The Physic Ventures team is comprised of proven venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, operational managers and leading scientific, business and financial advisors. As former leaders of successful biotechnology, information technology and consumer-driven health and companies, Physic’s investment professionals possess direct experience in building companies to the realization of significant shareholder value. Through these operating roles, Physic team members have acquired first-hand experience with many of the challenges and milestones involved with each step of successful company-building.
Physic Ventures was created by the fusion of two experienced management investment teams from Great Spirit Ventures (GSV) and Unilever Technology Ventures (UTV). The investment professionals of Physic Ventures continue to manage the portfolio companies of the GSV and UTV funds, both of which similarly focused on early-stage consumer-driven health and sustainable living investments.
The firm has also established a Strategic Advisory Board comprising individuals with outstanding backgrounds in biology, materials science, sustainability, healthcare, and investing in and marketing healthy living products. Members of the Strategic Advisory Board deliver considerable value to both our management team and portfolio companies by sharing deal flow, industry and academic contacts, business development opportunities, and thought leadership.
Mr. Madsen has 15 years of experience in developing technology companies. He most recently served as Managing Director and leader of the investment practice of Unilever Technology Ventures Advisory Company LLC, an investment advisor to Unilever Technology Ventures Fund BV, a €50 million venture fund affiliated with Unilever N.V. From 1998 to 2003 he served as a Partner of RBC Capital Partners ("RBC"), the private equity arm of the Royal Bank of Canada, where he was responsible for opening an office covering the Western Canadian market and, in 2002, for opening the RBC Life Sciences Fund's first U.S.office in San Francisco, California. At RBC, he led RBC's investments in early-stage North American healthcare companies such as Cytovax Biotechnologies, Hemosol, Inex Pharmaceuticals, Sembiosys Genetics, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Corus Pharma, Conforma Therapeutics and NeuroMed Technologies. While at RBC, Mr. Madsen also served as Chief Financial Officer of Cytovax Biotechnologies Inc., raising a private placement and taking Cytovax to its IPO in 2001.
Prior to joining RBC, Mr. Madsen was Chief Financial Officer of Cyberion Networking Inc., then a publicly traded national Internet service provider. At Cyberion, Mr. Madsen restructured the operations of the troubled company, successfully completed a private placement financing, achieved positive operating cash flow, and repackaged the company's consumer Internet assets for sale. While at Cyberion, Mr. Madsen initiated technology development on a secure Internet application that was spun out and ultimately sold by The DocSpace Company Inc. to Critical Path for $568 million. Mr. Madsen previously worked in Commercial Banking with the Royal Bank of Canada in Edmonton. Mr. Madsen has also been a member of the Investment Committee of ENSIS Investment Limited Partnership, a Canadian venture capital fund, and the Burrill AgBio Capital Fund, L.P. In addition, Mr. Madsen has served as a director of Biostar Inc., Idun Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. and has been a board observer on numerous biotechnology companies. Mr. Madsen holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and holds a Bachelor's degree in Commerce specializing in Finance from the University of Saskatchewan.
Mr. Rosenzweig has 20 years of experience as an investor, entrepreneur and educator. Mr. Rosenzweig was most recently co-founder and Managing Director of Great Spirit Ventures (“GSV” or “GSV Fund I”), a $20 million venture fund focused in the consumer-driven health sector and co-founder and CEO of Brand New Brands, a $15 million functional food accelerator fund. Thus far, Brand New Brands has resourcefully and speedily commercialized four new companies.
Prior to co-founding GSV, Mr. Rosenzweig actively participated in creating successful food and consumer-driven health companies as an investor or member of senior management. In 1990, Mr. Rosenzweig co-founded and served as President, CEO, and Minister of Progress of The Republic of Tea, an award-winning specialty tea company that is often credited with creating the premium tea category in the United States. The company grew very rapidly and was acquired in 1994. In 1995, Mr. Rosenzweig was named Senior Vice President of Odwalla (1994-1997), the nation’s largest fresh juice company where he directed the brand and strategy of the company. His prior work experience includes roles as Vice President of Nakamichi (1985-1989); Partner and CEO of Hambrecht Vineyards and Wineries (1998-2001); Chairman of Winetasting.com (1998-2001); and Co-Founder of Venture Strategy Partners (1997-2000). In 2004, he founded Kingdom of Herbs, a purveyor of organic products for home and garden at the Ferry Building in San Francisco.
