entrepreneurs is a case study unto itself". Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.
  10. "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Aspect Ventures.
  11. "Fellows Directory". Kauffman Fellows.
  12. "Bridging The Funding Gap: An Interview With The Women Behind Aspect Ventures". Forbes.
  13. Yesil, Magdalena (July 22, 2016). "Coming out as a woman in venture capital: opinion". USA Today. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  14. 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.
  15. Boorstin, Julia (2015-05-14). "Aspect Ventures, a woman-led VC, raises $150 million fund". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  16. Schubarth, Cromwell (May 14, 2015). "VCs Jennifer Fonstad, Theresia Gouw raise $150M for Aspect Ventures' first fund". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  17. ^ Konrad, Alex. "Aspect Ventures Raises $181 Million Second Fund From Investors Including Melinda Gates". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  18. ^ Loizos, Connie (2019-09-17). "Aspect Ventures, founded by Theresia Gouw and Jennifer Fonstad, is splitting up". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  19. "Aspect Ventures — 116 Investments, 13 Exits, 67 Portfolio companies". Unicorn Nest. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  20. Chernova, Yuliya (2019-09-16). "Venture-Capital Firm Aspect Ventures Breaking Up". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  21. 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.
  22. Roof, Katie (September 28, 2021). "Cisco-Backed Acrew Capital Has $680 Million in New Venture Funds". Bloomberg.
  23. Loizos, Connie (2019-12-18). "Theresia Gouw's 'multigenerational' new firm, Acrew, just closed a $250 million debut fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  24. "Jennifer Fonstad". Mastercard Foundation. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  25. "Jennifer Fonstad". Mastercard Foundation Asset Management website. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  26. "Jennifer Fonstad - Founding Member at All Raise". THE ORG. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  27. "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Broadway Angels. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  28. "Council on Foreign Relations Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations.
  29. "Jennifer Fonstad Selected as Head of Delegation". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2024-10-22.

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