Kathy Chen

Kathy is a Partner at Ulu Ventures seeking to support diverse entrepreneurs with ambitious goals.
She is focused on health and sustainability, where under-represented founders have incredible potential to shape the future.
Prior to Ulu Ventures, Kathy spent five years with 1955 Capital investing in early-stage, deep-tech startups in the health and climate sectors.
Notable investments include alternative protein platform, Nature’s Fynd; electric-aviation platform, Ampaire; and next-generation surgical robotics platform, Noah Medical.
She also supported a portfolio of 12 investments and led multiple efforts into new investment areas including health & nutrition, sustainable manufacturing, and electrified transport.
Prior to 1955 Capital, Kathy spent three years in late-stage investing with cross-border private equity firm Unitas Capital, which managed over US$4 billion in assets across Asia, North America, and Europe.
She began her career in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and J.P.
Morgan, executing a variety of M&A, debt & equity transactions in the US and China.
Kathy has assisted portfolio companies with fundraising, financial planning/budgeting, analytics & KPI design, new market & product line research, and beyond.
She also consulted for AccessAfya, an affordable primary healthcare provider serving the urban communities of Kenya, and Full Harvest, a B2B platform addressing food waste at the supply-chain level.
Kathy obtained her BSc and MBA from the Wharton School, where she was heavily involved with sustainability and impact investing.
She is proud to have earned a minor in Architecture from the Penn School of Design.