Joann Jen

About Joann Jen

Joann Jen is the CEO and Founder of Topi Ventures, where she works at the intersection of brand, infrastructure, and growth—helping companies scale inside the complex operating systems that power hospitality.Her work blends brand storytelling with commercial strategy. She partners with emerging food and beverage brands to translate cultural resonance into real distribution—expanding them into stadiums, universities, airlines, hotels, and corporate dining environments. In under a year, Topi has supported more than 40 brands in entering foodservice and institutional channels, proving there’s a more strategic path to scale than retail alone.Alongside brand work, Joann advises restaurant and commerce technology platforms building financial, operational, and data infrastructure for operators. Her role often sits between product, narrative, and market—shaping how companies position themselves, build partnerships, and drive adoption in trust-driven industries.Previously, Joann served as CMO at inKind, where she helped scale the platform to over one million users and drove triple-digit revenue growth by reimagining how restaurants access working capital. Prior to that, she led global customer experience and digital transformation initiatives at Restaurant Brands International across Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes—designing programs that reshaped guest engagement and operator economics at scale.Today, she is building a pricing and procurement intelligence platform designed to help distributors and suppliers navigate real-time cost volatility turning fragmented data into clearer margin decisions across the foodservice ecosystem.Joann is also the founder of Topi Topics, a live series convening leaders across food, technology, and culture to explore the future of hospitality—and the systems shaping what comes next.

Experience

1. CEO and Founder

   Topi Ventures

   Jul 2024 — Present

   Topi Ventures builds growth infrastructure for the future of food and wellness. We work with founders and operators navigating scale—where systems, access, and execution matter as much as the idea.

Education

• Leadership Tomorrow

  Leadership Development

  2009 — 2010

• University of Washington

  BA, Business Administration Accounting Concentration and Political Science

• University of Washington

  Certificate, Strategic Marketing Management

  2008 — 2009

Skills

• Program Management
• Blogging
• Social Business
• Social Media
• Digital Strategy
• Crisis Communications
• Team Coordination
• Event Planning
• Integrated Marketing
• Strategic Communications
• Product Marketing
• Account Management
• Strategy
• Social Media Marketing
• Media Relations
• Business Strategy
• Digital Marketing
• Strategic Planning
• Public Speaking
• Event Marketing
• Content Strategy
• Marketing Strategy
• Team Building
• Marketing
• Marketing Communications