Top 50 Emerging Leaders 2022 (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Frank Lee, senior investment director, and John Wei, investment director, Applied Ventures
Frank Lee is a senior investment director for Applied Ventures, chip and display designer Applied Materials’ corporate venture capital (CVC) arm, having invested and helped build over 30 technology companies in semiconductors, communications, enterprise infrastructure software and mobile industries over the last two decades.
He joined in October 2018 after more than 12 years at UMC Capital, Taiwan-headquartered semiconductor producer UMC’s CVC vehicle, as managing director and represented UMC Capital in its US portfolio companies as a board member or observer.
Prior to joining Applied Ventures, Lee had spent nearly a decade at Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek’s Vertex Ventures subsidiary, where he led the deal for networking technology developer TransMedia Communications, which was acquired by Cisco in less than a year from the time of investment.
Wei, on the other hand, joined Applied Ventures in 2020. He targets various deeptech areas and industry verticals, such as advanced materials, display and industry 4.0 technologies. He also manages the unit’s investment activities in the Greater China region.
Before joining Applied Ventures, he was a key member of Sabic Ventures, the CVC subsidiary of chemical manufacturer Sabic, where he led investments in advanced materials, display, energy and sustainability, and manufacturing space across North America, Europe and China.
Wei had held multiple commercial and technical roles at The Linde Group and General Electric earlier in his career focusing on the petrochemical, power generation, alternative energy as well as oil and gas industries.
