Sarah Chen-Spellings

Investor, Creator & Host at Billion Dollar Moves

Sarah Chen-Spellings is a Malaysian-born investor operating at the intersection of women, wealth, and innovation, advising family offices and institutional investors globally on capital allocation and long-term value creation. As co-founder of Beyond The Billion, she has helped mobilise over $1 billion into women-founded companies through a global consortium of venture funds, with partner portfolios backing high-growth companies including Canva and Airwallex. Her work offers a distinctive vantage point into how early-stage capital scales into category-defining businesses. Her career spans corporate venture capital and ecosystem building, including her role in establishing a venture arm within a $13 billion Asian conglomerate, where she worked on multi-million-dollar investments and governance frameworks. She is also the creator and host of Billion Dollar Moves under the HubSpot Podcast Network, where she engages with leading investors and founders on the mechanics of capital and influence. In parallel, she co-founded Lean In Malaysia, contributing to the advancement of women in leadership across the region.

In Their Words

“I had friends who had to pitch in bikinis in a jacuzzi to investor, then you wonder why women aren’t getting funded.”

“If your environment is toxic, no amount of ambition will help you succeed.”

“Your personal and professional life will always be a tug of war, learn to integrate them.”

“If you’re not willing to do hard things, you don’t belong in business.”

“Relationships you build today will open doors you don’t even see yet.”

FEATURED ON

Beyond The Billion’s Sarah Chen-Spellings on why female-led businesses are worth the investment

Tatler Malaysia • 31 Jul 2023

Years ago, as an ambitious 25-year-old in Sime Darby Berhad's corporate venture capital unit in Malaysia, Sarah Chen-Spellings' first big win was negotiating a US$30million-deal in line with the publicly listed conglomerate's investment in later-stage biotech companies. Surrounded by people who were almost twice her age at the time, she recalls savouring the opportunity to rise to the occasion and not quite internalising the high stakes nature of what she was doing.

Building Beyond the Billion: Lessons on Leadership and Legacy with Sarah Chen-Spellings

Jasmine Star

On today’s episode of The Jasmine Star Show, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Sarah Chen-Spellings—a powerhouse investor, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Beyond The Billion, a movement catalyzing capital for female-founded companies. This conversation isn’t just about money; it’s about mission, legacy, and breaking generational cycles.

Why Sarah Chen-Spellings is investing a billion dollars in female founders

Tatler Malaysia • 18 Oct 2023

It is a known—and highly discussed—fact that women entrepreneurs face significant obstacles in securing funding for their startups. Of the global venture capital funding pie, only two to three percent is allocated to female-founded companies. Sarah Chen-Spellings wants to change that.