Founding Partner, Harpe Ventures

Panney Wei is the Founder of Harpe Ventures, focused on globally and culturally resonant storytelling, elevating new voices and artists, and premium content with international appeal. A producer, investor, restaurateur, and cultural entrepreneur, she operates at the intersection of media, hospitality, wellness, and the creative economy—developing ventures that create strong cultural and social impact.

Through Harpe Ventures, Panney partners with leading creators, chefs, and producers to build projects across film, Broadway, and hospitality, bridging Eastern and Western markets through storytelling and experiential ventures. Her portfolio includes partnerships with globally recognized brands and talent, including ventures with Chef David Chang’s Momofuku, Niku X, and other cross-cultural hospitality concepts.

In entertainment, Panney is currently a co-producer of the Broadway-bound musical Working Girl, with music by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Cyndi Lauper and written by Theresa Rebeck, directed by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, following its critically acclaimed world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse. She is also producing a documentary on the life of Chef Christine Ha, the first blind winner of MasterChef, and serves as a founding partner of Lumira Entertainment, a film fund dedicated to financing globally relevant stories that influence culture and connect audiences across borders.

Panney began her career working in business development and cultural programming with leading arts organizations including the Producers Guild of America, Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts, and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, where she served as Special Events Director and later co-chaired the festival. She had equity in a production company responsible for more than 30 films and 11 Broadway productions, including Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, Looper, I’m Not There (Academy Award nominee), An Education, Linsanity, Year of the Yao, Every Little Step, Brothers Bloom, Legally Blonde, Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wedding Singer, and Matilda.

A recognized advocate for creative industries as an emerging investment category, Panney frequently speaks about the role of storytelling, culture, and experiential media as drivers of long-term value within diversified portfolios. Her work focuses on building platforms that elevate underrepresented voices while creating scalable opportunities across entertainment, hospitality, and experiential ventures.

Panney’s family legacy is rooted in public service and cultural leadership. With a family legacy steeped in public service and cultural influence, Panney is related to distinguished figures who helped shape the cultural landscape of China and Taiwan. Her ancestry includes General Zuo Zongtang (or General Tso), the Qing dynasty statesman and nobleman (the Marquis Kejing of Tranquility and Respect) whose legacy inspired the popular, iconic dish immortalized in American pop culture, General Tso’s Chicken, and her maternal grandfather Senator Liu Chen, who served in government during the founding of modern Taiwan with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. Continuing this lineage, Panney is guided by a commitment to creating an inspiring, equitable, and interconnected world through culture and storytelling.

With a family legacy steeped in public service and cultural influence, Panney is related to distinguished figures who helped shape the cultural landscape of China and Taiwan. Her ancestry includes General Tso Tsung-tang, the Qing dynasty statesman and nobleman who held the title of “Marquis Kejing of Tranquility and Respect” and whose legacy inspired the iconic dish, General Tso’s Chicken. Her maternal grandfather, Senator Liu Chen, served as a senator in both China and Taiwan and established the government in Taiwan with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek. Continuing this lineage, Panney is guided by a commitment to creating an inspiring, equitable, and interconnected world through culture and storytelling.

Through Harpe Ventures, Panney continues to advocate for storytelling and partnerships that bridge culture, community, and legacy across art, food and beverage, wellness. A dedicated champion and community leader of the API community, Panney is a national senior advisor to the National Association of Asian American Professionals of which she founded the national women’s leadership program, Women in NAAAP, recognized in Forbes Women, as an advisor to the National Asian Artist Project, and has served  on several nonprofit and cultural and business leadership boards including the Asian Business Association, the Asian Youth Center, the Vincent Price Museum, as a Trustee for the Asian Hall of Fame’s Global Councils for Women in Tech, Sports, and Entertainment, Trauma Advocacy, and Legacy Preservation, , and as a member of Film Independent’s Arts Circle.

Her work has been recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Disruptors Awards for Social Responsibility, the Los Angeles Business Journal’s Women in Business awards, LA Business Journal’s Healthcare Leadership Awards, Forbes Women, the Asian American Business Development Center’s Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business, and the Top 100 Most Influential Taiwanese Americans.

Panney continues to champion diverse voices, build ventures that bridge culture, business, and globally resonant storytelling, creating projects designed to shape culture, connect our shared humanity and leave a lasting legacy across generations. She resides in Los Angeles with her daughter, Talia