Jessica Stroud

Jessica Stroud
Entrepreneur and Business Executive
AS
Jessica Stroud in 2034
Co-Founder and CEO Nimbus Biotechnology LLC
In Office	5 Jan 2030 - Present
Industry	Biomedical sciences
Co-founders	TBD TBD
Funding	$53.5 million (Series B, 2033) $12 million (Series A, 2031)
Equity	58.3%
1st President of the Andromeda Sorority
In Office	5 Nov 2028 - 16 Jan 2030
Patron	Julian Kao
Vice President	TBD TBD
Preceded by	Position created
Succeeded by	Carmen Messina
Personal Information
Born	6 June 1999 (age 35) Cleveland, Ohio United States of America
Nationality	United States
Height	173 cm (5'8")
Breasts	34C
Hair	Blonde
Eyes	Blue
Dress Size	6
Education	Northwestern University (BS) Heidelberg University (MSc) UC Berkeley (MS, PhD)
Spouse	Julian Kao (m. 2028)
Family	Chester Stroud (father) Caroline Miller Stroud (mother) Sheldon Stroud (brother) Hannah Hazeldon (sister-wife)

Jessica Kristin Stroud, PhD (born 6 June 1999) is an American entrepreneur, scientist and philanthropist who has been serving since 5 January 2030 as Chief Executive Officer of Nimbus Therapeutics Inc., the company she co-founded alongside TBD and TBD. Previously, she worked at Impossible Foods, Inc. from 2026 to 2030, rising to become the director of the company's global research center in April 2029. She has also been a trustee of the Kao Foundation since 16 February 2032, and is known for frequently championing environmental and social causes.

Throughout Stroud's career, she has maintained a strong interest in food science and genetics. While still a PhD candidate, she worked as a research associate with the Good Food Institute in Arlington, Virginia. In 2026, she completed her PhD thesis on alternative proteins and the environmental impact of their widespread adoption. For this, she was awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 2027.

Stroud co-founded Nimbus Therapeutics in January 2030 and has been the company's CEO since its inception. She initially provided the company with $1.5 million from her own personal funds as seed capital. In December that same year, Nimbus announced that it had developed a sublingual drug delivery system based on nanofibers obtained from plants, and that a patent application was pending. Under Stroud's leadership, Nimbus has since gone on to achieve an annual run-rate revenue of $49 million, and has raised two funding rounds from investors including Quest Ventures, Legend Capital and Nutriven. As of December 2034, Nimbus was valued at $320 million.

"The more successful I become, the more I am aware of the outsized role that luck plays in determining a person's life outcomes. I have been immensely blessed to have had a front-row seat, watching the best and sharpest investors in the world. My husband has helped me immeasurably - more than words can express. I know that not everyone gets these opportunities.

This is why I am determined to make a difference. I want to give back. I want as many young women as possible to experience what I experienced."

Jessica Stroud

Interview with Hong Kong Tatler

8 September 2034

Stroud has been married to billionaire investor Julian Kao since May 2028. Together, they live in a polygamous household with British actress Hannah Hazeldon. She has revealed that there is a "permanent Dominant-submissive dynamic in place" within her relationship. Stroud introduced Hazeldon to Kao in December 2029 and actively encouraged them to date. When Kao took Hazeldon as his second wife in September 2031, Stroud was a maid-of-honor at the wedding ceremony, and delivered one of the keynote speeches.

Both Hazeldon and Stroud have publicly advocated for the full legalization of polygamy, and have argued that it reflects "how nature intended for us to live". Stroud has also stated on multiple occasions that polygamy is beneficial to society, and especially to women, in terms of advancing their social and economic mobility. She has also said that all men with a net worth of $100 million or higher "should be encouraged, or even required" to have a harem.

In 2028, Stroud was named as the inaugural President of the Andromeda Society, an all-women secret society dedicated to the service of its patron, Kao. She is also a classically-trained violinist who previously played in the New York Doctors' and Scientists' Orchestra.

Career

Jessica Stroud doing laboratory work at UC Berkeley in 2024

PhD and Doctoral Research

After graduating from Northwestern University in 2021, Stroud was selected by the National Institute of Health to receive a scholarship for her doctoral studies at the Georgetown University. As part of her program at Berkeley, she was required to spend a year abroad in Germany, where she was conducting research at Heidelberg University.

During her time there, she observed the stark difference in the way Germany was managing the COVID-19 pandemic, as compared to the "haphazard and chaotic" approach of the First Trump Administration back in the US. She also became deeply interested in the food safety standards in the European Union, concluding that "the US government's complete capitulation to the Big Food industry is the main reason why Europe is generally healthier than America".

Upon returning to Georgetown in 2022, Stroud became a research associate at the Good Food Institute, and continued working there part-time until the final year as a doctoral candidate. Her former supervisor, Dr Allan Steiner, would later become Virginia's Commissioner for Public Health under Governor Forrest Chu.

In 2026, Stroud completed her doctoral thesis on the subject of alternative proteins and the environmental impact of their widespread adoption. She argued that carbon emissions could be reduced by up to 30% in areas with a high density of cattle farming. She was awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 2027 in recognition of her outstanding scientific paper.

Jessica Stroud delivering a presentation at Dubai Tech Week in 2031

Nimbus Therapeutics (2030 - Present)

Founding and Early Beginnings

In January 2030, Stroud left Impossible Foods to start Nimbus with two friends, and funded the company's initial startup capital with $5 million of her own money. As a result of her substantial financial investment, she was issued a convertible note that would convert into preferred stock, which was separate from the common stock awarded for her contributions as a co-founder.

"People have tried to play down the risks that I had to take at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. Sure, I was married to a billionaire and I was financially set up for life. But I still struggled with the fear of failure every single day. I was worried that I wasn't good enough, and that I'd be exposed as a fraud - and that this would embarrass Julian."

In December that same year, she announced that Nimbus had developed a sublingual drug delivery system based on nanofibers obtained from plants, and had applied for a patent.

In 2031, the company raised $12 million in its Series A round, with investors including Nutriven, Gramercy Ventures and Solo Capital.

Jessica Stroud in the Nimbus corporate offices in Baltimore, Maryland

Commercial Launch and Growth

Following its Series A round, Nimbus established its corporate offices in Baltimore, Maryland. The location was chosen because of its proximity to Johns Hopkins University, with whom the company was seeking to collaborate. Also in 2031, the company announced a partnership with drug delivery company Hims and Hers to deliver tadalafil and sildenafil (the active ingredients in Cialis and Viagra respectively) using its nanofiber strips.

In 2033, Nimbus announced that it had achieved an annual run-rate revenue of $49 million, and was set to double this figure in 2034. Despite these impressive results, the company operated at a loss of $18 million for the full financial year of 2033.

In December 2033, the company raised a further $53.5 billion in a Series B round, with investors including Quest Ventures, Legend Capital and IDG Capital. Existing investors Nutriven and Gramercy Ventures also participated in the round. Stroud announced that the new funding would be deployed towards international expansion.

While Julian Kao's companies Belle Haven Ventures and Latitude Capital expressed interest in investing in the company, Stroud decided not to accept any funding from them so as to "avoid creating the impression that there might be a conflict of interest". However, HH Holdings, the personal investment firm of Kao's second wife Hannah Hazeldon, was accepted as an investor, and contributed $200,000 to the round.