Mr. Rosenzweig was on the faculty at the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley from 1999 to 2006, where he has taught the MBA course in Social Entrepreneurship. He was named a teaching fellow by Dean Laura Tyson in 1999. He serves as faculty advisor to the Global Social Venture Competition and has been a visiting faculty member at London Business School and a guest lecturer at Stanford, Columbia, University of California, Davis, University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. He has received several awards for teaching from both the Haas School of Business at Berkeley and from London Business School. Mr. Rosenzweig also served as an advisor and consultant to the Rockefeller Foundation’s ProVenEx Fund, an investment vehicle seeking “double bottom line returns” in for-profit businesses. He was the co-project director and co-author of Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored research on Social Impact Assessment and design methodologies for measuring and monetizing the social value generated through social focused businesses.
Mr. Rosenzweig is the co-author of The Republic of Tea: How an Idea Becomes a Business (Doubleday 1992, 1994), a best selling book that chronicles the start up of a new company. He is on the board of directors of Brand New Brands, LightFull Foods, Attune Foods, Dreamerz Foods, Efficas, World of Good and The Natural Dentist. He serves as Co-Chairman of Net Impact and is on the advisory boards of UC Connect, Acumen Fund and SustainAbility.
Mr. Donner has ten years of experience in the financial services, healthcare, and information technology industries. Mr. Donner was previously a Senior Associate with Great Spirit Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, where he focused on consumer healthcare investments. Mr. Donner led Great Spirit Ventures’ investment in Attune Foods, Corazonas Foods, LightFull Foods, and The Natural Dentist, where he currently serves on the board.
Prior to joining Great Spirit Ventures, Mr. Donner spent six years founding, building, and managing rapid-growth companies in the high-tech industry, including atMadison.com, where he served as Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer; Entopia, where he established and directed the product marketing department; and LeapFrog Enterprises, where he developed new business opportunities in the healthcare industry. From 1997 to 1999, Mr. Donner was a member of Wasserstein Perella’s Technology Mergers & Acquisitions Group, where he provided transaction execution and advisory services to enterprise software, hardware, and Internet companies. He began his career working for VISTA, the “domestic Peace Corps,” where his leadership of a state-wide public health program was honored at the Presidential Summit for America’s Future.
Mr. Donner graduated cum laude from Duke University’s pre-med program and earned his MBA at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was awarded full-tuition as a Haas Merit Scholar. While earning his MBA, Mr. Donner served as a Graduate Student Instructor for one of the school’s leading entrepreneurship courses and was elected President of the Berkeley chapter of Net Impact, an international organization of business school students committed to social responsibility and environment stewardship.
Prior to joining Physic Ventures, Dr. Williamson spent 10 years leading materials science research and development projects at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). He has developed materials for a broad range of applications, including chemical and biological sensing, thermoelectric cooling, photovoltaic power generation, and hydrogen storage. Dr. Williamson has published over fifty scientific articles, three book chapters, and two patents in the field of nanostructured materials.
In recent years, Dr. Williamson also played a leading role in developing LLNL's strategy for identifying and investing in new technologies and commercializing those technologies. He was a member of the Laboratory Directed Research and Development committee, which funded $95 million of strategic research and development projects in 2007. Dr. Williamson was responsible for evaluating investments in new materials technologies at the interface of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology. He also worked with the Industrial Partnering and Commercialization office to identify LLNL technologies suitable for spinning out or licensing. He recently produced business plans and development plans for the commercialization of LLNL technologies ranging from medical devices, to bio-sensors, and water filters.
