# Ann Lai

> Ann Lai is a seed investor at Bullpen Capital (San Francisco) backing Events and Payments. See 9 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Bullpen Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bullpen-capital)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 9
- Last investment: Jun 2026
- Lead investor: 100%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laiann/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/annisms
- Website: https://x.com/annisms

Ann Lai is a seed investor at Bullpen Capital in San Francisco focused on Events and Payments. Ann Lai is the General Partner of Bullpen Capital. She was a Principal at Binary Capital and the Head of Strategic Growth of StyleSeat. She attended Harvard University.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Events | 2 | 22% |
| Payments | 2 | 22% |
| Software | 2 | 22% |
| Biotechnology | 2 | 22% |
| Digital Media | 2 | 22% |

24 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 3 | 33% |
| Series A | 3 | 33% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 2 | 22% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 11% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DropGenie | DropGenie is building connected hardware to automate gene editing. They are accelerating the pace of discovery through the generation of standardized and compatible scientific information. | $3.2M | Seed | Jun 22, 2026 |  |
| PINATA | PINATA is a staff recruitment platform. The company offers a simple, mobile and fully automated applications for brands both big and small to recruit staff for events, demos, promotional events on a full-time or part-time basis by connecting brands with the right talent for the job and monitors consumer feedback to new innovation and productplacement. | $10M | Series A | May 15, 2023 |  |
| Roofr | Roofr is a marketplace for roofing and utilizes satellite imagery for instant roofing estimates.A technologically advanced roofing brokerage that uses revolutionary software to simplify roof replacement and repair. At Roofr, they aim to provide the highest quality workmanship and service in the roofing industry. By providing affordable pricingand revolutionary convenience, Roofr emphasizes the importance of customer experience over company profit. | $12M | Series A | Sep 13, 2022 |  |
| Fanimal | Fanimal is a live events platform that sells tickets to all US live events with low, transparent prices, and group purchases, which allows for seamless purchasing coordination among friends. | $4M | Seed | May 24, 2022 |  |
| Happs | Happs is a global community working together to change the face of live news. Happs is a live streaming news platform that covers top stories from around the world. Using Happs app, it alerts the community to global breaking or trending news events — this could be an article, tweet, image, or live video of the event. | $4.7M | Series A | Jun 24, 2021 |  |
| Roofr | Roofr is a marketplace for roofing and utilizes satellite imagery for instant roofing estimates.A technologically advanced roofing brokerage that uses revolutionary software to simplify roof replacement and repair. At Roofr, they aim to provide the highest quality workmanship and service in the roofing industry. By providing affordable pricingand revolutionary convenience, Roofr emphasizes the importance of customer experience over company profit. | $4.3M | Seed | May 18, 2021 |  |
| Hype | Pico’s Audience Relationship Management platform is built for an emerging class of small and midsize businesses creating close-knit communities around content and identity. They range from local newsrooms and trade publications to fan clubs, non-profits, and much more. | $6.5M |  | Apr 14, 2021 |  |
| Hype | Hype is an all-in-one, verticalized SaaS platform giving creators and small business entrepreneurs the tools and insights to turn their social media audience into a business. Founded in 2016, the company is supporting the next generation of audience-driven marketing and commerce through its full suite of products and tools. | $5.5M | Venture - Series Unknown | Apr 14, 2021 |  |
| Nanome | Nanome is a virtual reality software company that offers a collaborative XR software platform for molecular design.The platform accelerates existing computational workflows at the molecular scale and unlocks more scientists to leverage powerful molecular computations + AI. Nanome has worked largely on projects with companies in the food andbeverage industry, as well as another to develop more sustainable batteries.The San Diego, California-based company was launched in 2015 by Edgardo Leija, Samuel Hessenauer, Keita Funakawa, and Steven McCloskey. | $3M | Venture - Series Unknown | Feb 09, 2021 |  |

9 of 9 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Crosslink Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/crosslink-capital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Bloomberg Beta](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bloomberg-beta) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Fourth Realm](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fourth-realm) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Gaingels](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gaing) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Precursor Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/precursor-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Stripe](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stripe) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## About Bullpen Capital

VC Fund · Menlo Park, United States

Bullpen is a venture capital fund that invests in post-seed capital into early-stage companies.Bullpen Capital launched 10 years ago, the goal was to back overlooked entrepreneurs left behind by the latest Silicon Valley fads. The firm's portfolio spans all categories from fantasy sports to data center equipment to restaurant SaaS.Bullpenwas founded in 2010 by Paul Martino and is based in San Francisco, California, United States.

5 contacts available at Bullpen Capital.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Andrew Trader | Operating Partner & Head of Platform | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/andrew-trader |
| Anna Zakharchenko | Associate | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/anna-zakharchenko |
| Ann Lai | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ann-lai-af3e |
| Bert Navarrete | Venture Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bert-navarrete |
| Duncan Davidson | Co-founder & General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/duncan-davidson |

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### Similar stage
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- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Ann Lai invest in?

Ann Lai invests primarily in Events, Payments and Software startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 9 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Ann Lai last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Ann Lai closed in Jun 2026. Shizune tracks 9 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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