Judith Li, a partner at Lilly Asia Ventures, a regional corporate venture capital unit set up in 2008 by a pharmaceutical company in the region and now with three funds sponsored by US-listed drugs group Eli Lilly, in September joined the board of the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association as a non-executive director in a reflection of her importance to the local and international ecosystem.
However, the role for the trade body is fitted in between new board seats at US-based portfolio companies Gritstone Oncology, a personalised cancer immunotherapy company, after its $92.7m series B round in September and E-scape Bio, which is focused on drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease and raised $63m in July. She was already on seven other boards, split between the US and Asia.
As she said for her GCV Rising Stars 2016 award: “In Fund III, we are pioneering a few innovative cross-border deal structures that can help leverage each geography’s unique strengths.
“Using these structures, we will be able to bring in some truly cutting-edge technologies into the China market – something that has never happened before. Several of our investments have already increased significantly in value, indicating the potential that can be unlocked.
“I think there could be an era of better cross-industry collaboration coming. Healthcare has always been overly siloed and strong syndicates of CVC could help bridge leading corporations across different sub-industries. Particularly in Asia, having an investment from and being affiliated with a strong multinational brand is attractive to young companies. Our Lilly connection is a powerful platform in securing deals and providing post-investment value-add.”
Travel had been less intensive at her former role for two years at Boston-based Partners Healthcare, which followed her BA in neurobiology from Harvard University and MBA at the business school there and then work at management consultant McKinsey.