Dr. Ling Wong is a General Partner at Sea Lane Ventures and Senior Advisor to Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Sea Lane Ventures was founded on the principle to be a true partner and champion to entrepreneurs, using science and technology to build companies that fundamentally transform the world for the betterment of humanity today, and in the future.
Dr. Wong draws from her unique background and experience as a scientist, entrepreneur, and investor to support and bring to market companies that are uniquely positioned to drive transformative change, while generating financial success.
Dr. Wong has always been passionate about seeking entrepreneurs and partners that are looking to disrupt the status quo in science and technology for the betterment of society. Prior to Sea Lane Ventures, she served at the Gates Foundation as a Senior Program Officer in the Global Health Office of the President where she developed strategic engagement with the biotechnology and healthcare sector. She also helped establish a $1.5B global investment portfolio of both public and private businesses, and created a $200M early stage program to support early stage entrepreneurs (over 800 projects in 60+ countries) whose core mission was to improving lives globally.
On the investing front, Dr. Wong has been involved in some of the market’s most notable investments and exits including several $1B+ companies: Devoted Health, Orca Bio, Collective Health, Color Genomics, Apeel Sciences, Stripe, Offer Up, Rappi, and Branch Metrics. Highlight deals include: Anacor Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer $5.2B), Genocea Biosciences (NASDAQ: GNCA), Visterra (acquired for $430M), and most recently Slack (NYSE: WORK) and Guardant Health (NASDAQ: GH).
Dr. Wong holds a PhD from Harvard in Engineering Sciences, a BSc in Chemical Engineering and BSc in Biology from MIT. During her time at Harvard, she created the world’s first inhaled TB vaccine. This training refined her skills in developing a structured approach to assessing opportunities and tackling complex challenges – a core component of recognizing and investing in innovative companies.