Kelly Chen
Founding Partner @ NATO Innovation Fund
San Francisco, United States
Kelly Chen is a Partner at DCVC. Kelly’s interest has always been how to use data and optimization to push boundaries, faster. From her career running a fixed income trading desk to building out a new quant product line for a global investment bank, she has focused closely on building the best models, structuring, and sales teams to optimizeoutcomes. At DCVC, she enjoys working on problems arising from fundamental population and labor driven shifts. She spends the majority of her time in hardware, where she believes we will see a massive transformation in the next 5-10 years. She is especially excited about teams building revolutionary tech in AI, robotics, manufacturing, and future of work.Kelly received a joint BS/MS in Financial Engineering and Operations Research with honors from Columbia University and an MBA in Entrepreneurial Management from Wharton, where she served as President of the Entrepreneurship Club.
- Total investments:
- 3
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 100%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Kelly Chen invests in
Stages Kelly Chen invests in
Countries Kelly Chen invests in
Contacts
| Type | Contact | Validation |
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| Personal email | ||
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Investment Focus
Industry
- Manufacturing 2 (67%)
- Robotics 1 (33%)
- Aerospace 1 (33%)
- Analytics 1 (33%)
- Logistics 1 (33%)
Stage
- Series A 2 (67%)
- Seed 1 (33%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aquark Technologies develops atom systems to develop quantum applications, including atomic clocks, sensors, and navigation systems. Aquark develops a technique to miniaturize cold atom systems using unique laser geometry that is based on more than 10 years of proprietary research at the University of Southampton. | $5.6M / Seed / Sep 19, 2024 | ||
| iCOMAT has pioneered the revolutionary Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS) technology, the first ever defect-free fibre-steering process for composites. This game-changing solution has helped customers unlock new levels of performance from composites, enabling them to manufacture lighter, more cost-effective products that perform better than ever before.Originally a spin-out company from the University of Bristol, iCOMAT has developed a patented manufacturing process for advanced carbon fibre composites which are lighter, stronger & more cost-effective than the state-of-the-art processes for the aerospace, automotive & marine sectors. iCOMAT’s innovative technology, Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS), is the world’s first automated composites manufacturing process that can place carbon fibre tapes along curved paths without generating defects. Its defect-free fibre steering capability realises ultra lightweight composite structures beyond the limit of the conventional straight fibre designs & complex geometry which is not manufacturable using current automated manufacturing technologies. Unique in the world of automated composite manufacturing, iCOMAT’s technology is set to revolutionise transport, driving performance & cost-benefits across multiple markets such as aerospace & automotive. Beyond state-of-the-art lightweighting solutions - Composite materials are anisotropic, they are only strong in the direction of their fibres. iCOMAT’s specialist technology steers the path of fibres, enabling optimisation of mechanical properties at any point of the structure & ultimately improve all aspects of structural performance. This produces lighter, more efficient components & uses material only where needed in the most efficient way so use of raw materials & overall production costs are drastically reduced. World-Class Composite Manufacturing Systems – iCOMAT is proud to be a market-leading solutions provider, working with customers to elevate product performance to the next-level. | $22.5M / Series A / Jun 05, 2024 | ||
| Recycleye is a developer of digital tools designed to detect and provide analytics on waste management. The company's tools specialize in machine learning tools to enable smarter characterization, ubiquitous tracking, and automated sorting of waste, enabling users to accelerate the transition towards a circular economy. | $17M / Series A / Feb 02, 2023 |
Co-Investors
About NATO Innovation Fund
The NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) was created to supercharge the Alliance’s unique innovation ecosystems. Allied talent and research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) are world-leading, but the market to support deep tech innovation is underfunded. With the NIF, the fund is creating a commercialization machine in both theprivate and public sectors, backing innovators to secure the future for the Alliance's 1 billion citizens.
NATO Innovation Fund Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Andrea Traversone
Managing Partner
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Chris O'Connor
Founding Partner
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John Ridge
Chief Adoption Officer
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Kelly Chen
Founding Partner
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Kusti Salm
Member of the Board
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FAQ
What does Kelly Chen invest in?
Kelly Chen invests primarily in Manufacturing, Robotics and Aerospace startups, most often at Series A and Seed stage. Most of the 3 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United Kingdom. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact Kelly Chen?
Public channels for Kelly Chen include LinkedIn and X (Twitter). For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
When did Kelly Chen last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Kelly Chen closed in Sep 2024. Shizune tracks 3 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 Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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