Julie Hanna

Overview

Julie Hanna is an Egyptian-born technologist, entrepreneur, and investor, recognized for her significant contributions to technology and social impact. She serves as Executive Chair of the Board at Kiva, a pioneering peer-to-peer lending platform that has facilitated over $700 million in loans to entrepreneurs across 190 countries. In 2015, President Obama appointed her as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, underscoring her influence in fostering global entrepreneurship. In addition to her role at Kiva, Hanna is a Special Advisor to X (formerly Google X), Alphabet's moonshot factory, where she contributes to the development of breakthrough technologies aimed at solving large-scale global challenges. She is also a Venture Partner at Obvious Ventures, investing in companies that address systemic problems in a profitable and scalable manner. Her investment portfolio includes high-growth technology companies such as Lyft, Lending Club, and Bonobos. Throughout her career, Hanna has been a founding executive of several Silicon Valley companies, including Healtheon (now WebMD), onebox.com (now OpenWave), Portola (acquired by Netscape), and Scalix, an open-source email and collaboration platform. Her work has been recognized with the 2016 Global Empowerment Award, and she has been an internationally acclaimed speaker and writer on purpose-driven profit and the democratizing potential of technology to create a more just, free, and abundant world.

Investment Focus

• Innovative technology solutions
• Scalable business models
• Positive social impact

Portfolio Companies