Voices from the Field: Helen Wong, ACV Capital

For our ‘Voices from the Field’ series, we speak with Helen Wong, Managing Partner at at ACV Capital (formerly AC Ventures). Ranked by Forbes among China’s “Top 25 female VCs” and Asia Pacific’s “50 over 50” in 2024, she has 20+ years of venture capital experience.

Helen shares how over time, particularly through investing in emerging markets, she came to see how structural factors shape business outcomes. In Southeast Asia, climate vulnerability directly affects supply chains, consumer behavior, and long-term resilience, while gender dynamics influence who has access to capital, who participates in decision-making, and how products reach customers. As one of the few women in venture capital early on, she also experienced first-hand how representation affects fairness, judgment and performance in investment settings.

How has applying an integrated climate and gender lens helped you to achieve a greater impact on climate?

Women in emerging markets are disproportionately impacted by climate change. This is due to reasons such as their concentration in climate-sensitive sectors, such as agriculture, frequently as unpaid family workers, and their more limited access to financial services that enable recovery from climate shocks.

By integrating gender considerations into how we evaluate climate relevance and risk, we are better able to identify investments that are more context-aware and inclusive. It also enables us to anticipate adoption and execution challenges earlier in the investment process. This allows us to move beyond narrow definitions of “climate solutions” focused on mitigation only, and toward a broader perspective that includes adaptation and resilience.

Overall, this integrated lens has helped us build greater intentionality and preparedness in how we think about climate impact, laying the groundwork for more resilient and inclusive outcomes as our climate strategy continues to evolve.

How is climate and gender integration showing up in your fund?

Climate and gender integration shows up in our fund through how we set expectations at the fund level, how we invest, and how we engage with our portfolio and broader ecosystem. 

At the fund level, ACV Capital currently has a 65:35 gender balance across the team, with women represented at senior levels, including one of three Investment Committee members. This internal composition reflects our belief that gender inclusion should be embedded not only in what we invest in, but also in how investment decisions are made.

Gender considerations are incorporated across the investment lifecycle, including sourcing and investment discussions. When sourcing opportunities, we pay attention to potential conscious or unconscious biases in founder selection, or whether their products or services are relevant to women who are disproportionately affected by climate change. These considerations are assessed as part of our overall investment assessment, alongside commercial fundamentals, risk, and strategic fit.

At the portfolio level, we track gender-disaggregated data across senior management and the broader workforce to build visibility into representation trends over time. We also monitor portfolio companies’ existing gender-related initiatives, such as workplace policies and stated priorities for improving gender practices, to better understand starting points and identify areas for engagement.

In parallel, we are investing in building our own capabilities. We actively participate in gender-focused initiatives such as the IFC She Wins – We Fund Climate program, and contribute as faculty to gender equality training for private capital, including through the Global Private Capital Association in collaboration with Investing in Women. These engagements help strengthen our internal practice and inform how we refine our approach.

Together, these efforts reflect how climate and gender integration is currently embedded across our fund, guided by our commitment and action plan, and grounded in practical actions as we continue to progress our gender-smart climate investing approach.

In your own words, what opportunities does investing at the climate-gender nexus provide to investors?

Investing at the intersection of climate and gender allows investors to identify climate-relevant opportunities that may otherwise be overlooked, particularly in emerging markets where climate risks and social dynamics are closely intertwined.

A gender lens can help investors better understand how climate-related business models interact with female customers, workers, and communities, which in turn affects adoption, execution, and resilience over time. This can strengthen risk awareness and support more informed investment decisions as climate pressures and transition expectations increase.

For investors, the opportunity lies in using gender as a practical lens to sharpen judgment, broaden opportunity sets, and support climate-relevant businesses that are better positioned to operate and grow in complex, real-world environments.

How did you get to where you are — what inspired the interest/ commitment to climate and gender strategies?

My career has taken me across Silicon Valley, China, and now Southeast Asia, investing in technology companies at different stages of growth. Early on, I was part of the founding team at GGV Capital and later a Partner at Qiming Ventures, where I focused primarily on scaling high-growth businesses. At that time, my work was not explicitly framed around climate or gender — it was about backing strong entrepreneurs and transformative platforms.

Over time, particularly through investing in emerging markets, I began to see more clearly how structural factors shape business outcomes. In Southeast Asia, climate vulnerability is not an abstract concept — it directly affects supply chains, consumer behavior, and long-term resilience. At the same time, I observed how gender dynamics influenced company building: who had access to capital, who participated in decision-making, and how products reached different customer segments.

As one of the few women in venture capital when I started, gender was also something I experienced personally rather than theoretically. That perspective sharpened my awareness of how representation influences not only fairness, but judgment and performance in investment settings.

This understanding was further sharpened through a structured diagnostic and facilitated discussion within our firm, which created space for the team to reflect on how climate and gender considerations were already showing up in our work, and where there were opportunities to be more intentional. That process ultimately led to the development of our Gender-Smart Climate Commitment and Action Plan, which now serves as a practical guide and shared reference point for how we approach this area.

Alongside this, we have focused on strengthening our internal capabilities and learning over time, recognising that integrating climate and gender is an evolving practice rather than a fixed endpoint. Together, this has shaped a pragmatic and adaptive approach grounded in context, reflection, and a long-term perspective.

Find out more about Heading for Change’s investment thesis and portfolio funds