Kelly Chen, Partner at DCVC, on Investing in Old School Industries and Fundamental Demographic and Labor Shifts
This is the fourth episode of SOSV’s new podcast ‘Deep Tech: From Lab to Market’ where Founders and Investors share how ‘deep tech’ innovation can go from lab to market. It is available on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, and other platforms. Subscribe on Twitter at @LabToMarket.
About Kelly Chen and DCVC
Kelly Chen is a Partner at DCVC — a US-based venture fund founded in 2011 that raised $725 million in November 2019 to invest mostly in deep tech.
Kelly is a China-born New Yorker now based in SF, who graduated from Columbia Engineering and Wharton with a focus on finance algorithms and manufacturing operations. She worked as a fixed income trader who started angel investing actively and eventually dived into venture capital.
- DCVC has invested in Agtech, Advanced manufacturing, biology and even space tech.
- Kelly focuses on the transformation of manufacturing, logistics and apply chain with automation and AI.
Note: As a pre-seed investor, SOSV has used a similar ‘broad thesis’ of investing in fundamental changes, with an open mind about sectors. This has lead us to gradually concentrate on ‘old school’ industries and health, to support human and planetary health in particular via our programs in hardware (HAX) and life sciences (IndieBio). Find more in our portfolio and this post on HAX’s investment themes in a post-Covid world.
Episode Overview
In this episode, Kelly talks about:
- The opportunities offered by major demographic and labor shifts, with examples examples in the textile industry (SmarTex — also a SOSV/HAX investment) and senior care (SafelyYou).
- The appeal of ‘old school’ industries, where opportunities abound.
- Vertical vs Horizontal companies. In deep tech, vertical expertise is often part of the ‘defensibility stack’ alongside AI / deep learning algorithms and data sets.
- DCVC’s unique network of ‘equity partners’, who support the firm with deal flow, expertise and business networks.
- How DCVC mixes thesis-driven and opportunistic investments.
- DCVC’s approach for the due diligence of deep tech startups on both the technology and business sides.
- Finally, we close with some remarks on the Covid-19 situation for DCVC’s portfolio and investment activity, as well as recommendations on how to deal with confinement and ramp up knowledge in deep tech.
References Mentioned
- Blue River Technology: ‘see and spray’ agtech robotics for weeding, acquired by John Deere for $305m
- SmarTex: AI-based computer vision to detect faults in fabric and improve yield (note: also a SOSV / HAX portfolio company)
- SafelyYou: AI-based video detection for falls among elderly and dementia patients.
- Curative: an oral test for Covid-19, just received FDA’s emergency use authorization.
- Space tech investments: Rocket Lab (launchers for small sats), Planet (daily satellite imaging & insights using cubesats), Capella Space (Earth imagery using satellites equipped with radars).
- DCVC’s portfolio response to Covid-19
- Night on Earth: a Netflix series filming wildlife at night (note: the eponymous movie by Jim Jarmush is also a good pick!)
Subscribe
- Podcast: Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, etc.
- Twitter: LabToMarket
