SL

Sophie Liao

Ventures | Lifelong learner

United States

Invests in

Stages:

  • Min Investment:

    $100,000.00
  • Max Investment:

    $5,000,000.00
  • Target Investment:

    $1,500,000.00

Work Experience

  • Founding Partner

    2017

    Launched Oyster.vc in 2017 to back the infrastructure shaping the future of wealth—from private market plumbing to AI-native investing tools. I invest in the picks & shovels behind capital flow, not the shiny rocks everyone’s chasing. Representative Portfolios (aka my favorite children): Republic.com – World’s largest equity crowdfunding platform. Seed to unicorn. ForgeGlobal – Built the secondaries market before it was cool. D/XYZ – Took private market indexing public. Upside.gg – Tokenizing everything your financial advisor doesn’t understand. AltoIRA – Retirement accounts meet alt assets. Composer AI – Retail quant tools for people who don’t wear Patagonia vests (yet). VC Lab – Launchpad for the next generation of fund managers, which I swear is not a cult. ... Funds I, II, III (2.91x DPI), now rebrand as Republic Ventures (2025). Still not tired. Still early.

2023 - 2025

  • Strategic Advisor

    2023 - 2025

    Helping ambitious, diverse GPs bridge the GP/LP gap with capital, conviction, and sometimes caffeine.

2020 - 2025

  • Board Member

    2020 - 2025

    Led their series A, now Fantuan has became North America’s largest Asian food delivery platform. I joined for the dumplings, stayed for the cap table (their unit economics are phenomenal)

2018 - 2025

  • Board Observer

    2018 - 2025

    Genetically engineered probiotics for when your lifestyle outpaces your liver.

2015 - 2016

  • Managing Director

    2015 - 2016

    Learned a lot. Mostly how not to run a VC fund.

  • M&A, Entrepreneur In Residence

    2011 - 2015

    Started something during the JV work between FFD Studio x ES. Pitched, built, exited a media-tech company within 6 months. Accidentally became a founder. On purpose.

2010 - 2011

  • International Market Expansion

    2010 - 2011

    Set up JVs for James Cameron’s 3D tech empire. I didn’t get to meet Avatar, but I was born in the Avatar-town (Zhangjiajie)

  • Producer/ Host

    2008 - 2010

    Made documentaries, talk shows and travel shows. Ordered whiskey on the (Antarctic) rocks; Swam the Eurasia tunnel (got fined for jay-swimming). Hiked 3,000ft in Gstaad for a life-changing mushroom… Then I became a VC because betting on crypto apes seemed stable