From Farm Runs to Venture Funds: Jolene’s Journey Through Chaos, Clarity, and Climbing

Not many people have sprinted through rain to deliver vegetables, slept on cardboard in a storeroom, and now sit across from founders deciding where capital and belief should go. But this month's friend of freshpod Jolene isn’t like most people.

Friend, confidant and go-getter, she strives to make a difference. 

Her career has spanned edtech, agri-startups, founder advisory, and now venture capital. The common thread? A relentless curiosity, a high tolerance for chaos, and a deep respect for systems that work, whether it's a cold chain or a cap table.

Her entry into food came during Singapore’s 30by30 push. What started with hackathons turned into farm visits, 5am harvest runs, and eventually, building a model to deliver produce from field to plate within eight hours. 

“It wasn’t glamorous,” she recalls. “But it taught me what it takes to move perishable food through a system that wasn’t designed for speed or quality.”

That early exposure shaped the way she now backs founders: with empathy, operational insight, and sharp pattern recognition. 

“I’m drawn to people who sit with the problem longer than most. The ones who don’t just talk big, but build deep.”

These days, Jolene spends her time meeting founders, managing deal flow, coaching kids in rock climbing—and carving out slivers of time to climb herself.

“Climbing is my reset,” she says. “It reminds me how to problem-solve with my body. It keeps me humble, present, and learning.”

Her days are demanding, and that's where freshpod plays a key role.

“freshpod is honestly a godsend,” she says. “It’s nutritious, clean, and ready when I need it. No prep, no waste, and the portioning is just right.”

For someone who’s lived the complexity of food systems,

freshpod is more than a convenience, it’s a solution she once tried to build herself. 

“I trust it. And that trust saves time and headspace I can put into more important things, like people.”

Whether she’s backing founders or belaying first-time climbers, Jolene’s approach is consistent: steady, grounded, values-led.

As we wrapped our conversation, she left us with this:

“There’s a lot of noise in the world, but the good stuff often starts small,, with a question, a meal, a moment of clarity. I’m still figuring things out, but I’m grateful for the chance to build and back others doing the same.”