Fundraising Fox

Justin Kao

Investor

Partner at DFJ

San Francisco Bay Area

Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $1.5M

About

Justin Kao is a partner at DFJ Growth who invests in companies transforming human health. He co-founded Helix in 2015, serving as founding CEO and later chief business officer, where he led partnerships with health systems, payers, and life sciences companies and worked on the company's COVID-19 diagnostic testing efforts. Before DFJ Growth, he was a partner at Khosla Ventures and an investor at Warburg Pincus, and earlier worked at Boston Consulting Group and Onyx Pharmaceuticals. He holds a BS in chemical engineering and MS in bioengineering from Stanford, plus a JD from Stanford Law School and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗

Invests in

AI & Machine LearningBiotechDeep TechDigital HealthHealthtech

Experience

  1. DFJ GrowthPartnercurrent2021 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
  2. Khosla VenturesPartner2020 — 2021San Francisco Bay Area
  3. HelixCo-Founder and Chief Business Officer2015 — 2020San Mateo, CA
  4. Warburg PincusVice President, Healthcare2010 — 2015New York, San Francisco
  5. Onyx PharmaceuticalsIntern, Corporate Development2009
  6. Cooley Godward Kronish LLPSummer Associate2008
  7. The Boston Consulting GroupAssociate2005 — 2007

Education

  1. Stanford University Graduate School of BusinessMBA, Business
  2. Stanford Law SchoolJD, Law
  3. Stanford UniversityMS, Bioengineering
  4. Stanford UniversityBS, Chemical Engineering

Skills & more

Valuation12Mergers & Acquisitions18Private Equity25Lifesciences2Oncology4Analysis5Financial Modeling8Competitive Analysis9Corporate Development17Due Diligence12Leadership7Management12
+9 moreBiotechnologyInvestmentsStrategyCommercializationMergersLife SciencesVenture CapitalDesignMergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

From Justin's professional profile.

Same school

Also attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business1,150

Roelof BothaAdvisor & former Steward at Sequoia Capital; SpaceX board memberPeter FentonGeneral Partner at BenchmarkSteve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future VenturesDavid SzeAdvisory Partner at GreylockKatherine BoyleGeneral Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (American Dynamism)Hunter WalkCo-founder & Partner at Homebrew

+ 1,144 more

Also attended Stanford Law School65

Steve AbbottPartner, Capital Markets at Sapphire VenturesMichael KlaykoOperating Executive at Marlin Equity PartnersSandy MillerInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)Tim HsiaFounder at Context VenturesRenataCo-founder at Renegade PartnersShawn ConwayManaging Partner and COO at Questa Capital

+ 59 more

Also attended Stanford University1,578

Peter ThielCo-founder & Partner at Founders FundReid HoffmanCo-founder of LinkedIn; Partner at GreylockDavid SacksCo-founder & General Partner at Craft Ventures; former White House AI & Crypto CzarKeith RaboisManaging Director at Khosla VenturesGarry TanPresident & CEO of Y CombinatorAlfred LinPartner at Sequoia Capital

+ 1,572 more

Shared employers

Also worked at DFJ Growth14

Mikowai AshwillInvestor at Spark CapitalBarry SchulerFounder and Managing Partner at DFJRandy GleinFounder and Managing Partner at DFJSam FortPartner at DFJJocelyn KinseyPartner at DFJKevin TuPartner at DFJ

+ 8 more

Also worked at Khosla Ventures77

Keith RaboisManaging Director at Khosla VenturesDelian AsparouhovPartner at Founders Fund and co-founder of VardaDavid WeidenInvestor at Khosla VenturesSamir KaulInvestor at Khosla VenturesSven StrohbandInvestor at Khosla VenturesAdina TeckluInvestor at Khosla Ventures

+ 71 more

Also worked at Warburg Pincus61

Luna SchmidInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Aftab MathurManaging Director at Temasek at Golden Gate VenturesLawrence BettinoManaging Director at Dot CapitalAndrew ScottSenior Finance Manager at GreycroftMiloni Madan PreslerInvestor at IVP (Institutional Venture Partners)Eugene "Gene" PodsiadloSenior Strategic Advisor, Special Limited Partner at AI Capital

+ 55 more

Also worked at Onyx Pharmaceuticals6

MattInvestor at Bungalow CapitalChris PeetzEntrepreneur-in-Residence at Frazier Life SciencesJohn OsbornVenture Partner and Principal at Bioventures InvestorsKristin Baker SpohnGeneral Partner at CRV (Charles River Ventures)Luigi CostaInvestor at Pureos BioventuresHelen KimPartner at The Column Group

Deals · 3

Delfi Diagnostics, Inc.Board seat

via DFJ · filed Dec 2025 · $60M raise

InflammatixBoard seat

via DFJ · filed Mar 2021 · $102.4M raise

EarliBoard seat

via DFJ · filed Jan 2021 · $40M raise

Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.

Colleagues at DFJ

Allison Sowers
Executive Assistant at DFJ
Angel Duan
Associate at DFJ
Barry Schuler
Founder and Managing Partner at DFJ
Brian Akin
Senior Associate at DFJ
Chris Shanahan
Principal at DFJ
Evan Fu
Associate at DFJ
Gabrielle Matulich
Executive Assistant at DFJ
Jen Kodner
Talent Partner at DFJ