Jesse Draper is a mother of 3 boys and the Founding Partner of Halogen Ventures, a Los Angeles - based venture capital fund investing in early-stage consumer technology and B2B companies led by female and co-ed teams. A fourth generation venture capitalist and the first solo female GP in Los Angeles, Draper is a fierce advocate for investing in women and leveraging technology to solve some of the biggest challenges facing women and families today. 

Under her leadership, Halogen has backed 100+ companies including; Metropolis, Babylist, ThirdLove, Trust & Will, The Flex Company, Squad (acquired by Twitter), Eloquii (sold to Walmart) and This is L (sold to P&G). Her current portfolio includes 6 unicorns valued at over $1 Billion each. Following Jesse’s viral Medium piece, “Investing in Women Isn’t a Fucking Charity,” she’s become a leading voice for gender equity and entrepreneurship. Draper and her team also launched the ‘Halogen Fellowship in Venture Capital’ to increase diversity and inclusion in the VC industry. 

Most recently, Halogen became the first out of state venture capital firm to receive funding from InvestAL and Innovate Alabama, a statewide public-private partnership advancing entrepreneurship, technology and innovation across Alabama.  

Draper is a Kauffman Fellow and has been recognized as one of Inc.’s Top Female Founders, Business Insider’s Top 10 seed investors in the country, and listed by Marie Claire as one of the ‘50 Most Connected Women in America’. Because her Emmy nominated talk show ‘The Valley Girl Show’ kicked off her career, Draper is a regular tech TV personality showcased on networks like Hulu, Bloomberg, Cheddar, CNBC & CNN.  

She currently serves on the boards of Trust & Will, YISE, Mirza, Its Electric!, and The Flex Company. She also sits on the nonprofit advisory boards of PledgeLA (created in collaboration with the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office to advance DEI in venture capital), Bizworld, and Project Glimmer, and actively supports UCLA’s entrepreneurship community. She is a personal investor in the Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica and a recent recipient of the Shine Global Award honoring her work in childcare.

Meet Jesse Draper