Director

TLDR: We are looking to hire a Director (Jr. Partner) to join our growing San Francisco office to focus most of their time on AI/ML coverage including infrastructure and applications. This senior member of our investment team role is for immediate start at our SF office.

About Cathay Innovation

Cathay Innovation is a rapidly growing global venture capital fund investing in startups at the center of digital revolution across North America, Europe, China, and Africa. From offices in San Francisco, Paris, Shanghai and Singapore, we are currently investing out of Fund III, a new $1B vehicle launched in summer of 2022, backing startups positively impacting the world.

We are affiliated with pioneering investment firm Cathay Capital with a team of nearly 100 professionals around the world and ~$4.5B AUM across a variety of investment strategies.

Cathay Innovation was founded in Paris in 2015 under the conviction that we can make a difference for entrepreneurs on a mission to drive change through technology. Firmly believing that the best innovations don’t happen in silos, we go beyond the traditional venture capital playbook by providing entrepreneurs with the support of a unique worldwide ecosystem that helps startups grow and lead on the local or global stage.

Our platform — bridging entrepreneurs with innovation centers, investors and Fortune 500 companies across continents — grants startups access to new markets, invaluable industry knowledge and introductions to potential partners with the world’s leading corporations from the start. In addition to our traditional LPs, we’re fortunate to count over 20 leading global corporations as investors in our Fund. Working closely with the C-level executives and business unit leaders driving innovation across their organizations, we help our corporate partners reach their goals while facilitating collaborations within our portfolio to fuel growth.

Cathay Innovation has invested in over 100 startups across the world (19 unicorns), including Chime Bank (unicorn), Glovo (acquired by Delivery Hero), Ledger (unicorn), ZenBusiness (unicorn), Trifacta (acquired by Alteryx), Sidecar Health (unicorn), PinDuoDuo (NASDAQ:PDD), Momenta, Wallbox (NYSE:WBX), Owkin (unicorn), Ghost, Nabla, Bioptimus, Range, David Energy, and many more.

The Role

We are seeking a Director to join our growing San Francisco office. This senior member of the investment team will play a pivotal role in expanding our investment efforts, focusing primarily on AI-related applications while possessing a deep understanding of AI infrastructure.

What the role entails

• Investment Strategy: Drive our firm's approach to identifying, investing in, and supporting early-stage AI related companies with high growth potential including market trend and technological advancement analysis to refine our investment strategy in AI applications and infrastructure
• Deal Management, Evaluation, and Winning: Lead sourcing initiatives, conduct due diligence, and structure and secure deals, bringing in junior investor support when needed. Collaborate with the other Partners to negotiate, structure, and win deals as needed.
• Portfolio Monitoring and Support: Serve as a board director or observer, providing strategic guidance and operational support to portfolio companies. Collaborate with our middle office team for portfolio monitoring.
• Ecosystem Building: Work across Cathay Innovation’s global ecosystem and work closely with our strategic LPs as well as meeting prospective LPs. Expand our network of industry experts and corporate partners, focusing on experienced operators and founders within the broader AI/ML space.
• Thought Leadership: Contribute to Cathay Innovation's thought leadership through content creation, conference presentations, and community engagement

Qualifications

• Min. 6 years of venture capital experience in enterprise investing, including SaaS applications, developer tools, infrastructure, and/or AI/ML, with a track record of investing in companies that have achieved considerable growth or successful exits.
• Up-to-date knowledge and passion for the latest AI trends, including the modern infrastructure stack and an understanding of the open-source ecosystem.
• Proven ability to build relationships in the startup community among exceptional founders, technologists, venture capitalists, and other ecosystem players.
• Highly analytical with an interest in sifting through and identifying trends within large volumes of data, plus a basic understanding of financial modeling and accounting.
• Entrepreneurial, self-motivated, with strong collaborative management abilities.

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