Nan Zhou

USA

Investment Director at Baidu Changcheng Investment Partners

Joining in Baidu in 2016, Ms. Nan Zhou was leading Baidu’s strategic & venture investment, established Baidu’s venture fund platform in Silicon Valley, and built the investment landscape for both Baidu and Baidu’s affiliated funds in the U.S. During her career at Baidu Investment, she developed in-depth industry insights in artificial intelligence (AI) and its application across different industries, self-driving cars (sensor & system), deep-tech/semiconductor/edge computing, digital health, and SaaS. She also initiated the AI & healthcare investment coverage in Baidu, bringing the human genome sequencing pioneer Craig Venture to meet with Baidu CEO Robin Li in 2016. Over the past 3 years, she built an elite deal-sourcing network of 20+ VCs, 300+ scientists & engineers, and entrepreneurs in both Silicon Valley and Beijing. Her lead selected deals include Kitt.ai (Baidu’s most important acquisition in 2017), Velodyne, Falcon Computing, MoreHealth, Ripcord, Cerebras, Atomwise, Black Sesame, etc.
In April 2018, she was selected by Baidu former CFO Jennifer Li as a founding member to form the growth stage venture fund Baidu ChangCheng Investment Partners. She helped define investment strategy and scope, lead the $500mm USD fund raising activities, and initiated meetings with hundreds of potential LPs including FOF, family office, endowment, and wealthy individuals. She also organized and formed advisory committee of 20+ including scientists from academia & industry, and tech company executives.
Prior to Baidu, Nan served as Assistant Vice President of Investment Banking at Barclays and Jefferies, in both NYC and Hong Kong. She led many technology IPO and M&A deals during her investment banking career. She was familiar with both Asia and U.S. capital market, and cultivated strong network in China.
She holds full-time MBA degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and B.A. of Economics from University of Maryland at College Park. She also spent half year in London to study European economics & business as LBS exchange student.
Recent award: Received “2018 Top 100 Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards: ranking #19”