Tiffany Huang is an investor at Translink Capital, a $1B AUM early-stage venture fund backed by leading multinational corporations from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. She also invests on behalf of the NEC Orchestrating Future Fund, a stage-agnostic vehicle focused on startups strategically aligned with the Japanese technology company NEC. Her investment interests span broadly across Enterprise SaaS, with particular attention to sectors like healthcare, supply chain, and other industry-specific applications. Prior to joining Translink, Tiffany was an investor at the Sony Innovation Fund and previously worked at Lux Research, a spin-out of Lux Capital. She holds a Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois and earned her undergraduate degree from Rutgers University.

EVCA: What is a value, principle, or philosophy that has meaningfully shaped your journey? How does it continue to influence how you invest, lead, or approach challenges?

I believe everyone should get out of their comfort zone. Whether that’s moving far away from anyone that you know, trying something new and sticking with it, befriending people from other cultures, or anything else that pushes you out of your bubble. It gives you a broader perspective and helps you figure out different ways to solve problems in your life. In my professional life it has helped me develop thesis on emerging spaces, find investment opportunities, and think through alternative investment strategies.  

EVCA: Is there a technology, idea, or movement that most people overlook (or dismiss) which you believe will define the next era of innovation? What draws you to this perspective?

That’s a tough question! With the rise of AI, it will take a lot of the menial tasks away, giving time for people to focus on themselves. This could be anything, from people prioritizing their own health, exploring new job opportunities, spending more time with family, and anything else that brings them joy. If we just take healthcare as an example, more people are now utilizing services outside of the traditional healthcare system and now taking control of their own health. They may go to something like BodySpec (one of Transink’s portfolio companies) to see how their bodies change over time, take opportunistic blood tests, and other ways to proactively manage their health. I believe people will start utilizing AI as a personal concierge to manage their health more effectively. 

If I put back my enterprise SaaS investor hat back on for a second, one aspect that I’ve seen many startups dismiss is just how difficult it is to bring innovation into large enterprises. Major enterprises in traditional industries aren’t going away, so startups really need to know how to find the actual pain point and navigate to the right stakeholder in these organizations.  If startups don’t, they could just waste years of time without product market fit, or an anchor customer that churns a year in. As AI tools become more accessible, the barrier to building new products is lower than ever. In many cases, what will set successful startups apart isn’t the technology itself, but the strength of their go-to-market and sales teams. I believe the next generation of market-defining AI startups will be those that truly understand and serve these kinds of enterprise customers.