Veteran Medical Technology Entrepreneur Builds on 20-Year History with Firm in New Role

Chevy Chase, MD and Menlo Park, CA – June 11, 2015 - Global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) today announced that Josh Makower, MD, has been appointed General Partner. A longtime Venture Partner and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Makower has founded nine companies and several medical device incubators during his association with NEA spanning more than two decades. Based in the firm’s Menlo Park, Calif. Office, Dr. Makower will focus on investments in medical technology and devices.

"Josh has been part of the NEA family and an integral member of our healthcare practice for many years," said Peter Barris, Managing General Partner, NEA. "He’s a prolific entrepreneur and strategist who has made outstanding contributions to our firm through numerous successful outcomes, deep medical expertise and an extensive network. At a time of extraordinary innovation and opportunity in the medical technology sector, we are thrilled to see Josh step into this new role."

Dr. Makower first worked with NEA in 1995 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence and became a Venture Partner in 2004. He focuses primarily on medical devices and consumer health technologies. He has created eight companies through the ExploraMed incubators he founded in partnership with NEA, three of which have been successfully acquired. Dr. Makower is also a Co-Founder of Coravin, a consumer products company. He serves on the faculty of the Stanford University Medical School as a Consulting Professor of Medicine, is Co-Founder of Stanford’s Biodesign Innovation Program, and is a Director of numerous private companies including Intrinsic Therapeutics; NeoTract; Moximed; Ceterix® Orthopaedics; Nuelle; and Coravin. Dr. Makower is named as an inventor on more than 300 patents and patent applications, primarily for various medical devices in the fields of cardiology, ENT, general surgery, drug delivery, obesity, orthopedics, women’s health and urology. He was previously Founder and Manager of Pfizer’s Strategic Innovation Group. He received an MBA from Columbia University, a medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine, and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In addition to Dr. Makower’s appointment, the firm also announced the following new hires and promotions:

• Melissa Taunton joined the firm as a Partner focused on talent and executive leadership across the NEA portfolio. Prior to joining NEA she was an Operating Partner at Khosla Ventures. Previously, Ms. Taunton was a Director at Schweichler Price Mullarkey & Barry focusing on C-Level and VP level searches for IT, healthcare informatics and mobility. She has also held positions with various technology and healthcare companies including Drip Drop Solutions, Netopia, Hewlett-Packard, and Qualcomm. Ms. Taunton attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and holds an MBA from the University of San Diego.
• Scott Frederick will join NEA in September as Development Partner, Head of Federal. In this role he will focus on portfolio and business development initiatives, including engagement with the Federal Government. A former venture capitalist who was Founder and General Partner at Valhalla Partners until 2011, Mr. Frederick most recently served as Chief Operating Officer at Automated Insights until the company’s acquisition by Vista Equity Partners earlier this year. He holds a law degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Duke University.
• New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. (NEA India) promoted Ruchir Lahoty and Tarun Sharma to Partner. Mr. Lahoty joined the firm in 2008 and is a Director of MEdRC EduTech, Naaptol and RezNext. Prior to joining NEA he was with ICICI Venture, Thomas Weisel and TATA Consulting Services. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and a B.Com in Finance and Accounting from Delhi University. Mr. Sharma joined NEA in 2009 and is a Director of Air Works, Nova Medical Centers and Infinitas Energy, as well an Observer on the boards of InTarvo and Intellisys. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and earned his B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Delhi.
• Amit Mukherjee was promoted to Senior Associate. Based in the firm’s Menlo Park office, he focuses on information technology investments, particularly in consumer and mobile technology. He is a Director of Lot18. He was previously with J.P. Morgan, after earning his AB in Economics from Princeton University.

“We’re excited to welcome Melissa and Scott in these new roles as we sharpen our focus on cultivating great talent and harnessing NEA’s network and resources to benefit our global portfolio,” said Mr. Barris. “We are also deeply committed to cultivating talent within our organization, and are delighted to recognize the significant contributions Tarun, Ruchir and Amit have made to the firm with these promotions.”

About NEA

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With nearly $17 billion in cumulative committed capital since inception NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 200 portfolio company IPOs and more than 320 acquisitions. www.nea.com.