Noubar Afeyan

Noubar Afeyan
Born July 25, 1962
Alma mater McGill University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Occupation Venture capitalist, Entrepreneur, Flagship Ventures

Noubar Afeyan, PhD, (born July 25, 1962) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, inventor, technologist, and CEO. In 2000, Afeyan founded Flagship Ventures, to create and fund early-stage start-ups addressing unmet needs in healthcare and sustainability. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management.[1] He lectures in the United States and internationally on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation and venture capital to biological engineering, drug discovery, medical technologies and renewable energy.

Early Life and Education

Afeyan is of Armenian heritage and was born in Beirut, Lebanon. His family moved to Montreal, Canada in 1976. Afeyan graduated from McGill University with a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1983.[2] He earned his PhD in Biochemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987.[3]

Career

In 1988, Afeyan founded PerSeptive Biosystems in Cambridge, MA. While CEO of PerSeptive, Afeyan co-founded and funded numerous other biotechnology companies, including ChemGenics Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Millennium Pharmaceuticals in 1997, Exact Sciences (NASDAQ:EXAS), Agenus (NASDAQ:AGEN) and Color Kinetics, acquired by Philips 2007.[2] After PerSeptive's acquisition by Perkin Elmer/Applera Corporation in 1998, he became Senior Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Applera, where he initiated and oversaw the creation of Celera Genomics.[4]

In 2000, Afeyan founded the early-stage venture capital firm Flagship Ventures, where he currently serves as Senior Managing Partner and CEO. Flagship Ventures focuses on investing in three principal business sectors: therapeutics, health technologies and sustainability, through two synergistic units: VentureLabs which invents and launches transformative companies, and Venture Capital, which finances and develops innovative, early-stage companies.

Afeyan has founded or helped start numerous companies, including Affinnova, Adnexus (acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb), BG Medicine, BIND Therapeutics, Celexion, Eleven Biotherapeutics, Ensemble Therapeutics, Joule Unlimited, LS9, Midori, Moderna Therapeutics, Permeon Biologics, Pronutria Biosciences and Seres Health.

In 2007, Afeyan and David Berry (inventor) co-founded Joule Unlimited, which is developing Solar Fuels—drop-in fuels produced directly from the sun. In March 2010[5] and in March 2011,[6] Joule was named by Technology Review as one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies. Joule was named as one of the 10 most important emerging technologies in 2010.[7] Joule's unique and innovative approach to fuels led to its being named a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2012[8] and to its receiving the Silver Medal in the 2011 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards.[9] Joule's technology has been scaled to a demonstration facility,[10] and the company has announced a commercial partnership with Audi.[11]

Affiliations

Since 2000, Afeyan has been teaching courses on entrepreneurship, innovation and leadership at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. From 2007 to 2010, he also served on Boston University’s Board of Overseers.[12] Afeyan has authored numerous scientific publications[13] and patents.[14]

Afeyan is Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies[15] of the World Economic Forum. He is also co-founder and board member of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, a private-public partnership to promote economic development in the former Soviet Republic of Armenia. He serves on the board of Ameriabank, a leading bank in Armenia.[16] Afeyan serves on multiple charitable boards. Since 2008, he has served on the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Board of Overseers.

Awards and Honors

Afeyan’s awards include the Ellis Island Medal of Honor,[17] an award granted to outstanding Americans who have distinguished themselves as U.S. citizens, and who exemplify outstanding qualities in both their personal and professional lives, while continuing to preserve the richness of their particular heritage. Afeyan also received a Technology Pioneer 2012 award from the World Economic Forum in recognition of the breakthrough solar fuel technology being developed at Joule Unlimited.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Noubar Afeyan". The Flagship Team. Flagship Ventures. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Noubar Afeyan". LinkedIn. LinkedIn. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  3. ↑ "Noubar Afeyan". Venture Beat Profiles. Venture Beat. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Faculty and Research". MIT Sloan School of Management. MIT Sloan School of Management. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "MIT's Technology Review Unveils 2010 TR50 List of the World's Most Innovative Companies". Enhanced Online News. Technology Review. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "MIT's Technology Review Unveils 2011 TR50 List of the World's Most Innovative Companies". Business Wire. Technology Review.
  7. ↑ "TR10: Solar Fuel". MIT Technology Review. MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Technology Pioneer 2012 - Noubar Afeyan (Joule)". World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  9. ↑ LEGER, JOHN M. "2011 Technology Innovation Awards". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal.
  10. ↑ "Joule Commissions First SunSprings™ Plant to Demonstrate Commercial Readiness". Flagship Ventures. Joule Unlimited.
  11. ↑ "Joule Partners with Audi to Accelerate Development and Commercialization of Sustainable, Carbon-Neutral Fuels". Flagship Ventures. Joule Unlimited.
  12. ↑ Fitzgerald, Brian. "Board names three new trustees and an overseer". BU Today. Boston University.
  13. ↑ "Noubar Afeyan". PubMed. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
  14. ↑ "Noubar Afeyan". United States Patent and Trademark Office. United States Patent and Trademark Office.
  15. ↑ "Global Agenda Councils". World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  16. ↑ "Board of Directors". Ameriabank. Ameriabank. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "Noubar Afeyan Receives 2008 Ellis Island Medal of Honor". Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 10 December 2012.

External links