Top 50 Emerging Leaders 2021 continued (in alphabetical order by CVC unit): Bo Zhu, head, Lam Research Capital Asia-Pacific
Bo Zhu is a China-based partner at Lam Research Capital, a corporate venture capital (CVC) vehicle for US-headquartered chipmaker Lam Research, where he leads semiconductor, advanced manufacturing and Asia deals for the unit.
The unit invests in early-stage companies developing technologies in the semiconductor ecosystem, artificial intelligence for manufacturing, additive manufacturing and other Industry 4.0-related domains.
Faran Nouri, managing director of Lam Capital, said: “Bo has been a startup leader and a successful investor. He is bilingual and bicultural and has been effective at closing some very difficult investments for us. In these times of geopolitical strife, we are fortunate to have Bo and continue our investments in Asia.”
Zhu joined the unit in June 2018 from Maven Optronics China, a manufacturer advancing chip-scale packaging LEDs for display and healthcare industries, where he was co-founder and president.
Prior to Maven, he held multiple positions at semiconductor technology provider Applied Materials, including director of solar product sales for North Asia, associate at its CVC arm, Applied Ventures, and manager in new business development.
His early experience includes commercialisation of machine learning from academia into industry, deeptech startup in the US and Greater China, and product development in the semiconductor industry. He also served as co-director of the venture capital group at Hua Yuan Science and Technology Association, a nonprofit US-China professional organisation commonly known as HYSTA, where he drove cross-border partnerships to foster a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Zhu earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from University of California at Berkeley, an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a bachelor of science degree in manufacturing from Tsinghua University.
