Claire England

A seasoned investor with executive experience, Claire England is Investment Partner with GPG Ventures, a healthcare venture capital firm that invests nationally in biotech, digital health, medtech, B2B consumer health, and occasionally B2B tech. Claire joined GPG in Q4 2023 to open the firm's Austin office. A native Austinite, she's been a leader in Austin's startup and venture community for 15 years.

Prior to GPG Ventures, Claire was a partner in two Portfolia funds, Food & AgTech and FemTech, where she led four investments and served on the investment committee for 20 more. She was also an Executive-in-Residence for Techstars and advised cities on developing early-stage investing communities. Previously, she developed Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN) into the #1 most active angel group in the U.S., becoming an international model for angel investing. In her five years leading CTAN, 200+ individual and family office investors deployed $75M into 95 companies, with a 9X average return-on-investment.

She is a Kauffman Fellow (a top postgraduate innovation program with 1,000 VCs and LPs worldwide) and currently mentors a Class 30 Fellow. She serves as Board Observer at Affineon Health and on the Munday School of Business Advisory Board at St. Edward's University. She's also an LP in several small VC funds and holds a partnership role with impact investing advisory firm, LOHAS.

Before her VC career, Claire directed a large-scale founder and investor conference, RISE (Relationship & Information Series for Entrepreneurs), which played a pivotal role in evolving Austin's startup ecosystem into what it is today. She also managed entrepreneurial development projects for SXSW and international clients. She developed her passion for entrepreneurship as the first full-time employee of a social media services startup. Before startups, she spent a decade leading marketing, communications, fundraising, and events in the nonprofit sector.

With extensive public speaking experience, Claire is a skilled panelist and moderator and has spoken at national and international innovation conferences. She's also taught undergraduate and graduate business school classes as a guest lecturer at several universities and judged pitch competitions. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mass communication and public relations with a minor in music (cello and vocal performance) from Texas State University. Prior to graduating with honors, she was named to the Dean's List and inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society for journalism and mass communication.

Claire's work has been recognized with the 2018 Kauffman Fellows Leadership Award and Austin Business Journal's 2013 Women in Business Finalist Award. Austin Woman Magazine also nominated her as a Change Maker for 2024, 2025, and 2026.