Jennifer Byrne is a general partner at Grit Capital Partners, an early-stage specialist fund investing in applied AI in fintech / insurtech, commerce, media, and martech.

 

In 2024, Jennifer co-founded and launched the Female Investors Club in Los Angeles and New York – a community whose mission is to support women investing in technology by providing leadership and educational and network events and driving ecosystem collaboration by sharing high-quality investment opportunities.

 

Prior to joining Grit Capital Partners, Jennifer co-founded and ran, as CEO, Quesnay Inc., a strategy and innovation advisory firm that also ran global startup accelerators and produced executive leadership events. Quesnay’s clients included Farmers Insurance, Hanover, Hearst, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Paramount, Prudential, Thomson Reuters, and Verizon. Quesnay launched the world’s largest Female Founders in FinTech & InsurTech accelerator. Over 500 women-led startups from 78 countries have been evaluated by 500+ industry leaders and investors, raising over $1.8B.

 

Before starting Quesnay, Jennifer served as VP of Business Development at American Express. At Verizon, Jennifer was executive director, Business Development & Partnerships, where she was responsible for a multibillion-dollar mobile applications and data services P&L. She spearheaded Verizon’s innovation division, led 4G services launch, identified investment opportunities such as Siri and Twilio, and established industry-first mobile partnerships with Amazon, Facebook, Google / YouTube, and Twitter.

 

Jennifer has been investing in tech for over 10 years. She currently serves on the Duke University SoCal board and co-chairs the Duke Women’s Forum SoCal. In 2024, she was named to “53+ Must Follow Women Leaders in Investing,” the “Innovate Finance Powerlist” (three years), “NYC Inspiring FinTech Females,” and “Female Founders Alliance Champions. She has been featured on the cover of AMBest and in American Banker, the FNOInsurTec Podcast (top 100), Nasdaq Tradetalks, Digital Insurance, InsuranceJournal.tv, InsureTechConnect, and Nassau Financial Live.

 

Jennifer is a graduate of Duke University and speaks Spanish, Italian, and French.