Joseph Kao

Joe Kao is a Partner at Millennium Technology Value Partners (MTVLP), a New York–based technology investment firm with close to $1 billion in assets under management that specializes in direct secondary investments and growth capital for leading private technology companies. He was promoted from Principal to Partner in January 2024, formalizing a long tenure at the firm during which he led or played a central role in a number of its highest-profile deals. At Millennium, Joe focuses on investments in enterprise software and new financial technologies and markets, and he currently sits on the Board of Directors of identity-verification company Jumio.

Before joining Millennium, Joe was with Garnett & Helfrich Capital, where he specialized in venture buyout transactions — sourcing and evaluating investments across IT infrastructure, application software, and mobility, and working with portfolio company management on strategic and operational initiatives. Earlier, he worked in the Technology Mergers & Acquisitions group at Credit Suisse, where he was involved in transactions representing over $7.5 billion of aggregate value across technology and pharmaceutical deals, and he began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Joe earned an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Stanford University, where he was a President's Scholar and a member of the varsity tennis team.

• Invests primarily at the late/growth stage in established private technology companies, using Millennium's model of direct secondary purchases (buying shares from existing holders/employees) alongside primary growth capital and bespoke liquidity solutions.
• Personal focus areas: enterprise software and fintech / "new financial technologies and markets." Firm-wide, deals also span digital health, AI/ML, and mobility.
• Firm's stated edge: having completed 300+ transactions in the direct-secondary market, MTVLP positions itself as "the largest pool of institutional capital… devoted to sponsoring alternative liquidity programs and making direct secondary investments in the world's leading private technology companies."
• Says yes to proven, scaling companies with a clear liquidity/growth-capital need rather than pre-product seed bets — the fund backs category leaders as they approach or delay an exit.