Adams Street Partners, a private markets investment management firm with more than US$76 billion in assets under management, announced that Justine Huang Burns has joined the firm as a Partner focused on venture secondaries. Based in Menlo Park, she will operate within the firm's Secondary Investments Team, which manages more than US$10 billion in capital. The appointment is intended to expand Adams Street's venture secondaries capabilities and offer clients broader access to venture-focused secondary opportunities.
Scaling a Specialized Investment Mandate
Huang Burns will focus on scaling Adams Street's venture secondaries capabilities within an established secondary platform. She will work closely with the Primary Investments and Venture Growth Investments Teams to source, underwrite, and execute limited partner interest transactions and continuation vehicle transactions. Her mandate builds on more than five decades of Adams Street investing in and building relationships with leading venture managers, including approximately 40 firms to which the firm currently makes primary, secondary, and co-investment commitments.
Leadership Views on the Opportunity
Jeff Akers, Partner and Head of Secondary Investments at Adams Street, said venture secondaries are an increasingly important opportunity for clients. He noted that Huang Burns will play a key role in helping the firm grow this area. Akers added that her experience leading venture-focused secondary transactions, combined with Adams Street's longstanding general partner relationships and capital base, should position the firm well to deliver differentiated opportunities for clients.
A Record Built Across Venture Investing
Huang Burns joins Adams Street with more than a decade of experience in venture and secondary investing. She most recently served as Managing Director, Secondary Funds at Industry Ventures, a venture capital investment platform that became part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management following its acquisition in January 2026. In that role, she was a deal lead on several limited partner secondary, general partner-led, direct, and special purpose vehicle transactions and helped manage the investment team.
Education and Early Career
Earlier in her career, Huang Burns worked in equity research at Goldman Sachs, covering the medical technology sector. She holds an MBA with Honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Economics and Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley. Her combined institutional investment and venture transaction experience is expected to support Adams Street's expanding secondary investment activity across venture markets.
Priorities for the New Role
Huang Burns said, "Adams Street has a deep and well-established secondary platform and a distinctive network of venture relationships on which to build." She added that she is excited to help shape the firm's venture secondaries franchise alongside colleagues across the Primary, Direct Venture Growth, and Secondary Investment Teams. Her arrival adds senior capacity at a time when institutional clients are seeking diversified exposure to venture-focused secondary transactions.
Institutional Platform and Positioning
Adams Street is a global investment firm managing a comprehensive suite of private markets investment solutions across private equity and private credit. The firm is 100% employee-owned and operates out of 15 offices globally, leveraging more than 50 years of experience and proprietary data. Its secondary platform manages more than US$10 billion in capital and supports institutional investors, growth capital strategies, and wealth advisors with flexible private markets solutions.
Adams Street's expansion of its venture secondaries team reflects the growing role of secondary transactions in private markets portfolios. With more than US$76 billion in assets under management and a global platform across 15 offices, the firm is positioning itself to meet institutional and wealth client demand for venture secondary strategies. The appointment of Justine Huang Burns adds senior transaction leadership to an area Adams Street views as an important driver of future client value.