World Economic Forum Names Fusion Fund’s Lu Zhang as 2018 Young Global Leader
The Honor recognizes the most distinguished leaders under the age of 40 from around the world
Fusion Fund, an up-and-coming early stage venture fund dedicated to investing in entrepreneurs looking to build globally disruptive companies using innovative technologies, is pleased to announce that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has selected its Founding and Managing Partner, Lu Zhang, as a Young Global Leader (YGL) for 2018. Each year, this honor recognizes the most distinguished leaders under the age of 40 for their professional accomplishments, commitment to society, and potential to shape the future of the world through leadership.
Fusion Fund’s Founding and Managing Partner, Lu Zhang
As global industry, government, and civil society strive to bridge divides and promote an inclusive future; the WEF brings together a range of inspiring individuals who have distinguished themselves in their fields. Young Global Leaders (YGLs) are proposed through a qualified nomination process and assessed according to rigorous selection a criterion that creates a diverse and truly representative body, while accepting only the very best leaders who have already demonstrated their commitment to serving society at large.
As one of one hundred 2018 YGLs, Lu Zhang is recognized for her success in entrepreneurship, venture investing, and acumen for identifying technologies that can make a big impact on global industries.
“I am honored to have been selected as a Young Global Leader for the class of 2018,” said Lu Zhang, Founder and Managing Partner of Fusion Fund. “With the support of the World Economic Forum, I hope to help even more technical-driven founders make a difference in the world.”
As an honoree, Lu will become an active member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders for a period of five years. The Forum of Young Global Leaders is a community of leaders from all walks of life, who operate as a force for good, to overcome barriers that stand in the way of progress and share a commitment to working with their peers to achieve results of true significance. The community forms a unique global network of peers with a highly visible opportunity to significantly impact world affairs and shape the global agenda.
Prior to starting Fusion Fund, Lu was the Founder and CEO of a medical device company focused on non-invasive technology for the early diagnosis of Type II diabetes (acquired in 2012). Lu has won numerous awards and is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences such as Slush and Collision. She is an advisor and mentor to several innovative programs and incubators in Silicon Valley. In 2017, Lu was recognized as Forbes 30 Under 30 as a Featured Honoree in the VC category, and selected as Town & Country 50 New Modern Swans. In 2018, Lu was recognized as a Silicon Valley woman of influence by SVBJ and Top 10 all America Chinese Youth. Lu also serves as a youth member of a council of Future Award. Lu received her M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
This year’s class of 100 Young Global Leaders is split evenly between business and not-for-profit sectors. Lu’s fellow YGL classmates include Nadeem Meghji, Senior Managing Director of Real Estate Group at The Blackstone Group, Joseph P. Kennedy, Congressman from Massachusetts (Democrat), and Jia Li, Head of R&D at Google Cloud AI. Among former YGLs head governments of Fortune 500 companies, are the recipients of Nobel Prizes and Academy Awards, serve as UN Goodwill Ambassadors and Social Entrepreneurs, include Jack Ma, Founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Yahoo!, Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet, and David Cameron, former British Prime Minister.
For the full list of this year’s class of 100 Young Global Leaders, please visit:
https://www.weforum.org/communities/young-global-leaders
About Fusion Fund
Fusion Fund (formerly known as NewGen Capital) was founded by Lu Zhang in Palo Alto California in 2015. The firm focuses on early stage companies with a technical barrier in their business model to capitalize on the next wave of technical innovation. The fund focuses on targeted sectors including connected industries (mobility, robotics, IoT), network technologies (security, connectivity, enterprise), artificial intelligence (computer vision, natural language processing, deep learning), and health tech (digital health, medical devices).
Fusion Fund was launched in 2015, with an initial $17 million in capital. In 2018, Fusion Fund closed an $85 million second fund. The firm has made more than 40 investments so far, including IAM Robotics (autonomous robots with fast computer vision for warehouse fulfillment), Mission Bio (leveraging single-cell diagnostics for cancer treatment), Stratifyd (visual, data-driven actionable business intelligence solutions), and NeuVector (container cybersecurity company, recognized by Gartner as the leader in the industry).
For more information, please visit: https://www.fusionfund.com/.
