Joanne Lin is a Principal at Newark Venture Partners, an early-stage venture fund that invests in Seed/Series A stage B2B technology companies. The inaugural $45M fund is backed by seven large corporate LPs (among others) including Audible.com, Prudential, RWJBarnabas, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield, TD Bank, Panasonic and Dun & Bradstreet. The fund operates out of a private co-working space in downtown Newark where it also runs a 3-month pre-seed accelerator called NVP Labs.

Prior to joining Newark Venture Partners, Joanne was an education investor with University Ventures focusing portfolio companies with strategic support, through its focus on sales strategy & execution and the support of over 500+ corporate mentors from the LP network. A core mission of the fund is to establish Newark as an emerging tech hub and has shown early success in recruiting companies to grow a presence in the city.

As Principal, Joanne leads the fund’s direct investment strategy focusing on the sourcing and diligence of potential deals and on-going portfolio management. As a female investor and woman of color, Joanne is an active supporter of diversity on growth-stage companies transforming the higher education space. In this role, she leveraged 10 years of finance experience at JPMorgan, and past experience as a TeachForAmerica corps member. She was also co-founder of a Newark-based social enterprise aimed at expanding community access to digital manufacturing technology. Joanne has an M. Ed from Hunter College and a BA in Economics from Barnard. At home, she is the proud mother of a 1-year old son.