Vanessa Liu
VP SAP.iO
Vanessa is the VP of SAP.iO, a global organization responsible for building an
ecosystem of startups around SAP. In her role, she is overseeing SAP.iO’s North
American Foundries in New York and San Francisco, including programs devoted to
women and diverse-led B2B enterprise tech companies.
Vanessa was most recently the Chief Operating Officer at Trigger Media Group, a
$22MM digital media incubator. In her role, she co-founded, incubated and oversaw
business operations and strategic initiatives of Trigger’s portfolio companies: InsideHook
(the essential digital lifestyle guide for adventurous and discerning men) and Fevo (SaaS
technology bringing friends and networks together for group experiences at live events).
Vanessa currently serves as a board observer of Fevo and is an advisor or investor in
start-ups including Bounce Exchange, Grata Data, GroundSignal, Knotel and Narrativ.
She mentors female founders through Declare’s Lead Program.
Previously, Vanessa was an Associate Partner at McKinsey; Company’s Media and
Entertainment Practice, based in Amsterdam, London and New York. In this role,
Vanessa was responsible for serving clients in a variety of media and high tech sectors
including online advertising, magazine and newspaper publishing, television, video
content production, and information services, particularly on issues of digital media
strategy, emerging market strategy, growth and innovation.
Vanessa graduated magna cum laude with an AB in psychology from Harvard University
and cum laude with a JD from Harvard Law School. She was a Fulbright Scholar at
Universiteit Utrecht in the Netherlands where she conducted independent research on the
International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court
of Justice. She serves as Vice President, College Alumni Affairs, of the Harvard Alumni
Association.
