Joel Lou

Joel Lou is a successful Singapore-based entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has made significant contributions to the technology and startup ecosystem in Singapore and Asia. He was honored as a Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) Singapore Honoree by Junior Chamber International in 2016 for Business, Economic, and/or Entrepreneurial Accomplishment. Joel started his career as a commodity broker before founding and serving as CEO of JustCommodity Software Solutions, a leading commodities trading and risk management software provider in the agricultural commodity space in Asia.

Under Joel's leadership, JustCommodity achieved remarkable success, winning numerous awards including Singapore Enterprise 50, Deloitte Technology Fast 500, Best tech company to work for in Singapore, and the Red Herring Global 100 Award. After raising over $5 million in funding from notable investors including Leslie Loh, Infocomm Investments, and OWW capital, he successfully led the company to acquisition by Allegro Development in June 2015 at a valuation of over $20 million, described as the first true blue exit in the enterprise software space in Singapore in recent years.

Following the successful exit, Joel co-founded Blue Cloud Ventures, a New York-based software-focused venture capital firm specializing in late-stage companies in cloud-computing and SaaS. As Operating Partner based in Singapore, he works with portfolio companies on expanding operations into Asia. Joel also founded Claritrade in 2017 as a private investment vehicle for direct and alternative investments. He actively contributes to Singapore's entrepreneurship community, serving as an Advisory Council member at Singapore Management University's International Trading Institute, a Charter Member and former board member of TiE Singapore, and mentoring startups on a pro bono basis. He holds an MBA from Imperial College London.