Stories you may like

• The growing trend of Abacus education in this era,gives an opportunity to train children abacus based mental arithmetic as well as grows their cognitive skills,

• Inviting SkillTraining centres all over India to affiliate with BSS and Become B'Voc centres of Singhania University

• Inviting Panchayat Wise Skill Gap Testing and Training Centres all over India for Nsim's Life Long Learning Program

• Be a seller in E-commerce Platforms...

• How to do online marketing through e-commerce websites?

Theresia Gouw: Co-founder of Acrew Capital

Theresia Gouw, veteran Silicon Valley investor and co-founder of Acrew Capital, has made history as the first and only female billionaire venture capitalist in the United States. As the world’s first self-made female billionaire venture capitalist, she’s changed how investing works with her smart decisions, bold moves, and strong support for diversity. 

Starting as a founding partner at Accel, then launching Aspect Ventures and later Acrew Capital, her career is proof that patience and smart risks pay off. By 2025, her net worth hit $1.1 billion, thanks to early bets on companies like Imperva and Forescout, plus new IPOs from Acrew’s portfolio.

Let's explore Theresia Gouw's inspiring journey, career, and influence.

Theresia Gouw - Biography

Theresia Gouw - Early Life and Education

Theresia Gouw was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1968 to a dentist father and a nurse mother, both of Chinese-Indonesian descent. When she was around three years old, her family fled the country to escape discrimination during the Suharto era and settled near Buffalo, New York. Her parents started over and her father worked as a dishwasher while re-qualifying as a dentist in the U.S.

Theresia Gouw took a different path by going against the norm at her high school, where only about 40% of students pursued higher education. In 1986, she enrolled at Brown University, choosing to major in engineering. It was during her summer internships at General Motors and British Petroleum that she discovered a strong interest in business development, which would later shape her career in venture capital.

After graduating from Brown in 1990, Gouw prepared for the GMAT and landed a role as a management consultant at Bain & Company in Boston. Her time at Bain sharpened her interest in strategy and business leadership, leading her to pursue an MBA at Stanford University, where she further developed the skills that would later fuel her success in venture capital.

Theresia Gouw - Career Beginnings

Theresia Gouw’s career kicked off with a strong foundation in business strategy and problem-solving. After earning her engineering degree from Brown, she joined Bain & Company in Boston as a management consultant. At Bain, she worked closely with senior executives across industries, helping solve complex business challenges. 

Soon after earning her MBA from Stanford in 1996, Theresia Gouw joined forces with a few of her classmates to launch her first startup. Together, they raised $1 million in venture funding to co-found Release Software, a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company focused on enabling payment and licensing technologies for the software industry. This early entrepreneurial experience gave Gouw firsthand insight into the startup world from fundraising to product-market fit.

Gouw began her venture capital journey in 1999 when she joined Accel as an investment associate. Over the next 15 years, she played a key role in several standout investments, including Trulia, a real estate platform that later went public and was acquired by Zillow, and Imperva, a cybersecurity firm that also made a successful public debut.

However, the most transformative moment in her career and the biggest contributor to her wealth came in 2005. Less than two years after Facebook's blockbuster IPO in May 2012, one of the most successful tech listings of all time Theresia Gouw decided it was time for a new chapter. In 2014, she left Accel and teamed up with fellow venture veteran Jennifer Fonstad to launch her own firm Aspect Ventures.

Theresia Gouw - Contributions and Growth at Acrew Capital

In 2019, Theresia Gouw took her venture capital journey a step further by co-founding Acrew Capital, a values-driven firm built around the belief that “diversity of perspective is a competitive advantage.” After parting ways with Aspect Ventures, Gouw joined hands with a team of next-generation investors, including Lauren Kolodny and Mark Kraynak, to launch Acrew, aiming to reimagine how venture capital operates in modern markets.

Acrew Capital doesn’t follow a strict rule to invest a set amount or percentage based on diversity metrics. Instead, the focus is on finding exceptional talent, regardless of background. As Simon Taylor, founder and CEO of data protection startup HYCU, puts it: "Having someone like Theresia on the board, who truly values diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), sends a clear message, people will be judged on their capabilities, not on how they look or where they come from."

Notably, Acrew led HYCU’s $53 million Series B round in 2022, backing the company’s mission and team with confidence. Since its launch just over five years ago, Acrew Capital has made around 150 investments, according to PitchBook. The firm has already scored several major wins. One standout is Chime, the fintech giant preparing for an IPO at a projected $11 billion valuation. The success of that deal earned Acrew partner Lauren Kolodny a spot on the Forbes 2025 Midas List, a ranking of the top venture capitalists in the world.

Theresia Gouw - Philanthropy

Gouw also co-founded All Raise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the representation and success of women in venture capital and tech. Additionally, she played a key role in launching the Diversify Capital Fund, the largest initiative of its kind focused on boosting equity ownership and access to funding for underrepresented communities in the tech ecosystem. 

At a time when DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) efforts are being challenged across the tech industry, Theresia Gouw continues to lead by example. She made headlines by personally donating $1 million to Fisk University, a historically Black institution, enabling it to invest in one of Acrew Capital’s funds. This groundbreaking move not only provided Fisk with access to venture returns but also marked a powerful step toward diversifying the ranks of venture fund investors.

Theresia Gouw - Awards and Recognition

She has been featured on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women list, recognized nine times on the Forbes Midas List, and named one of TIME Magazine’s 40 Most Influential Minds in Tech.