Xiaomin Mou 牟小敏

Lead Mentor & Donor

I am with International Finance Corporation Venture Capital and am responsible for our investments in China / East Asia. I have been leading the group’s activities in technology investments in China. I’m passionate about learning about new technologies, identifying innovative businesses models and helping to build valuable companies. I am currently based in Washington D.C., US. 

I was born in a small town next to Chengdu and when I was ten, my parents brought me to the US, where my father was pursuing his Ph.D. I grew up building model cars and planes, taking apart clocks and batteries to see how they worked inside. I carried that same curiosity about the world to MIT, where I studied electrical engineering, eventually completing a PhD in speech recognition/acoustics. A lot of people ask why I chose electrical engineering. To me, it’s the language of engineering - a car suspension system (mechanical), our speech production apparatus and cardiovascular (biological/physiological) systems can all be represented by the same kind of circuit (electrical) - suddenly the world made sense.

While at MIT, I learned Japanese and German and squeezed in 7 international internships. I have also backpacked and traveled through many countries and witnessed life through many different lenses. All of these experiences helped to build my world view and helped me understand my place in it.

I have known Yin Yin since our days at BCG in Germany, and she introduced me to the wonderful group of students at Yanxing. I have gone from a small town in China to the US and have been back in Beijing for the past 6 years (as of summer 2018). As a mentor of the Qianzheng Scholars, beyond the financial support, I make it a point to spend time with them and to incorporate as much as possible practical skills building during our meetings. I am thrilled to be a part of this family and look forward to continue growing together with these amazing women.