In 2006 and 2007, Dr. Williamson was also an Executive Management Fellow in the University of California Industry-University Cooperative Research Program (IUCRP). In this role, he worked with IUCRP fellows from each of the University of California campuses to implement new initiatives for enhancing strategic partnerships between the University of California and regional and national industry. These initiatives included establishing industrial alliance programs for new University of California research centers in nanotechnology, micro-fluidics, foods for health, and stem cell research. The program also developed initiatives for supporting the creation of new companies based on University of California technology through the use of University of California Discovery matching grants, new University of California Connect programs and development incubators. Dr. Williamson holds a BA and PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge and is currently completing an MBA at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Subaiya brings a decade of experience in commercial strategy and operations within the healthcare and lifesciences industry. Prior to joining Physic Ventures, she was Founder and President of Etude Scientific, a consulting firm providing strategy, market assessment and due diligence services to biotechnology, medical device, diagnostic and consumer healthcare companies. Through Etude Scientific, Dr. Subaiya led a wide range of engagements, from serving on the founding teams of two early-stage point-of-care diagnostics companies, to profiling the use of telephone care for the uninsured in California, to conducting market size and opportunity assessments for a pre-IPO biotechnology company.
She is the co-founder of Health 2.0: User Generated Healthcare, a first-of-its-kind forum showcasing emerging companies in vertical search, social networking applications and web-based tools for consumer healthcare. She is also Associate Director of Special Projects at the Bioagenda Institute, an independent think-tank founded by leaders in science, business, the media, public policy, advocacy, global health, and the arts, whose mission is to analyze and articulate policy on crucial issues in the life sciences.
Dr. Subaiya served as Vice President of Healthcare and Biomedical Research at Gerson Lehrman Group where she facilitated due diligence research in the life sciences sector for investment fund managers. Earlier in her career she was Director of Outcomes Research at Quorum Consulting, Inc. where she conducted Phase III-IV quality of life and pharmacoeconomic studies and advised clients on commercialization and reimbursement strategies for novel drugs, medical devices and diagnostic tests. Her emphasis was on patient-reported outcomes, where she served as Director of a national registry tracking the everyday impact of immunosuppressive therapy on the quality-of-life of organ transplant recipients.
Dr. Subaiya received her MD from Stony Brook University School of Medicine at the State University of New York, an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University.
Dr. Fréchet is the Henry Rapoport Chair of Organic Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley. He has active research programs in life and materials sciences at both University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Fréchet was born in France and received his first university degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the Institut de Chimie et Physique Industrielles in Lyon, France, before coming to the United States for graduate studies in organic and polymer chemistry at the State University of New York, College of Forestry, and Syracuse University. He joined the Chemistry Faculty at the University of Ottawa in Canada in 1973 and remained there until 1987 when he became IBM Professor of Polymer Chemistry at Cornell University. In 1995, he was named to the Peter J. Debye Chair of Chemistry at Cornell University. In 1997, Jean Fréchet joined the Chemistry Faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and was named the Henry Rapoport Chair of Organic Chemistry in 2003. In addition he is a principal investigator in the Materials Science Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is Director of the Organic and Macromolecular Facility for the Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
He has authored over 600 scientific papers and holds over 60 United States patents. His research at the interface of organic and polymer chemistry is in the broad area of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and is directed towards functional macromolecules, their design, synthesis, and applications. Current topics include new synthetic approaches to macromolecules with controlled architecture, engineered polymer systems and molecular machines, the design synthesis, and applications of dendritic and other functional polymers, novel imaging materials for nanoscale lithography, energy harvesting and conversion, catalysis with dendrimers as enzyme mimics, polymers in separation and molecular recognition, combinatorial approaches to new materials, biosensing, and functional macromolecules in targeted drug, vaccine, and DNA delivery.
In addition to his many other awards, Dr. Fréchet was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected Member National Academy of Engineering, elected Fellow of the American Academy of Art and Sciences, and elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences. He has further worked closely with materials and biomedical start-up companies, several of which are now publicly traded companies. Dr. Fréchet is also a Venture Partner at NGEN Partners, a materials and cleantech focused venture fund.
