Jane Frankland is a globally recognized venture capital leader, angel investor, and diversity advocate with a career spanning Spain, Singapore, and the U.S. As President of the Business Angel Minority Association and lead investor in funds like Portfolia’s Rising America Fund, she champions inclusive investing and the diversity dividend in venture capital. With expertise across clean energy, AI, medical technology, and space innovation, Jane has built thriving ecosystems at Greentown Labs Houston and Energy Tech Nexus. A Kauffman Fellow and board member, she empowers emerging leaders and women investors to drive innovation, sustainable technology, and global impact.

The Social Digest: Your career has spanned continents—from Spain to Singapore to the U.S. How  have these diverse experiences shaped your approach to venture capital and  innovation?

Being a citizen of the world has enabled me to explore different perspectives and ways of doing things. I am very open to different opinions and I am aware that innovation is always at the intersection of different industries and it is fueled by the people who are closest to the problem at hand. My global approach and exposure to different industries such as energy, medical, space and tech has helped me connect many dots and find deals from different countries that help solve global issues.

The Social Digest: As President of the Business Angel Minority Association and a lead investor in  funds like Portfolia’s Rising America Fund, how do you see the role of diversity  in driving innovation and returns in venture capital?  

The Diversity dividend in Venture Capital is real, research shows that diverse teams in terms of gender, race, background amongst other areas tend to systematically overperform non diverse teams. Research also shows a strong correlation between the diversity of the investor and that of the entrepreneurs they invest in, that is why with initiatives such as Portfolia we aim at activating more diverse investors as a way to multiply their effect in the race and gender gaps in venture capital.

The Social Digest: During your tenure at Greentown Labs Houston, what strategies did you  implement to foster a thriving clean tech ecosystem, and what lessons can  other cities learn from Houston’s model?  

Houston has a lot of the elements needed to develop a thriving energy and clean tech ecosystem, however most of these elements such as talent, corporations, investors, universities and civic organizations were disconnected, siloed and working behind closed doors. With initiatives such as Energy Tech Nexus and Greentown Labs I managed to break those siloes and make sure that not only these elements are connected but that competitors leave competition behind in order to collaborate on bigger issues such as energy access and resilience. This can be achieved by rallying different constituents behind a bigger purpose, in the case of Houston, the purpose of resilience from flooding and heat as well as areas of economic development by diversifying from the oil and gas industry.

The Social Digest: With your involvement in Energy Tech Nexus and the Rice Alliance Clean  Energy Accelerator, how do you envision the future of sustainable technology investments? 

The future of the intersection of energy and sustainability, and technology investments is very closely related to the future of AI and its impact on energy demand as well as on energy efficiency. I believe that AI has the capacity to become carbon negative by offsetting its energy consumption with high impact on energy efficiency technologies. That is why I am investing in several AI and energy technology companies and at Energy Tech Nexus, we are developing a matchmaking platform between energy tech investors and startups and scaleups.

The Social Digest: As a Kauffman Fellow and board member of various organisations, what advice do you offer to emerging leaders and investors aiming to make a meaningful impact? 

You don’t need to have a lot of money to invest and/or become an emerging leader, your impact can start now if you have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, and you can rally people behind it so start now!

The Social Digest: What are some of the significant challenges you’ve faced in the venture capital landscape, and how have you addressed them to continue driving growth and innovation? 

There is a lot of bias in Venture Capital due to a lack of diversity in the investment world. I have experienced first-hand how bias works and how some opinions are discounted depending on where they come from. The biggest weapon against that bias is data. Data proves who the best performers are and can debunk bias, so the more data you collect and the more you let numbers do the talking, the more you can challenge bias in any area, not only venture capital.

The Social Digest: Being a prominent female figure in a traditionally male-dominated industry,  how do you perceive the evolving role of women in venture capital, and what steps can be taken to encourage more female participation? 

In the US, women’s wealth could be at parity with men’s early in 2030; however, the role of women in VC is still nowhere close to that parity. Women don’t get hired in VC, so the only way we can have a higher participation in that industry is by getting matters into our own hands, creating our own funds and investing in the companies we want to see in the world. Women make 80% of the purchase decision,s but many of the products we need for women’s health or for active aging can’t get to the markets because there are not enough women in VC signaling their need. Initiatives like Portfolia empower women to impact those markets by investing rather than only using philanthropy as a means for impact.

The Social Digest: What emerging trends do you foresee in the venture capital space, particularly concerning clean energy and inclusive investing? 

The use of AI is going to significantly change the way we invest in Venture Capital and funds honing AI will overperform others. AI can be a very interesting tool for clean energy and inclusive investing, provided the data sets used include exclusive data sets for women and diverse populations, which has not been the case in the past. By being included in generic data sets, their different needs have become invisible to researchers and product creators who design their end products with a male demographic in mind

The Social Digest: How do you facilitate effective communication and collaboration between investors and entrepreneurs to ensure mutual success? 

There is a very strong correlation between a company’s governance and their success as an investment. Governance is achieved through frequent communication of key performance indicators, that communication needs to have clear red flags and asks to investors and stakeholders. The most effective communication is non-invasive such as newsletters to investors and stakeholders where they can keep tabs on the company’s evolution and chime in when they see something compelling.

The Social Digest: What core principles guide your investment decisions, and what legacy do you  hope to leave in the world of venture capital and entrepreneurship?

My personal philosophy is of creating more balance by bridging gender, race and intergenerational gaps with a global footprint. This is not a zero sum game, my investment decisions grow the pie bigger so that everyone can benefit from their impact

This interview was conducted by Ansh C. Vachhani  for The Social Digest. If you have any interview recommendations or have a story that you want to share with our readers, get in touch with our editor Vedant Bhrambhatt, at editor@thesocialdigest.com