Sarah Hess is an Operating Partner at Point72 Ventures, focused on investments and portfolio company growth in defense tech.

Before joining Point72 Ventures, Sarah was the West Coast Director of Silicon Valley Defense Group and an Investor/Operator at Lux Capital focused on defense and dual-use investments. Previously, Sarah served as Deputy Lead to launch the NATO Innovation Fund, a venture capital fund modeled off of In-Q-Tel that aims to invest in dual-use deep technologies. She has worked for the Central Intelligence Agency on science and technology analysis in East Asia, and started her career at Apple focused on international localization project management.

I’m excited about leveraging technology for national security.

During my time in government, I recognized the need for greater collaboration between the government and private sector to help our warfighters and intelligence community achieve their critical mission.

I do my best to understand incentives and have empathy for founders and end-users. Startups and government bureaucracies are fundamentally made up of people — who have their own needs, desires, and motivations. Understanding these at a deep level helps me help them.

Small talk cheat sheet:

I’ve lived abroad four times and traveled to 54 countries. I play basketball and volleyball. Katy Perry signed my high school yearbook.