Jasmine is Portfolio Director at Seedrs – Europe’s leading private investing platform. Seedrs allows individual investors to invest in startups, growth companies, and, if eligible, top VC funds, as well as enabling ambitious entrepreneurs in all sectors to raise capital from their communities, angels and institutional investors.
Since its launch in 2012, Seedrs has funded over 1,800 deals, with over £2.3 billion invested on the platform to date.
Over the last few years Jasmine has been focused on building and scaling Seedrs’ Portfolio Team which currently supports over 800 growth businesses across Europe and the U.S. Her diverse team has grown from two to seven over the last 18 months and it’s now the first time Seedrs – which has been a leading UK FinTech since 2012 – has had a fully functional team servicing companies post-investment, building value in being a Seedrs’ portfolio company and protecting retail investors’ interests post-investment. In particular, under Jasmine’s stewardship, the team has fixed core operational issues, automated post investment processes and built systems that allow Seedrs to generate new revenue streams.
Outside of Seedrs, Jasmine is the Co-Founder of JV Network – a community of 100+ female investors and entrepreneurs that support and invest in each other. The Network hosts knowledge sharing workshops as well as informal networking events where women in the industry can connect with like minded professionals. JV recently collaborated with Founders Social to host an exceptional panel event for 150 attendees. The panel – which consisted of Eileen Burbidge MBE from Passion Capital, Reem Wyndham from Pact VC, Lucile Cornet from Eight Roads and Alex Beyer, Founder of Sourcerie – candidly shared their experience and shared tips as leading women in this industry.
Tell us a bit about yourself, background and your current role:
In my current role, I’m Head of Portfolio at Seedrs – Europe’s leading private investing platform. Over the last few years I’ve been focused on building and scaling Seedrs’ Portfolio Team which currently supports over 800 growth businesses across Europe and the U.S.
I’m really proud that the team has grown from two to seven over the last 18 months and it’s now the first time Seedrs – which has been a leading UK FinTech since 2012 – has had a fully functional team servicing companies post-investment, building value in being a Seedrs’ portfolio company and protecting retail investors’ interests post-investment.
In terms of my background, I was born in China but grew up in Singapore. After graduating from the University of Cambridge, I worked at a Food & Beverage Startup in China before qualifying as a lawyer in the UK with Herbert Smith Freehills. I moved to Seedrs because I wanted to be part of the exciting growth journey of a startup and – even better – at a startup that helps other startups to scale!
Outside of Seedrs, I am the Co-Founder of JV Network – a community of 100+ female investors and entrepreneurs that support and invest in each other. The Network hosts knowledge sharing workshops as well as informal networking events where women in the industry can connect with like minded professionals. JV recently collaborated with Founders Social to host an exceptional panel event for 150 attendees. The panel – which consisted of Eileen Burbidge MBE from Passion Capital, Reem Wyndham from Pact VC, Lucile Cornet from Eight Roads and Alex Beyer, Founder of Sourcerie – candidly shared their experience and shared tips as leading women in this industry.
Have you faced any career challenges along the way and how did you overcome these?
I enjoyed law – and it has set me up really nicely for a career at Seedrs where our operations are very transactional – but the transition from corporate solicitor to a commercial role was a huge challenge. There is a big time and financial investment in qualifying as a lawyer and so there was a significant risk attached to making the decision to leave the profession. I overcame the challenge step by step and by scouting out opportunities to learn about every aspect of Seedrs all the way from product management to deal flow. Essentially, I made it my mission to take on anything to show my capabilities at something other than law. My current role is an investment-legal hybrid so I’m now able to bring it all together, which is nice.
What has been your biggest career achievement to date?
I’d have to say what I’m doing currently – I’ve built and scaled a core team which has now become a revenue generating function and alleviated a lot of the risks we had as a business. On top of that, from a portfolio perspective, Seedrs just celebrated its 45th exit which is a monumental achievement that puts us amongst the most exits of any VC in Europe.
What top tips would you give to an individual who is trying to excel in their career in technology?
The best thing I’ve heard recently is to think of your career as a tree and not a ladder where you should sometimes move sideways in order to move up. With my background in corporate law, I find myself falling into the trap of feeling like they can’t change jobs unless it’s part of a linear progression. But I think that’s a fairly narrow perspective and, in many cases, one that seriously restricts your growth potential.
Other than that, I’d say it’s key to keep an open and inquisitive mind. The best thing I’ve found about working in a high growth tech company is that, regardless of the area of business you work in, there is so much opportunity to collaborate cross-functionally particularly with design, product & engineering teams and this comes hand in hand with learning opportunities.
What barriers for women working in tech are still to be overcome?
While it’s slowly improving, I think there is still a lack of female representation in positions of leadership, particularly in industries like FinTech or B2B Tech. Until there’s increased representation at the decision making level it’s always going to be more difficult to inspire younger women to take up a career in tech.
What do you think companies can do to support and progress the careers of women working in technology?
Three things. Firstly, celebrate the achievements of women in tech to surface role models for younger females. Secondly, support female employees in finding networks (like the JV Network!) outside of the business that can help them with their career development. Finally, re-evaluate how performance is measured and recognised within the company to cater for different ways of working, particularly for those less confident in sharing what they have been working on/achieved. On top of these practical measures, I think, earlier in the “pipeline”, businesses should work with schools and universities to funnel talented women into the industry.
What resources do you recommend for women working in tech, e.g. podcasts, networking events, books, conferences, websites etc?
I’m biased but obviously I’d recommend the JV Network which I Co-Founded. We have a 100+ community of female founders and investors – connected through Slack – who share resources, events and fundraising info etc. We also host workshops, panels and networking events so members can meet in real life, connect and hopefully find out more about particular topics of interest that might help them along the way. Ours is free to join but there are also some paid-for communities that I know fellow women in tech have really appreciated being part of like Allbright.
