When Crysti Chen heard about the shortage of medical masks in Seattle-area hospitals, her first instinct was to reach out to entrepreneurs in her native China, who were entrenched in the battlefields of the coronavirus outbreak months ahead of the United States.
Coronavirus Live Updates: The latest COVID-19 developments in Seattle and the world of tech
Within days, the 27-year old University of Washington alumna organized expedited shipments from Guangdong province, securing 35,000 masks for UW Medicine, Swedish Medical Center, Seattle Children’s Hospital and other area clinics. Chen’s #Masks4WA campaign has raised more than $20,000 with plans to supply smaller clinics and firefighters with protective gear.
Chen, who moved to the U.S. in 2009 to attend high school in Tacoma, Wash., has long been active in the philanthropy and impact investing communities. After running a nonprofit that promoted education and gender equality in rural China, Vietnam, and Kenya, three years ago she co-founded UniWill Ventures, which invests in seed and early stage startups, including agtech, fintech, edtech and waste management.
With more than 30 companies in its portfolio, the firm with offices in Seattle and Palo Alto, Calif., is focused on young and minority entrepreneurs who are advancing social and environmental changes.
We caught up with Chen for this Q&A:
GeekWire: What is UniWill Ventures?
Chen: UniWill manages money from three public Chinese companies; two in pharmaceutical and healthcare, and another in a precise manufacturing industry. With so much miscommunication between the U.S. and China, we want to function as a bridge, to facilitate understanding and exchange ideas between millennials, especially in the VC and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
Our average check is around $500,000, we are often a follow-on investor in seed, pre A and series A, with the majority of our investments in the United States. I personally care about agtech, genomics and clean energy, while my business partner has different interests, so our investment thesis is a combination of our passions and current trends. Recently, we’ve been investing in a few plant-based food and beverage brands, which have huge market potential among millennials and Gen Z. We think this trend can help change consumer behavior and reduce farming pollution.
GW: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your investment strategy?
Chen: We are slowing down and adopting a more conservative attitude. We are extra careful with company valuations, use of funds, and burn rate, just to prepare for the worst case of another economic downturn. We also check on our portfolio companies more frequently to see if they have any needs or difficulties during this turbulent time, and look for possible assistance that we can provide. We are ready to give bridge funding, if necessary. Some of our portfolio companies have adapted really well. For example, Arcus, a New York-based fintech platform, has partnered with 7-Eleven to help cash-centric customers use touchless mobile payments to slow the virus spread. Another company, SupChina, which is an independent digital media company, has been holding English-language webinars with Chinese doctors, researchers and professors, who are sharing their experiences with COVID-19.
GW: As coronavirus changes industries around the globe, where do you see opportunities as an impact investor?
Chen: I am looking forward to solutions that promote more cooperation in the global supply chain. After years of trade wars, we are now faced with the challenges of moving personal protective equipment and other supplies across borders, while getting the fastest delivery at the most efficient rate. I also see opportunities in developing a blockchain-like decentralized network that would help bring together the best minds around the world to work on the COVID-19 vaccine.
GW: While masks have been widely acceptable in China even before the coronavirus outbreak, the CDC is only now recommending them for the U.S. public. What other differences do you see in the way the two countries are responding to the pandemic?
Chen: A big challenge, as well as a major difference between western countries and China in containing the pandemic, is how we deal with sensitive personal data amid the global public health crisis. In China, within 3 weeks of the outbreak, all citizens with a smart phone were required to download a mobile app that monitors one’s body temperature and records his or her movements. If fever spikes and the test is positive for coronavirus, the government is then able to trace back and test everyone who has been in contact with the sick person. This increases the traceability of the spread, and enables China to contain the virus more effectively. No one seems to question developers or the government about their use of private data during the crisis. I can only imagine how impossible it would be to enforce a similar technology in the U.S. due to privacy concerns, even if it’s necessary to control the pandemic.
