Product Expert and Entrepreneur Brings Strength in Consumer, Enterprise to NEA’s Diversified Tech Practice

Menlo Park, CA – October 14, 2016 – New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) today announced that Vanessa Larco has joined the firm as a Partner based in the Bay Area. Larco brings nearly a decade of deep product expertise to NEA’s consumer and enterprise investing practices, garnered through roles at some of the world’s leading technology companies, including Box and Microsoft, and as co-founder of a mobile gaming startup. She most recently served as Box’s Director of Product Management for Mobile and Web, where she led a team supporting the company’s flagship web and mobile products.

“Vanessa is a natural leader and skilled technologist; she combines executive experience with an entrepreneurial mindset to produce exceptional results,” said Peter Sonsini, General Partner, NEA. “We’re thrilled to welcome her to NEA—she embodies the kind of talent you want on your team as a venture capitalist, and I’m confident she’ll bring tremendous value to the firm and to the entrepreneurs in our portfolio.”

While at Box, Larco rebuilt, redesigned and recently re-launched the Box web and mobile applications known as “The All New Box”. In addition, she established company-wide metrics for determining product success, launched Box new mobile SDKs, and developed the Box mobile security solution; she also pioneered wide scale A/B testing across the apps, and founded the Associate Product Manager program. Prior to Box, Larco held positions at Playdom (acquired by Disney Interactive) and Microsoft, and co-Founded FunLoop, a mobile entertainment platform for kids.

“Throughout my career, I have found the process of identifying a need, developing a strategy, and building a solution immensely satisfying,” said Ms. Larco, who will focus on investments in both enterprise and consumer technologies. “The transition to investor feels like a natural and incredibly exciting next step. I look forward to working alongside the team here at NEA to identify new opportunities and support the incredible entrepreneurs across the firm’s portfolio.”

Larco graduated with honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she earned a BS in Computer Science, specializing in human computer interaction and usability. She is named on several patents resulting from her work in user interface design. Larco was named to the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence list in 2015; honored by Glamour Magazine as one of 35 Women under 35 Who Are Changing the Tech Industry, and selected by CNET Español as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Latinos in the Tech Industry 2014.

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.

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