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Jennifer Fonstad

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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[1]
Websiteowlcapital.com

Jennifer Fonstad (born November 27, 1965[2]) 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.[3] Fonstad was the Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) for 17 years.[4] She is also a co-founder of angel investing network Broadway Angels.[5][6][7] Fonstad has been recognized as a top 100 tech investor on the Forbes’ Midas List twice[8][9] and was named 2016 Venture Capitalist of the Year by Deloitte.[10]

Education

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Fonstad earned a Bachelor of Science in International Economics from Georgetown University and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.[11] While a student at Harvard, Fonstad co-founded the New Venture Competition, an annual competition for HBS student entrepreneurs.[12]

Career

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Early career

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Fonstad began her career at Bain & Company after spending a year teaching high school math in sub-Saharan Africa.[13] She joined venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson as a Kauffman Fellow in 1997 and became a partner in 1998.[14] Fonstad spent 17 years with DFJ, helping to grow the firm from $150MM to $3.5Billion under management.[15] Through her career Fonstad has participated in many successful investments including Athenahealth,[16] Tesla, Solarcity,[17] the Real Real, Chime Bank, Hotmail, Netzero, Box, Redfin, and others.[18]

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.[15][19]

Aspect Ventures

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In 2014, Fonstad co-founded Aspect Ventures, an early stage, all-female venture-capital firm, with fellow venture capital investor Theresia Gouw.[20] Gouw and Fonstad worked together early in their careers at Bain & Company and at Release Software.[21]

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,[22] which included outside capital from Limited Partners,[23] and followed it with a second fund of $181 million in early 2018.[24][25] It had 116 rounds of investments in 67 companies and had 13 exists.[26]

The firm made investments in companies including ForeScout (FSCT), Cato Networks,[27] Exabeam,[28] The Muse, Crew, Silverfort, Eden Health, Pie Insurance, and PredictHQ.[26]

The founders decided to split in 2019 over clashing management styles.[29][24][25] In the same year, both founders started new venture capital firms.

Owl Capital Group

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Fonstad launched Owl Capital Group in 2019,[24] which focused on early-stage startups.[30] Her current investments include Vida Health, Ohmconnect, Grokker, Stem.io, Roofstock, WelcomeTech, and Owlet.[31][32][33]

Board member and advisor

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Fonstad serves on the Board of Directors of several private companies. She also serves on the board of the Mastercard Foundation, a $45B AUM foundation based in Toronto, Canada, and on the board of the Mastercard Foundation Asset Management Company (MFAM)[34][35] She is a Founding Member of All-Raise, a Managing Member of Broadway Angels, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[36][37][38] 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.[39]

Recognition and awards

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  • “Venture Capitalist of the Year” by Deloitte at the Technology Fast 500 (2016)[10]

References

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  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. ^ "The Midas List 2008". Forbes.
  9. ^ "The Midas List 2009". Forbes.[dead link‍]
  10. ^ a b "The Broadsheet". Fortune. Time, Inc.
  11. ^ "Executive Profile Jennifer Scott Fonstad". Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P.
  12. ^ "Harvard Business School's annual contest for entrepreneurs is a case study unto itself". Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.
  13. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Aspect Ventures.
  14. ^ "Fellows Directory". Kauffman Fellows.
  15. ^ a b "Bridging The Funding Gap: An Interview With The Women Behind Aspect Ventures". Forbes.
  16. ^ "Athenahealth Funding". AngelList.
  17. ^ "Form S-1". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  18. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad AngelList Profile". AngelList.
  19. ^ Yesil, Magdalena (July 22, 2016). "Coming out as a woman in venture capital: opinion". USA Today. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Newlands, Murray. "Bridging The Funding Gap: An Interview With The Women Behind Aspect Ventures". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  22. ^ Boorstin, Julia (2015-05-14). "Aspect Ventures, a woman-led VC, raises $150 million fund". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  23. ^ Schubarth, Cromwell (May 14, 2015). "VCs Jennifer Fonstad, Theresia Gouw raise $150M for Aspect Ventures' first fund". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  24. ^ a b c Konrad, Alex. "Aspect Ventures Raises $181 Million Second Fund From Investors Including Melinda Gates". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  25. ^ a b Loizos, Connie (2019-09-17). "Aspect Ventures, founded by Theresia Gouw and Jennifer Fonstad, is splitting up". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  26. ^ a b "Aspect Ventures — 116 Investments, 13 Exits, 67 Portfolio companies". Unicorn Nest. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  27. ^ 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 (Press release). Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  28. ^ Shieber, Jonathan (2014-06-10). "Exabeam Raises $10 Million For Network-Tracking Security Software". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  29. ^ Chernova, Yuliya (2019-09-16). "Venture-Capital Firm Aspect Ventures Breaking Up". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2023-10-09.
  30. ^ 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.
  31. ^ "Owl Capital Group Companies". owlcapital.com. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  32. ^ Roof, Katie (September 28, 2021). "Cisco-Backed Acrew Capital Has $680 Million in New Venture Funds". Bloomberg.
  33. ^ Loizos, Connie (2019-12-18). "Theresia Gouw's 'multigenerational' new firm, Acrew, just closed a $250 million debut fund". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  34. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad". Mastercard Foundation. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  35. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad". Mastercard Foundation Asset Management website. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  36. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad - Founding Member at All Raise". THE ORG. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  37. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad Bio". Broadway Angels. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  38. ^ "Council on Foreign Relations Membership Roster". Council on Foreign Relations.
  39. ^ "Jennifer Fonstad Selected as Head of Delegation". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
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