Ms. Kirsch brings a combination of business strategy, consumer branding, and clinical and academic research to the Physic team. She joined Physic after eight years translating market insight into actionable business strategy and leading research with Institute for the Future (IFTF), a research-oriented think tank focusing on long-term forecasting in health, technology and general business and consumer trends. As a Research Director at IFTF Ms. Kirsch worked closely with senior leaders in multiple functions, businesses and regions to develop future-oriented strategies and capabilities from a broad range of clients, most notably, Procter & Gamble, Tesco, and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.
Ms. Kirsch contributed to award-winning forecasts in health and health care (Health & Health Care 2010, Eds. 1 & 2), and led research on emerging themes in health and health care (The Future of Pharmaceuticals, Boomers in Transition, and Engaged Consumers in Health Care and Health). Prior to joining IFTF, Ms. Kirsch gained strong clinical experience at Stanford University Medical Center, leading phase III and IV clinical trials for Merck and Eli Lilly in osteoporosis treatment and healthy bone development. Additionally, Ms. Kirsch studied the economics of health information at the University of California’s Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Institute for Health and Aging.
Ms. Kirsch completed pre-medical curriculum at Macalester College and earned a double master’s degree in Public Health and Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley.
Seconded to Physic Ventures by Unilever as a full-time member of the Physic operating team, Mr. Giesler is responsible for leveraging Unilever’s technical and marketing resources to the full advantage of the Physic team and its portfolio companies. Mr. Giesler, Unilever Corporate Venturing’s Director of Innovation, bridges Physic Ventures to the vast resources at Unilever, including access to more than 5,000 scientists and engineers involved in new product development, access to deal flow, market research, scientific data, marketing and distribution expertise, due diligence capabilities and a broad network of contacts.
Formerly, Mr. Giesler led Unilever’s Global Technology Center for Household Care in Milan, responsible for global research and development for all elements of Unilever’s $1.5 billion Household Care business. Mr. Giesler has had a long history at Unilever, mainly focused on Unilever’s Home & Personal Care business. He gained extensive expertise in Supply Chain roles at Elida Gibbs, Unilever’s UK Personal Products company, before joining Unilever Research Port Sunlight in 1992. At Port Sunlight, he was responsible for developing the next generation of processing equipment for the global Personal Care business. Mr. Giesler also has experience building a network of global innovation centers for Personal Care, primarily in Asia and Latin America. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Chemistry from York University and an MBA from Bradford University.
Patty O'Malley serves as the Chief Financial Officer for Physic Ventures. She has over 15 years financial consulting and executive leadership experience providing financial support for venture capital, start-up and small businesses in a range of industries including software, high technology and equity investing firms. Patty previously worked as an independent finance consultant in similar roles from 1993-2000.
Patty's corporate experience includes Maxtor Corporation and Ernst & Young. Patty holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Accounting from California State University Chico and an MBA from California State University San Jose.
Dana Fredsti brings over 20 years of administrative background to the Physic Ventures’ administrative team, most recently as the Senior Administrative Coordinator for Unilever Technology Ventures. Before moving to San Francisco, she worked at the Walt Disney Company in the Television Music Department, and as assistant to one of the senior publicists at Buena Vista International.
Her organizational and people skills were further developed by a variety of eclectic experiences including: co-producer/writer/director for a theater company in San Diego; docent/keeper at EFBC/FCC, an exotic feline breeding facility dedicated to the preservation of the species; and a variety of film jobs on both sides of the camera. She is also a published writer, with over a dozen essays, short stories and screenplays under her belt, and has a mystery novel due out in 2007.
Dana is an advocate of environmental causes and is committed to utilizing her skills and experiences to support the Physic Ventures mission.
Carrie-Andrea Moresi draws on more than 10 years project management and administrative experience from a background in marketing communications and business development. Her industry experience ranges from the non-profit and education arenas to a range of entrepreneurial environments including health care (VHA Inc.), marketing (EdVenture Partners), software (Appintec Corp.), and mortgage banking (Charter Funding). She has managed marketing teams, technology planning teams, and workflow process planning teams to create new business development opportunities and increased profitability.
