Fundraising Fox
Cathy Gao
InvestorPartner at Sapphire Partners · Partner at Sapphire Ventures · Board director at EliseAI · Board director at Jeeva AI
San Francisco, CA
Writes $10M – $100M checks · typically $25M
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About
Cathy Gao is a Partner at Sapphire Ventures investing in B2B AI and software, and serves on the boards of EliseAI, Blue J, Jeeva AI, Sword Health, and Medable. Before Sapphire she invested at AXA Venture Partners and began her career at TA Associates and Blackstone, and studied economics and history at Wharton.
Likely email· guessed from name + firm domain, not firm-published
- c•••@sapphireventures.comreveal100% confident
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Beyond investing
- Education
- Studied at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (B.S., Economics with a Minor in History)
- Awards
- Cathy Gao graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School.
- Hobbies
- Cathy Gao is an avid reader of narrative history and literary fiction, favoring authors like Erik Larson and Ursula K. Le Guin. Cathy Gao enjoys playing beach volleyball.
- Family
- Cathy Gao is the daughter of a software engineer and a small business owner. Cathy Gao lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.
From published sources — common ground for a warm intro.
Board director at EliseAI
Intro paths
In turn, Cathy can intro founders to EliseAI's investors below.
EliseAI's investors · 13
Co-founders at EliseAI
Board director at Jeeva AI
Intro paths
In turn, Cathy can intro founders to Jeeva AI's investors below.
Jeeva AI's investors · 8
Co-founders at Jeeva AI
Executive at Sapphire Ventures
Intro paths
In turn, Cathy can intro founders to Sapphire Ventures's investors below.
Sapphire Ventures's investors · 2
Experience
- Sapphire VenturesPartnercurrent2019 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- EliseAIBoard Membercurrent2024 — present
- Blue JBoard Membercurrent2025 — present
- Sword HealthBoard Observercurrent2021 — present
- Medable, IncBoard Observercurrent2020 — present
- GemBoard Observercurrent2021 — present
- CaptivateIQInvestorcurrent2022 — present
- MoveworksInvestor2019 — 2025
- AXA Venture Partners (AVP)Investor2017 — 2019San Francisco Bay Area
- GustoFinance, Strategy & Product2015 — 2017San Francisco
- TA AssociatesAssociate2012 — 2015Boston
- BlackstoneAnalyst2010 — 2012New York
Skills & more
+8 more
ValuationFinancial ModelingPrivate EquityCorporate DevelopmentFinanceCorporate FinanceStart-upsDue DiligenceLanguages Chinese - Mandarin
From Cathy's professional profile.
Deals · 3
EliseAIBoard seat
via Sapphire Ventures · filed Aug 2025 · $210M raise
Jeeva AIBoard seat
via Sapphire Ventures · filed Apr 2025 · $8.4M raise
Safe graphBoard seat
via Sapphire Ventures · filed Mar 2021 · $44.7M raise
Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.
Other disclosed investments
Board seats
Sources: the firm's website · SEC Form D filings · curated public sources.
Colleagues at Sapphire Partners
Network9
Investors connected to Cathy in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Cathy Gao?
- Cathy Gao is a Partner at Sapphire Ventures investing in B2B AI and software, and serves on the boards of EliseAI, Blue J, Jeeva AI, Sword Health, and Medable. Before Sapphire she invested at AXA Venture Partners and began her career at TA Associates and Blackstone, and studied economics and history at Wharton.
- Where does Cathy Gao work?
- Cathy Gao is Partner at Sapphire Partners and Board director at EliseAI and Board director at Jeeva AI.
- What does Cathy Gao invest in?
- Cathy Gao invests in AI & Machine Learning, Enterprise Software, SaaS.
- What check size does Cathy Gao write?
- Cathy Gao typically writes checks of $10M – $100M.
- What boards does Cathy Gao sit on?
- Cathy Gao holds tracked board seats at Blue J, EliseAI, EliseAI, Jeeva AI, Jeeva AI, Medable, Safe graph, Sword Health.
- What companies has Cathy Gao invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Blue J, CaptivateIQ, EliseAI, Gem, Medable, noHQ, ROGER, Safe graph.
- Where did Cathy Gao go to school?
- Cathy Gao studied at The Wharton School (Bachelor's degree, concentration in Finance); University of Pennsylvania.
- What awards has Cathy Gao received?
- Cathy Gao graduated summa cum laude from the Wharton School.
Same school
Also attended The Wharton School2,000
+ 1,994 more
Also attended University of Pennsylvania1,512
+ 1,506 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Blue J6
Also worked at Gem14
+ 8 more
