Joanna Shields
About Joanna Shields
Joanna Shields (Baroness Shields OBE) is an American-British technology executive and a Life Peer in the House of Lords. She is based in London. Her career started in Silicon Valley. She joined Electronics for Imaging in 1989 and rose to Vice President of Production Systems. In 1997 she became CEO of Veon, which she later sold to Philips. She then moved to London to run the Europe, Middle East and Africa division of RealNetworks.
She was CEO of Bebo, which AOL acquired in 2008, and then headed AOL's People Networks division. She was also Managing Director of Google EMEA strategic partnerships and held senior roles at Facebook, and she served as a board member of the London Stock Exchange Group. In government she was the UK's first Minister for Internet Safety and Security, Digital Economy Adviser to the Prime Minister and UK Ambassador for Digital Industries. She was appointed OBE in 2014. She founded the WeProtect Global Alliance, which works to combat online child sexual exploitation.
She became Group CEO of BenevolentAI, an AI drug discovery company, in 2018. She left the CEO role and the board in September 2023. She is now Founder and CEO of Precognition, which her own site and Wikipedia describe as an advisory firm. It works with government and business leaders on AI strategy. She is also Executive Chair of the Responsible AI Future Foundation and chairs the OpenAge Initiative. She has been Co-Chair of the Global Partnership on AI.
Crunchbase lists 3 personal investments, 3 portfolio companies, 1 lead investment and 2 exits, none by IPO. The three companies are Know-Me, Summly and SimpleGeo. Crunchbase shows her as lead investor in the Know-Me pre-seed round. It lists her Summly investment as part of a venture round and her SimpleGeo investment as debt financing. Amounts and dates are hidden on the public page, so this profile does not state them.
She has not published a personal angel investing thesis, and we found no public statement from her about check size.
We found no public record of Joanna Shields angel investing in AI companies. Her AI involvement is mainly as an operator and policy figure. She led BenevolentAI's work applying AI and machine learning to healthcare and drug discovery. Her bio says she took the company from startup to public listing. A Euronext Amsterdam listing followed in April 2022, according to Open Almanac.
She was twice elected Co-Chair of the Global Partnership on AI. She also sits on the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on AI and the Transatlantic Commission on Election Integrity. Through the Responsible AI Future Foundation she works on sovereign AI infrastructure and governance frameworks for countries in the Global South.
She has not published a stage, sector or check size preference as an investor. Crunchbase labels her round in Know-Me as pre-seed, and the other two rounds are a venture round and debt financing. That is too few data points to infer a pattern.
Her public work centres on responsible AI, online safety, child protection and AI in healthcare. Founders whose work touches those areas may find the most relevant overlap. That is an inference from her public activities and not a stated investment criterion. She is based in the UK and her operating career spans the US and Europe.
- Know-Me: Crunchbase lists her as lead investor in its pre-seed round. Amazon Web Services also appears as an investor in that round. Date not public.
- Summly: Crunchbase lists her as an investor in a venture round. Date not public.
- SimpleGeo: Crunchbase lists her in a debt financing round. Date not public.
Investing activity
Joanna Shields has made 3 investments according to Crunchbase across 3 portfolio companies, and has led 1 round, seen 2 exits and founded 1 company.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Joanna Shields
Is Joanna Shields an active angel investor?
Crunchbase lists 3 personal investments: Know-Me, Summly and SimpleGeo. Dates are not public, and we found no recent announcements of new angel deals.
What does Joanna Shields do now?
She is Founder and CEO of Precognition, an advisory firm that works with government and business leaders on AI strategy. She is also Executive Chair of the Responsible AI Future Foundation and chairs the OpenAge Initiative.
What is Joanna Shields' check size?
No check size is public. Crunchbase hides the amounts for her three investments, and she has not stated a range.
Does Joanna Shields invest in AI startups?
We found no public record of AI angel investments by her. She led BenevolentAI, an AI drug discovery company, as CEO from 2018 to 2023. She is also a prominent voice on responsible AI governance.
How can founders contact Joanna Shields?
Her public channels are LinkedIn, X (@joannashields) and joannashields.com. Her Precognition page invites business enquiries, though it is aimed at advisory work and not at pitches.
What is Joanna Shields known for outside investing?
She was the UK's first Minister for Internet Safety and Security and founded the WeProtect Global Alliance. She led Bebo and BenevolentAI as CEO and held senior roles at Google, Facebook and AOL.
Is Joanna Shields an angel investor?
Yes. Joanna Shields invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 3 investments and 2 exits.
Where is Joanna Shields based?
Joanna Shields is based in London, England, United Kingdom.
How can founders reach Joanna Shields?
Founders on Lounge can see Joanna Shields'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 Joanna Shields to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.