Yipeng Zhao

Yipeng earned his BS in mathematics and economics from Michigan State University, where he was awarded a distinguished scholarship from the College of Social Science; afterward, he received an MA in economics with a focus in econometric theory from the University of California, San Diego.

Yipeng is a Managing Partner at Embark Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage deep-tech companies. Yipeng co-founded Embark Ventures in 2017 and is responsible for managing the firm's new investments and portfolio companies. 

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Previously, Yipeng was at ZMXY Global Investment, a China-based private equity investor, where he was actively involved in equity investments in both China and the US, including the equity investment of YangQuan City Commercial Bank and a mixed-use REITs portfolio in Taiyuan, China. He also helped ZMXY set up their venture investment arm in Los Angeles as a part of the firm's global strategy. 

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Yipeng started his career as a research statistician at UC San Diego, focused on nonparametric and semiparametric estimation and inference problems in econometrics. While at UCSD, he worked on applying Big Data as well as a game-theoretical econometrics approach to customer behavior research. Yipeng also has extensive research experience in financial risk management and time series data analysis.

As a member of Class 22, Yipeng served his fellowship at Embark Ventures under the mentorship of Peter Lee (Class 13).