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Jiani Chen

Partner at Protagonist

Jiani Chen

Jiani Chen is a Partner at Protagonist, a $100M early stage venture capital firm focused on building and investing in future-defining web3 companies and protocols.124

Background

  • Jiani graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Economics26
  • Prior to joining Protagonist, she was an investor at Felicis Ventures where she sourced investments in Sourcegraph ($2B+) and helped close investments in Xilis and Opsera12
  • She also helped manage Felicis's investments in several unicorns including Canva ($40B+), Cultureamp ($1B+), Hyperscience and Dialpad ($1B+)1
  • Jiani was previously on the investment teams at ICONIQ Capital and Goldman Sachs12

Current Investments

At Protagonist, Jiani leads investments in a variety of web3 companies and protocols, including34:

  • Aptos Labs - Scalable Layer 1 Blockchain
  • EigenLayer - Shared security to hyper-scale Ethereum
  • Insomnia Labs
  • Spectral
  • Switchboard
  • Databricks
  • Sourcegraph
  • Puzzle
  • xilis

Personal

  • Jiani is an accomplished pianist and passed the highest-level certification (Level 10) in China1
  • Her favorite piece is Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu in C# Minor (Op. 66)
  • She grew up in Shanghai, China and speaks fluent Mandarin, Spanish, and French1
  • Her favorite sports are alpine skiing, hiking and boxing5

Related Questions

What are some of the notable investments Jiani Chen has made at Protagonist?
How did Jiani Chen's experience at Felicis Ventures influence her investment strategy at Protagonist?
What makes Protagonist different from other early-stage venture capital firms?
What are Jiani Chen's favorite companies in her portfolio?
How did Jiani Chen's background in economics influence her investment decisions?
Jiani Chen
Jiani Chen, photo 1
Jiani Chen, photo 2
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Experience

Partner at Protagonist (May 2022 - Present)
Investor at Felicis Ventures, ICONIQ Capital, Goldman Sachs

Education

B.A. Economics from University of Chicago, Joint Certificate Program from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Wharton Leadership in the Business World from The Wharton School, magna cum laude from St. Andrew's School

Location

United States