Jennifer Byrne

General Partner
Grit Capital Partners

Jennifer Byrne is a General Partner at Grit Capital Partners, investing in companies in media and fintech. Jennifer has been an executive, venture investor, board advisor, and ecosystem builder in the media, telecom, and financial services sectors for the past 20 years.

Jenn co-founded Quesnay, a strategy and innovation advisory firm that delivered custom global startup accelerators with Fortune 50 companies in financial services, technology, and media. Jenn also launched the world’s first accelerator to source and support women-led fintech companies while facilitating mutually beneficial startup-corporate-investor relationships. Over 500 women-led startups have applied and been evaluated by 500+ industry leaders and investors, raising over $2B.

Before founding Quesnay, Jenn served as VP, Business Development at American Express launching a digital payment service with global partners. At Verizon, Jenn was Executive Director, Business Development & Partnerships where she was responsible for a $1B+ mobile applications & services P&L. She spearheaded Verizon’s innovation division, led 4G services launch, identified investment opportunities, and established industry-first mobile partnerships with Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Jenn is a thought leader in fintech, and was named to the “Innovate Finance Powerlist” in 2018, 2019, and 2020 (as well as ”Standout 35″), 2020 “NYC Inspiring FinTech Females,” and 2021 “Female Founders Alliance Champions.” She has been featured on the cover of AM Best, as well as in American Banker, Nasdaq TradeTalks, FNO InsurTech podcast, InsurTech Connect, among others.

Jenn is based in Santa Monica and New York and serves as co-founder of The Female Investors Club, the Duke University SoCal Career Chairwoman, and mentor at TechStars. Jenn is a graduate of Duke University and speaks Spanish, Italian, and French.