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Her entrepreneurial spirit then led her to Hummingbird Ventures, a London-based venture capital firm, where she invested in early-stage biotech and healthcare companies. As an investor, Tendai applied a high-conviction, low-frequency investment philosophy, deploying checks up to $10M in early-stage companies. She then caught the entrepreneur-bug and transitioned from investor to biotech company when she joined the biotechnology company, Enveda, as Director of Policy & Development. Tendai leads Enveda’s sustainability and global health strategies, government partnerships, and multiple investor relations and business development activities.

Tendai's work has taken her across the globe— from Kenya to London, Switzerland to Indonesia—enabling her to develop a truly global perspective and an invaluable multicultural skillset, all in service of her mission to create life-changing medicines for people worldwide.

A renaissance (wo)man of sorts, Tendai lives a multi-dimensional life driven by intellect, ambition, and a passion for global impact. Born in Zambia and immigrating to the United States at age five, she quickly demonstrated a competitive edge, becoming the first Black Valedictorian in her high school’s 60-year history. Seeking both intellectual and personal growth, she chose the tranquil hills of the Berkshires to pursue her undergraduate studies at Williams College, where she double-majored in Biology and Chemistry. At Williams, Tendai founded the College’s first chapter of the Medical Reserve Corps and organized public health training and community service programs, earning multiple leadership awards from faculty. After graduating with honors, she continued her academic journey at the University of Cambridge as a Dr. Herchel Smith Scholar, earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Biochemistry for her research on the neuroscience of leptin signaling in obesity.