Jennifer Li (a16z)

Li was born and raised in northern China and moved to the United States for school, earning an MS in Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon UniversityCarnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It grew out of the Carnegie Technical Schools, founded with funding from Andrew Carnegie in 1900, which were renamed the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912 and took the present name after merging with the Mellon Institute in 1967. The university is known for computer science, robotics, engineering, and the arts, and has campuses in Qatar, Silicon Valley, and Rwanda. As of September 2025, it enrolled 16,582 students. Its current president is Farnam Jahanian. On September 30, 2026, the university announced a $3 billion gift from Ken Griffin and plans to build a new campus in Miami.Open the full entry and an MS in Technology Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.⁠[1][1]

Before joining a16z, Li spent years in product management: she first ran self-service and analytics products at AppDynamics, which was later acquired by Cisco for $3.7 billion, and then led product at the AI startup Solvvy, building conversational AI for customer experience; Solvvy was acquired by Zoom in 2022.⁠[1][2]

In 2016, Li was selected as a Product Fellow at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.⁠[1]

In 2018, Li joined the infrastructure team at Andreessen Horowitz as an investment partner, moving from operating roles into venture capital. Martin CasadoMartin CasadoMartin Casado is a computer scientist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he leads infrastructure investing. A major proponent of software-defined networking, he co-founded Nicira and served as its chief technology officer, and after VMware acquired the company he ran its networking and security business; he also co-founded the nonprofit MuralNet.Open the full entry later wrote that over six years the two of them worked side by side to build the team, culture, investment philosophy, and operating model of a16z’s infrastructure investing.⁠[2][3][3]

At a16z she helped with the firm’s investments in the data connectivity company Fivetran and the data analytics developer tool company dbt (both deals were led by Casado), and led its investments in the developer-focused video platform Mux, the database company MotherDuck, and the AI voice company ElevenLabs; she was also a key partner on investments such as Rasa and Ideogram.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][3]

On April 19, 2024, Andreessen Horowitz announced Li’s promotion to general partner, continuing to invest across enterprise software with a focus on infrastructure and horizontal SaaS. She became the firm’s 27th general partner and one of four general partners on the infrastructure team (the others being Martin Casado, Anjney Midha, and Zane Lackey), helping to invest the new $1.25 billion infrastructure fund, part of the $7.2 billion a16z had just raised and the team’s first infrastructure fund.⁠[3][2][2][2][3]

Casado said the promotion meant more autonomy in deal making and more influence on the team’s culture, investment philosophy, and operating model; quoting Ben HorowitzBen HorowitzBen Horowitz is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist and business author who co-founded Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with Marc Andreessen in 2009. He previously led Loudcloud’s transition into Opsware and its 2007 sale to Hewlett-Packard. His writing and investing address startup management, organizational culture and the relationship between technology and cultural industries.Open the full entry, he said she “embodies the a16z culture.”⁠[2][3]

On October 9, 2026, a16z published its announcement of leading the investment in the AI company TypeSafe AITypeSafe AITypeSafe AI is an artificial intelligence company based in San Francisco, founded in 2024, that develops “System One” models which software calls directly and which output structured judgments with probabilities rather than text; its first public model is Jev. The company came out of stealth on September 15, 2026, announcing a $40 million seed round led by DCVC, and on October 9 of the same year announced an $870 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz at a $7.5 billion valuation.Open the full entry, co-signed by Li together with Sarah WangSarah Wang (a16z)Sarah Wang is a venture capitalist and general partner on the growth team at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). She joined a16z in 2019 and leads growth-stage investments in AI, enterprise applications and infrastructure, having invested in companies including Character.AI, Wiz, Cursor, Temporal and Exa.Open the full entry, Martin Casado, Marc AndreessenMarc AndreessenMarc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist, a co-founder and general partner of the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). While in college he helped develop the graphical web browser Mosaic, then co-founded Netscape and Loudcloud (later renamed Opsware), and has long served as a director of Meta; he has also published essays such as “Why Software Is Eating the World.”Open the full entry, and Ben Horowitz, with Li listed first. The same day TypeSafe AI announced an $870 million Series A at a $7.5 billion valuation.⁠[4][4][5]

As of October 2026, Li leads infrastructure investments at a16z, focusing on data systems, developer tools, and AI, with a preference for open source and for products that turn hard technical problems into simple solutions. She serves on the boards of ElevenLabs, fal, Mintlify, Mux, Pylon, Rasa, Reducto, Stainless, and Stacker, and is a board observer at Fivetran, Ideogram, MotherDuck, NX, and Vantage.⁠[1][1][1]

Andreessen Horowitz: Official website: https://a16z.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/JenniferHli (opens in a new window)⁠[3]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferhli/ (opens in a new window)⁠[3]