BERKELEY, CA (March 20, 2012) -- Moshe Alafi, one of the leading investors in the biotechnology industry for the last three decades, will be awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award on March 20, 2012 at The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship at the Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley.
A UC-Berkeley alumnus, Mr. Alafi has been called one of the founders of biotechnology. He funded and helped start more than 60 life sciences companies through Alafi Capital, his venture capital firm, including pioneers such as Applied Biosystems, Cetus, Biogen and Amgen. A number of these firms created entire new industries. Mr. Alafi is currently a director of Molecular Devices and Brainscope.
“Moshe Alafi’s life is an inspiration to entrepreneurs as a successful investor and startup partner,” said Andre Marquis, executive director of the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. “Mr. Alafi has also done an amazing amount to improve our health and scientific knowledge with biotechnology breakthroughs.”
“Moshe invested in two companies where I was CEO, and his investment guidance and knowledge was truly phenomenal,” added Nat Goldhaber, a founder and managing director of Claremont Creek Ventures. “By many measures, Moshe truly is one of the best venture capitalists in the venture industry.”
Mr. Alafi is a limited partner in Claremont Creek Ventures, the venture firm that is lead sponsor of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award event.
Mr. Alafi will receive the award that was won by other highly prominent Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. The list includes Vinod Khosla, a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures; John Doerr, a prominent long-time partner of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers; the late Warren Hellman, a president of Lehman Brothers and co-founder of Hellman & Friedman; and Richard Kramlich, the chairman and co-founder of venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.
Other honorees are Sanford Robertson, a founder of Francisco Partners and the founder and chairman of Robertson, Stephens & Co.; Ralph Landau, the late founder of Scientific Design Co.; William Hambrecht, the founder of WR Hambrecht & Co. and co-founder of Hambrecht & Quist; and Edward Penhoet, the president and CEO of Chiron. More honorees included were Arthur Rock, a leading pioneer in the venture capital industry, and Alejandro Zaffaroni, the founder of drug delivery company Alza and biotechnology companies DNAX, Affymax, Affymetrix and Symyx Technologies.
The award ceremony will be held at The Great Hall at Clark Kerr Campus at UC-Berkeley on March 20, 2012. For more information, contact Event Manager Karen Daitch at Karen@onekevents.com or (415) 867-8105.
About the Lifetime Achievement Award
The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes entrepreneurial excellence as reflected in the individual’s success in multiple business arenas and significant impact on his given industry. These exemplars of entrepreneurship inspire future generations. The award ceremony also offers an opportunity for celebrants to financially support entrepreneurship education at one of the world’s top public universities.
About The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship
The Lester Center for Entrepreneurship is an internationally recognized program at UC-Berkeley for the study and promotion of entrepreneurship and new enterprise development. Founded in 1991 through a gift from W. Howard Lester, the Lester Center focuses on encouraging innovation through entrepreneurship education and by helping UC Berkeley students and alumni start and scale world-changing innovative ventures with classes, business competitions, events, mentoring, startup acceleration, student-led initiatives and academic research.
About Claremont Creek Ventures
Claremont Creek Ventures (CCV) is a seed and early stage venture firm which invests in digital healthcare, energy technology, payments/commerce, and online businesses. Utilizing their proprietary life-cycle venturing program, they often partner with entrepreneurs and institutions, including UC Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore Labs, Stanford University and UC Davis. Claremont Creek has more than $300 million in capital under management in two funds. CCV has invested in 20 companies including Adura Technologies, Alphabet Energy, AssureRX, Geneweave Biosciences, Natera and Shotspotter. For more information, visit www.claremontcreek.com