Co-Founder, Managing Partner, Grit Ventures
Jennifer Gill Roberts is a California native, technologist, repeat entrepreneur and seasoned venture capitalist. She co-founded her current fund, Grit Ventures in 2015 with her partner, Kelly Coyne, to focus on early-stage investments in AI+Robotics, with a particular focus on older industrial verticals including construction, agriculture, energy, transportation, logistics and healthcare, where shortage of labor and need for automation is a huge driver in the size and immediacy of the opportunity. As part of its unique sourcing model, Grit has partnered with a half dozen universities and incubators in four geographies: CA, TX, CO and PA to create investment hubs. Jennifer is also on the Advisory Council for the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Austin and serves as an Advisor and Mentor for several entrepreneurial organizations at Stanford.
Prior to Grit, Jennifer co-founded RallyOn, a wellness gaming startup, and served as Chair and Chief Marketing Officer. She was a founder and Managing Partner at top tier venture capital firm, Sevin Rosen Funds, where she helped grow the Palo Alto office from 2 Managing Partners to over 8 investment professionals over a decade, leading investments in seed-stage market leading companies in optical and wireless equipment.
Prior to her career in venture, Jennifer led product and technical efforts at Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard Company, and Sun Microsystems.
As an early champion of women entrepreneurs, Jennifer co-founded Watermark, the premier organization for women entrepreneurs and executives. She has a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MBA from Stanford and an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.