Aileen Lee

Founder & Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures

Coined 'unicorn,' seed-stage enterprise and consumer VC

Palo Alto, California$100K–$2M checks8 notable investments

Pre-SeedSeed

𝕏@aileenlee Cowboy Ventures Crunchbase

Enterprise SaaSConsumerAIFintech

Background

Aileen Lee founded Cowboy Ventures in Palo Alto in 2012 after spending over a decade as a partner at Kleiner Perkins, where she worked with companies from Series A through IPO including Bloom Energy and Rent the Runway. She also served as founding CEO of KPCB-backed RMG Networks, giving her rare operating experience. In November 2013, she authored the TechCrunch piece 'Welcome to the Unicorn Club,' coining the now-ubiquitous term for billion-dollar startups. Cowboy Ventures focuses on seed-stage enterprise and consumer companies, investing $100K–$2M with a sweet spot around $1M. Lee was named to Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2019 and has repeatedly appeared on the Forbes Midas List. She is also co-founder and chair of All Raise, a nonprofit advancing diversity in venture capital.

Investment Thesis

Partner at the earliest stages with enterprise and consumer startup teams building products customers love, with a current emphasis on AI-enabled software.