Jillian Manus

Venture Partner, Shield Capital
U.S Venture Advisor, European Innovation Council

Jillian Manus is a Venture Partner at Shield Capital, where she focuses on early-stage, dual-use frontier technologies at the nexus of commercial markets and national security, particularly in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, autonomy, and space.

She also serves as the U.S. Venture Advisor to the European Innovation Council Fund, a €30B public investment platform backing deep-tech commercialization across the European Union. Previously, she was Managing Partner of Structure Capital, investing in underutilized assets and excess capacity.

Over more than three decades in U.S. intelligence and national security, Manus has held operational, advisory, and strategic roles supporting U.S. and allied institutions, with a focus on emerging technology, geopolitical risk, and security policy at the public-private intersection.

An exited founder, she has also held senior leadership roles across venture capital, investment banking, and media. Earlier in her career, she served as Co-Director of Technology, Media & Telecom at Credit Suisse in Zurich and held executive positions at Universal Studios and Warner Bros., before founding Broad Strategy and Manus Media to advise technology companies and institutional investors on growth, capital formation, and market entry.

Manus is a frequent public speaker and business and political commentator and a co-host investor on the podcast The Pitch, where she evaluates early-stage founders and venture opportunities. She serves on multiple corporate and nonprofit boards, including the Stanford University School of Medicine Board of Fellows and the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center.

She holds degrees from the University of Oxford and New York University and lives in San Francisco.

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