As an investor on Spark’s growth team, Coen looks for companies that operate outside the standard formula. He believes inventiveness, clarity, and a sharp eye for overlooked opportunities can transform a founder’s vision into a powerful market force. “Markets win and companies win,” he says. “And the best founders pick the right markets.”

Coen was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Singapore and the UK. He attended Stanford where he received degrees in mathematics and history. After considering a PhD in mathematics, he opted to explore the technology world, garnering experience at biotech and insurance startups and spending a summer at the hedge fund Bridgewater. He began his venture career at 8VC before joining Spark in 2024.

Coen considers himself a proud generalist. “I’m driven by curiosity,” he explains. He views his relationships with founders as strategic collaborations, where he can bring his experiential knowledge and an analytical eye to problems companies might only see once or twice in their lifetime. For Coen, this involves asking insightful questions to reveal unexpected insights that can shape a company’s future. “Most startups fail,” he says. “That flicker of unusualness is a good sign a company might be the exception.”