About
Founder of Alect Labs, an innovation lab at the intersection of AI, blockchain, and next-generation financial infrastructure. Former director at BlackRock with over 13 years of fintech experience. Led strategic initiatives in systematic trading, investment platforms, and operational excellence. Expertise spans financial infrastructure design, governance, risk management, and scalable fintech architecture.
Experience
- Alect LabsFounder & Principal Architectcurrent2025 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
- Lair East LabsVenture Partner & Advisory Board Membercurrent2021 — present
- BlackRockDirector - Investment Platform, Portfolio Management Group2018 — 2025New York City & San Francisco
- BlackRockAMRS Chair of BlackRock Networks （MOSAIC）2023 — 2025
- BlackRockGlobal Co-Chair of BlackRock Vice President Network2021 — 2023
- BlackRockVP - Clients Analytics, Aladdin Business2015 — 2018New York City
- BlackRockManager - Portfolio Risk & Data Product2012 — 2015Greater Philadelphia Area
- 8833 Creative StudioFounder & Owner2021 — 2023
- Panphil Realty, LLCBusiness Analyst2011 — 2012Greater Philadelphia Area
- iCreative studioFounder2007 — 2009Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- The Ming An Insurance Co.(China) Ltd.Finance Department Internship2008Hangzhou, China
Skills & more
Data Analysis1Program Management1Relationship Management1SalesFixed Income Portfolio ManagementOrganizational LeadershipEvent PlanningPanel ModeratorPresentation SkillsQuantitative AnalyticsProduct StrategyProduct Road Mapping
+12 more
CommunicationBusiness InsightsRisk ManagementFinancial AnalysisMicrosoft ExcelSQLC++PerlGermanLinuxPythonMicrosoft WordLanguages Chinese · English · German
- Plenary Lectures Week 3 - International Summer Programme 2025 — University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education
- Shakespeare’s Sonnets: an Introduction — University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education
- AI and digital transformation in healthcare — University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education
- Building your startup using Agile Principles — University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education
- Philosophy of mind: the nature of conscious experience — University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education
- Real Estate Salesperson — California Department of Real Estate
- Real Estate Appraisal — Colibri Real Estate
- Product Management Certificate — Product School
- Regression Models — Coursera
- Practical Machine Learning — Coursera
From Sheng's professional profile.
Colleagues at Lair East Labs
Avi Fein
Product Mentor at Lair East Labs
Charles Qu
Accounting & Tax at Lair East Labs
Charlyn Ho
Legal Mentor at Lair East Labs
Elizabeth Tobey
Marketing Mentor at Lair East Labs
Eric Fung
Venture Partner at Lair East Labs
Han Liu
Mentor at Lair East Labs
Hannah Thompson
Product Mentor at Lair East Labs
Jane Tran
Mentor at Lair East Labs
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Sheng Xu?
- Founder of Alect Labs, an innovation lab at the intersection of AI, blockchain, and next-generation financial infrastructure. Former director at BlackRock with over 13 years of fintech experience. Led strategic initiatives in systematic trading, investment platforms, and operational excellence. Expertise spans financial infrastructure design, governance, risk management, and scalable fintech architecture.
- Where does Sheng Xu work?
- Sheng Xu is Venture Partner & Advisor at Lair East Labs.
- Where did Sheng Xu go to school?
- Sheng Xu studied at Drexel University (MBA & MS in Finance, Finance); University of Cambridge (International Summer Program); Product School (Product Management Certificate, Product Management).
Same school
Also attended Drexel University91
AdamAdvisor at Clear VenturesJesse MiddletonGeneral Partner at Flybridge Capital PartnersNabil UllahAssociate at Osage University PartnersVictoria LewisVenture Professional at Medical Excellence CapitalEliza DragomirSenior Analyst at SKY VCMarcie ReillyChief Growth Officer at The Innovation Space
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+ 85 more
Also attended University of Cambridge1,234
Stewart ButterfieldCo-founder of Slack and FlickrDemis HassabisCo-founder & CEO of Google DeepMindNiko BonatsosFounder and Managing Partner of VerdictGeorgia StevensonInvestor at Index VenturesHannah SealInvestor at Index VenturesLeah von SiemensPartner at Manta Ray Ventures
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+ 1,228 more
Also attended Product School14
Josh GiglioExecutive-in-Residence at Mainsail PartnersYoussef HounatAdvisor at Curiosity VCDina BurkitbayevaCo-Founder at PsyMed VenturesJyotika GuptaCo-Founder and Partner at Z21 VenturesAdunni RufaiExpert-in-Residence, User Experience Design at DMZStella LeoneAnalyst at DOMO.VC
+ 8 more
Also attended The Johns Hopkins University366
Dave JohnsonCo-founder & CEO of Dash BioNicole GaudelliEntrepreneur in Residence at GV (Google Ventures)Wes NicholsPartner at March Capital PartnersDemi ObayomiPrincipal at Sapphire VenturesJun JeonInvestor at Khosla VenturesNicole FraenkelInvestor at Khosla Ventures
+ 360 more
Shared employers
Also worked at BlackRock340
Cyriac ParisotInvestor at Index VenturesMichelle FernandesInvestor at Index VenturesMaddie CoughlinInvestor at DN CapitalNeil FongManaging Director Asia at Burda Principal InvestmentsAshley ValentineChief People Officer at GreycroftAnya RajaniAssociate at Sapphire Ventures
+ 334 more