The Top 10: #5 Zoe Zhu, vice-president, Ping An Global Voyager Fund
“Zoe is a first class honours graduate from Cambridge and is an immensely talented member of our team,” said Donald Lacey, managing director and chief operating officer of China-listed insurance provider Ping An’s Hong Kong-based $1bn corporate venturing unit, Global Voyager Fund.
“She plays an important leadership role on our investing team and has sourced a range of extremely promising deals for Ping An Global Voyager. She sits on the boards of two of our portfolio companies – Tytocare and PlusDental – and has played a key role in developing our digital health investment strategy.”
Zoe Zhu joined Global Voyager in May 2019 after spending four years at internet group Tencent where she held a senior manager role in its strategy investment group focusing on Chinese internet and technology businesses. Currently, she leads healthtech investments where an affiliation with Ping An is likely to create significant value over time.
Zhu said: “Our core investment focus in healthtech is digital health as we believe healthcare delivery is pivoting towards vastly increased reliance on digital solutions. In the health portfolio we have companies in telemedicine, imaging AI, advanced diagnostics and connected medical device, among others.
“I successfully led the investment execution of PlusDental, a Germany-based digital dentistry platform, earlier this year at the height of the global pandemic. The deal was able to close smoothly in a challenging macro environment as our investment analytical rigour provided comfort to the investment committee and the entire investment process was done in a very efficient manner.
“I also identified and connected PlusDental to a potential China partner that is highly synergistic to them, and advised them on the go to market strategy in China. The two parties are now working towards a potential partnership to bring the German brand to Chinese consumers.”
She added: “VC is a dynamic industry that creates value for the society by optimising capital allocation in the private market to foster innovation and technological change. CVC adds an extra strategic layer and is best-positioned to create synergistic value for startups by leveraging corporate resources. I enjoy discovering and working with visionary entrepreneurs and startup teams to make a positive impact to the world.”
