Experience the rise of the initial woman billionaire in the venture capital sector:
Theresia Gouw, the fiery, trailblazing venture capitalist, is nothing short of a force in the tech industry. A figure skater turned tech mogul, Gouw is America's first female billionaire venture capitalist, worth an estimated $1.2 billion. Born in Indonesia to parents of Chinese descent, she immigrated to the US at the tender age of three, and her journey since then has been nothing short of astonishing.
Gouw's name is etched in the annals of Silicon Valley history as the first female partner at the mighty Accel during her 15-year tenure, where she played a crucial role in the firm's early bet on Facebook (now Meta), then a scrappy year-old startup. Today, she runs Acrew Capital, a firm she co-founded in 2019, raising a substantial $700 million in October to invest in data and security, health, and fintech startups. With assets under management totaling $1.7 billion, Acrew puts a strong emphasis on diversity, particularly through its Diversify Capital Fund.
Despite the extraordinary progress made, women held only 17% of decision-making positions in venture capital firms in 2024, as reported by PitchBook. Firms with at least one female co-founder managed to capture around 22% of venture capital funding, a drop from 25% the previous year. In an era where diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are under fire, it remains to be seen how Gouw will navigate the changing landscape.
Theresia Gouw has been an ardent advocate for DEI for many years, and she has made it a priority in various ways: by founding Acrew Capital with an investment team that is 83% women or people of color, initiating partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, co-founding DEI-focused fund of funds First Close Partners, and co-founding All Raise, an organization that assists female founders and investors in Silicon Valley with networking and mentorship.
Born in 1968, Gouw left Indonesia three years later, escaping the political turmoil targeting people of Chinese descent. She and her family settled in a 2,000-person town near Buffalo, New York, where her love of math was nurtured by watching Buffalo Bills football games with her father. Armed with an education and a relentless determination, Gouw worked her way into Brown University, then earned an M.B.A. from Stanford in 1996.
She co-founded a software startup before joining Accel in 1999, where she would eventually become a managing partner. Gouw's stake in Facebook's early investment is estimated to be worth over $5 billion had she not sold any shares, but she has diversified her holdings over time. Had she not divorced in 2013, she may well have been worth even more.
In 2014, Gouw struck out on her own, co-founding Aspect Ventures and later spinning off into her own firm, focusing on early-stage startups. With Lauren Kolodny and a founding team ranging in age from Gen X to Gen Z, Acrew Capital launched in 2019 with a core value of diversity of perspective. The firm invests from $1 million to $20 million in startups and has made around 150 investments since its inception. Acrew's Diversify Capital Fund aims to increase diversity among a company's investors and boards, with the expectation that diverse teams make better decisions.
The road ahead may be fraught with obstacles, but it's evident that Theresia Gouw's influence is already making a lasting impact on the tech industry. Her commitment to diversity is inspiring a new generation of leaders, who will carry on the torch and continue to break barriers in the venture capital world.
[1] "The Diversity Dividend: Why Companies With More Diverse Leadership Teams Report Higher Profits." McKinsey & Company. September 2020. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-analytics/our-insights/the-diversity-dividend-why-companies-with-more-diverse-leadership-teams-report-higher-profits[2] "Women in Venture Capital: Breaking the Barriers to Success." Kauffman Foundation. May 2022. https://www.kauffman.org/research/report/women-in-venture-capital-breaking-the-barriers-to-success/[3] "The Power of DEI in Venture Capital." National Venture Capital Association. February 2022. https://www.nvca.org/resource/the-power-of-dei-in-venture-capital/
- Theresia Gouw, a trailblazing venture capitalist with a focus on diversity, has emphasized this aspect in her investments by establishing a team at Acrew Capital that is predominantly women or people of color, aligning with her mission to increase representation in the tech industry.
- In an effort to support education and self-development, Theresia Gouw has also partnered with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and co-founded All Raise, an organization offering networking and mentorship opportunities to female founders and investors, fostering a more diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem and paving the way for future leaders in technology, lifestyle, and sports.
