Hila Qu
About Hila Qu
Hila Qu is a growth advisor and Executive in Residence at Reforge. She was previously Director of Growth at GitLab, where she helped establish the product-led growth motion before the company's IPO. Before that she was VP Growth at Acorns, where she built a full-funnel growth team and helped scale the user base from 1 million to 5 million, according to her site and Mucker's mentor page. She also worked at GrowthHackers.
She runs an advisory practice, Trajectory Growth. She has advised companies including Paperless Post, Nord Security, Replit and Mucker Capital portfolio companies. She is the author of a Chinese-language book on growth hacking, named one of China's top 10 business books of 2018. Her writing and interviews on product-led growth have appeared in Lenny's Newsletter, 20VC and TechCrunch.
She is based in the Los Angeles area. LinkedIn lists Deepgram in her experience, and in March 2026 she hosted a Maven Lightning Lesson called "AI-powered VP Growth".
Hila describes herself as an angel investor in her public bios. On Intro she names Tofu, Eppo and Growth Nirvana as startups she has backed. Crunchbase lists one personal investment, a seed round in Pace announced in August 2022. Her check sizes and total number of investments are not public.
Hila is listed among the operator angels in Lightsage's $4M seed round, announced in September 2026 and led by Nexus Venture Partners. Lightsage is building a growth stack for AI agents. The Lounge deals desk records the round as Lightsage Seed, $4M (2026-09).
Her investments and advisory work centre on growth, experimentation and analytics tooling, plus SaaS and developer-facing products. Mucker lists her areas as AI and data science, consumer fintech, enterprise fintech, and SaaS and B2B marketplaces. The examples above are mostly seed-stage rounds. She has not published a check size, a stage mandate or a statement of what she looks for in a pitch.
- Lightsage: growth stack for AI agents; participated as an angel in its $4M seed led by Nexus Venture Partners (September 2026).
- Pace: Crunchbase lists her as an investor in its seed round (announced August 2022).
- Tofu: named by Hila as an angel investment (year not public).
- Eppo: named by Hila as an angel investment (year not public).
- Growth Nirvana: named by Hila as an angel investment (year not public).
Investing activity
Hila Qu appears in 1 AI deal tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $4M. The most recent is Lightsage (Seed, $4M, Sep 2026).
Hila Qu most often invests alongside Nexus Venture Partners, Robert Chatwani, Ivan Burazin and Steven Tamm, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Hila Qu
Who is Hila Qu?
Hila Qu is a growth advisor, Reforge Executive in Residence and angel investor. She previously led growth at GitLab and Acorns.
Has Hila Qu invested in AI startups?
Yes. She is named among the angels in Lightsage's $4M seed round, led by Nexus Venture Partners and announced in September 2026. Lightsage builds a growth stack for AI agents.
What is Hila Qu's angel check size?
It is not public. She has not published a check size, and Crunchbase does not show her amounts.
What kind of founders should pitch Hila Qu?
Her public work centres on growth, product-led growth, experimentation and analytics, and her named investments are in that area. Founders building in those areas, including AI products with a clear go-to-market question, are closest to her record.
Where can I find Hila Qu online?
She is on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/hilaqu, on X as @HilaQu, and at hilaqu.com. She also writes a newsletter on Substack.
Is Hila Qu an angel investor?
Yes. Hila Qu invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Hila Qu invested in?
Hila Qu's AI investments include Lightsage. The 1 round on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Hila Qu invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Hila Qu has invested at Seed, with a median round of $4M.
Who does Hila Qu co-invest with?
Hila Qu's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Nexus Venture Partners (1 deal), Robert Chatwani (1 deal), Ivan Burazin (1 deal), Steven Tamm (1 deal) and Shuhao Zhang (1 deal).
How can founders reach Hila Qu?
Founders on Lounge can see Hila Qu's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Hila Qu to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.