By Levi Sumagaysay
The Mercury News
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) The Mercury News sits down with Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri about her new position at Kapor Capital. The venture firm focuses on funding underrepresented entrepreneurs.
OAKLAND, Calif.
While growing up in San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point, Kapor Capital’s sixth and newest partner, Uriridiakoghene “Ulili” Onovakpuri, told her parents she wanted to be a doctor.
Then she changed her mind, and her disappointed dad emailed all their relatives in Nigeria to tell them all about it. But now that she’s a venture capitalist investing in digital health and medical technology, Onovakpuri feels she is making a greater impact.
“Health care has always been my passion,” she said. “The number of folks I’m getting to help is so much more significant than if I had become a doctor.”
The Mercury News talked recently with Onovakpuri about her new position at Kapor Capital. The Oakland-based venture firm has diversity at its core, focuses on funding underrepresented entrepreneurs and recently announced it has invested in more than 100 companies. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: How important is it to be an African-American woman venture capitalist at this point in time in the tech industry and in the nation?
A: There is such a small group of African-American women in the field. It’s important to have individuals with different backgrounds and experiences because they will see products differently. They will understand different markets. I wonder how many huge products were missed because some people didn’t have access to capital.
Q: Can you talk about Kapor Capital, its purpose and how it’s different?
A: I came up through Kapor Capital. When I first started working there, we had just done the Uber investment and we hadn’t switched to being a social-impact VC. It was great to be there during the switch. I like seeing the deals we are able to get because of our commitment to diversity, and building sustainable investments where all can feel welcome. We get access to deals where others wouldn’t because of that.
I also run Kapor Capital’s summer associate program, where we bring in MBA and pre-MBA students who are interested in venture capital. I can only have that kind of opportunity at Kapor, and I will continue to run that program.
Q: Why is investing in health and medical tech important?
A: For me, health care is super important. I was diagnosed with a disease when I was 5. And I went on a scholarship trip to Ghana and came back with malaria. The doctor prescribed medicine my parents couldn’t afford. That inspired my path to health care and recognizing that it needs to be changed.
The health care that we invest in is not just nice to have, not Botox, but things like Bloomlife, which tracks prenatal health and can help women at high risk of going into labor prematurely.
HealthSherpa, another startup backed by Kapor, helped enroll more than 1 million in health insurance (under the Affordable Care Act) before the deadline recently.
When I invest, I think, “Is this going to change people’s lives, make lives better?”
Q: After the Theranos mess, do you think there’s any hesitation about investing in health and medical startups?
A: With Theranos, the issue was that there wasn’t significant due diligence done. But I think it actually gives room for people who are actually developing cutting-edge technology. The opportunity is there. Let’s find the next product that’s legitimate. I’ve heard entrepreneurs say, “We’re like Theranos, but real.” There’s definitely a desire to change how diagnostics are done.
Q: What is it like to work with the other partners at Kapor Capital, such as Ben Jealous and Ellen Pao?
A: Ben Jealous is a groundbreaker. He made the NAACP relevant again, and as a VC the great thing he does is use technology to bring equality to people’s everyday life and making sure they have access. His connections have been fundamental to our success. Now he’s running for governor of Maryland, and a lot of his platform is around universal health care.
Ellen Pao is a leader of equality for all people. She stood up for people to feel safe in their workplace. I see that equality, inclusion and justice is woven into everything she does, and I look for that in everything I do.
Uriridiakoghene (Ulili) Onovakpuri
Age: 32.
Position: Partner at Kapor Capital.
Born: Long Beach.
School: UC Berkeley (undergrad), Duke (MBA).
Previous jobs: Venture partner at Fresco Capital; director of global programs at Village Capital.
Family: One of seven kids.
Five things to know about Ulili Onovakpuri
1. She has watched every episode of “Star Trek TNG,” “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” at least twice.
2. She wears at least one purple item every day.
3. She loves technology, but has never owned an iPhone.
4. Her favorite movie is “Salaam Namaste” featuring Saif Ali Khan.
5. If she wasn’t a VC, she’d be a fiction writer.
