# Lair East Labs

Lair East Labs is a Venture Capital based in New York, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** New York, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** New York, NY, United States
- **Founded:** 2017
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** laireastlabs.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/laireastlabs

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Lair East Labs is a startup accelerator based in New York that empowers founders to expand internationally. At the heart of Lair East Labs lies the 4-month onsite accelerator. Each year 10 startups take on our program and receive investments of up to $150K. Our special 4-month program combines the best of two worlds - learn from alumni founders of top Silicon Valley-style accelerators and gain access to a mentor and investor network with extensive experience navigating the Asian markets. In the first five years of operation, our portfolio companies have raised $45 million of funding after completing the accelerator. At Lair East Labs, we help globally-minded founders scale their companies internationally. Leveraging acceleration, investment and an international community of like-minded people, we support founders in their quest to build successful and sustainable ventures that solve global problems. We are founders accelerating founders.

## Sectors

- Enterprise Software
- AI/ML
- FinTech
- Digital Health
- PropTech

## People

- Jie Li — Co-Founder & Managing Partner
- Michelle Wang — Co-Founder & General Partner

## Questions

### Is Lair East Labs an accelerator or a venture capital fund?

Lair East Labs operates as both. The firm runs a structured, cohort-based accelerator program for seed-stage startups, then makes follow-on venture capital investments into selected portfolio companies through early growth. This hybrid model resembles SOSV's approach — accelerator plus direct investment — rather than a pure early-stage VC fund.

### What is Lair East Labs' connection to the Chinese market?

A core element of the firm's strategy is bridging US-based startups with Chinese corporate partners, manufacturing resources, and family office capital. The accelerator curriculum and demo day are designed to facilitate market entry and strategic partnerships in China. This cross-border positioning is central to the firm's identity, as reflected in its programming and network.

### What investment stages does Lair East Labs target?

Initial investments occur at the seed stage through the accelerator program. The firm subsequently makes follow-on investments into select companies through early growth stages. The firm has not publicly disclosed check sizes for either initial accelerator investments or follow-on rounds.

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- [LAI Group](https://altss.com/profile/lai-group)
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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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