Angelina Hu: Pioneering Diversity and Innovation through Venture Capital
Angelina Hu is a trailblazing figure in the venture capital world, making significant strides to foster diversity within the tech industry. As a minority woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Hu has dedicated her career to breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for emerging and diverse investors and entrepreneurs. Her mission to transform the venture capital landscape reflects her commitment to inclusivity and innovation, paving the way for a more equitable future.
Angelina Hu is a trailblazing figure in the venture capital world, making significant strides to foster diversity within the tech industry. As a minority woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Hu has dedicated her career to breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for emerging and diverse investors and entrepreneurs. Her mission to transform the venture capital landscape reflects her commitment to inclusivity and innovation, paving the way for a more equitable future.
Hu’s global perspective, shaped by her upbringing in Beijing and Madrid, offers a unique blend of cultural understanding and business acumen. This diverse background has given her the ability to navigate complex markets and identify promising investment opportunities. Her vast experience across finance, international relations, and venture capital has positioned her as a leader who not only drives financial growth but also champions diversity and inclusion in the tech sector.
In her role as Global Head of Investor Relations at SALT Venture Group, Hu connects institutional asset owners with innovative asset managers and tech entrepreneurs. She also leads fundraising efforts for Solari Capital, a venture capital fund focused on cutting-edge technologies, including biotech and life sciences. Through these roles, she plays a crucial part in shaping the future of technology investments, ensuring that diversity and groundbreaking innovation go hand in hand.
Beyond her leadership positions, Hu actively supports emerging VC investors and startup founders through her advisory roles at Sutton Capital, Coyote Ventures, and Coolwater Capital. Her track record of working closely with diverse venture capital funds highlights her dedication to equal opportunities for entrepreneurs. At Coolwater Capital, she contributed to scaling over 200 early-stage technology-focused VC funds, the majority of which were led by diverse investors, and collectively raised more than $2 billion while investing in over 6,000 tech startups across the U.S.
Hu’s belief that diverse and emerging investors can generate higher returns fuels her dedication to reshaping the venture capital landscape. By advocating for a more inclusive approach to venture capital, she is helping to build a more equitable and innovative tech ecosystem. Her work is not only creating a fairer industry but also driving economic growth and innovation in the U.S. tech industry.
Your global upbringing between Beijing and Madrid has given you a unique perspective. How have both cultures influenced your leadership and decision-making in the venture capital world?
Love this question! My core values that reflect my Chinese roots center around humility, integrity and resilience. And my core values stem from my teenage years in Spain are open-mindedness, passion and creativity.
The key difference between these cultures lies in their emphasis: Chinese culture champions collectivism, while Spanish culture celebrates individual expression. When it comes to my leadership style, I am intentional in striking a balance ensuring my teammates feel empowered to take ownership of their work, but also keeping the long-term goals of the larger team in focus.
“I’ve obverserved that Spanish culture often embraces risk and spontaneity, whereas Chinese culture tends to be more cautious”.
This blend encourages me to adopt a nuanced approach to risk assessment in the venture capital world, weighing potential growth and returns against market realities. Growing up in these two rich cultural environments has deepened my appreciation for diversity and creativity, enabling me to understand varied markets and make more informed investment decisions.
As a minority woman in a male-dominated industry, what has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it to pave the way for others?
The biggest challenge was definitely navigating unconscious bias and being underestimated in my capabilities based on the way I look. Early in my career, I often found my ideas being overlooked in meetings, or assumed to be a less important role because I do not look like a traditional finance executive, which was discouraging.
I have since learned the only way to make sure I am being heard and valued is to consistently polish my skill sets, deepen my domain expertise and gradually prove my credibility. There is really no shortcut to this. At the end of the day, your work and contribution should speak for itself.
To further this, I make sure diversity and inclusion is top of my mind throughout my works, be it balancing the female and male speakers when putting together expert panels at investment events, or championing female investment managers however way I can, or ensuring female founders get equal exposure at investment committees, etc.
My journey has shown me that resilience and proactive engagement can truly pave the way for others, creating a more equitable industry for our future generations.
SALT Venture Group and Solari Capital focus on cutting-edge technology such as biotech and life sciences. What technological innovation excites you the most, and why?
Besides Artificial Intelligence (since it is no doubt the most transformative technological development to date), I personally am also eager to see where advances in CRISPR and other gene-editing biotech innovations are heading. They are definitely forging a path for breakthroughs in all sorts of medicine & genetic disorder treatments, agricultural innovation, and sustainable practices like we have never seen before.
You’ve helped raise over $2 billion in VC funds who collectively supported 6000+ tech startups. If you had to give one key piece of advice to an aspiring entrepreneur or investor just starting out, what would it be?
My key piece of advice for an aspiring entrepreneur is ‘know your why’. I see many people want to have the ‘founder’ title for the wrong reasons. Building a company is a journey like no other – it takes sweat, tears, sleepless nights and endless iterations. When you create and build something that aligns with your core values, personal mission and actually solving a problem better than the rest, the journey will at least be worthwhile.
My key piece of advice for a VC investor especially who focuses on the pre-seed/seed stage is to have compassion. There is immense value in believing in someone, and fighting alongside them along the way since day one.
You mention that emerging and diverse investors often generate higher returns in the early stage investing. What unique qualities do you think these investors bring to the venture capital world?
Emerging and diverse managers are uniquely positioned to identify and evaluate opportunities that might have otherwise been overlooked. This subset of VC investors often have more personal connections to underrepresented entrepreneurs and emerging markets. So they get to explore innovative startups that might not be visible to traditional investors. The emerging VC investors I had the honor to work with are also extremely resourceful, disciplined and resilient, they collectively often bring their LPs more untapped opportunities with higher growth potential.
Imagine you are projecting the future of venture capital 10 years from now. How do you envision the evolution of diversity in the tech industry, and what role would you like your work to play in that change?
When I think of diversity in tech, it goes beyond diversity in race and gender. I am hopeful to see diversity in founders who come from different age groups, education levels, socioeconomic statuses, cultural backgrounds and much more. The 20-something founder who dropped out from an ivy league school, getting backed by a top VC firm then went on exiting as a unicorn founder years later is certainly an exciting story. But don’t we think we can use some other equally exciting but different storylines?
Change doesn’t happen overnight, but we often underestimate the power and influence of small and consistent efforts. I believe my role in catalyzing all this really just lies in my daily works, one founder and investor at a time!
Angelina Hu’s work in venture capital is not only reshaping the tech industry but also setting a powerful example for future generations of diverse leaders. Her commitment to fostering innovation and promoting inclusivity continues to break down barriers, driving the industry towards a more equitable and dynamic future.