Carrie-Andrea graduated with a Bachelor’s degree with honors in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her academic focus on social entrepreneurship and sustainable business practices instilled her passion for helping businesses achieve values-based goals with market-based, bottom-line results.
Strategic Advisory Board
Dr. Dilly is the CEO of APT Pharmaceuticals. He graduated as a physician from the University of London in 1982 and received his Ph.D. in Cardiac Physiology from University of London in 1988. He began his industry career with Pfizer Central Research in the United Kingdom in 1986 and since then has held positions of increasing responsibility with Beecham, SmithKline Beecham (Vice President of CardioPulmonary, Vice President of Clinical Neuroscience), Genentech (Head of Clinical, Head of Development Sciences) and Chiron BioPharma (Senior Vice President Development, Chief Medical Officer). During his career, he has been closely associated with the development and launch of a number of important new drugs across many therapeutic areas, including Kytril, Paxil CR, Kredex, Requip, TNKase, Xolair, Avastin, Raptiva, Tarceva, Lucentis and Cubicin.
Mr. Elkington is Founder, Director, and Chief Entrepreneur of SustainAbility Ltd, a strategy consultancy and independent think tank specializing in the business risks and market opportunities of corporate responsibility and sustainable development. Mr. Elkington also chairs or serves as a member of committee of several United Kingdom organizations, including Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, The Environment Foundation, Export Credits Guarantees Advisory Council, Business in the Environment, Royal Society of Arts (Advisory Council on Moving towards a Zero Waste Society), Zouk Ventures (Industry Advisory Group), as well as Instituto Ethos, Brazil. He is also a member of the World Wildlife Federation, United Kingdom Council of Ambassadors; the Brains Trust of The Evian Group; and Tomorrow's Global Company Inquiry.
In 2004, BusinessWeek described John as "a dean of the corporate-responsibility movement for three decades." Mr. Elkington is currently active in a broad spectrum of research and client work for companies (including Nike, Shell, Unilever, and Volkswagen), government agencies and civil society organizations. He has been involved in research and consulting for over 30 years. Mr. Elkington is the author or co-author of 40 published reports, thousands of articles, and 16 books, including the # 1 bestselling The Green Consumer Guide (1988) and Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business (1997). He was short-listed for Global Book of the Year by Booz Allen & Hamilton and The Financial Times.
Mr. Elkington has a Bachelor's degree with honors in Sociology and Social Psychology from the University of Essex and a Master's of Philosophy in Urban & Regional Planning from University College London.
Dr. German is on the faculty at the University of California, Davis. He is an expert in metabolomics and nutrition and was named the first John E. Kinsella Endowed Chair in Food, Nutrition and Health. Dr. German serves as head of the Scientific Board of Lipomics Technologies Inc. in California. His research interests include the structure and function of dietary lipids, the role of milk components in food and health and the application of metabolic assessment to personalizing diet and health. Dr. German was named the first John E. Kinsella Endowed Chair in Food, Nutrition and Health.
Dr. German and his team have published more than 250 papers on lipids and food, metabolism and metabolite measurements and food functions and patented various applications of lipids as bioactive agents. The research articles from the lab over the past 10 years rank in the top 10 most cited in Agriculture available at www.ISIhighlycited.com. Dr. German received his PhD from Cornell University.
Ms. Marram has spent more than 30 years building profitable brands and companies. She is currently an Operating Advisor to North Castle Partners, where she was formerly Managing Director. She served as Chairman of North Castle's portfolio companies, Avalon and HDS Cosmetics Lab. She is currently a director of Red Door Spas.
Ms. Marram was President and Chief Executive Officer of Tropicana and the Tropicana Beverage Group from 1993 through 1998. During Ms. Marram's tenure, Tropicana nearly tripled its shareholder value and was sold to PepsiCo in 1998 for $3.3 billion. From 1988 to 1993, Ms. Marram was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Nabisco Biscuit Company, the largest operating unit of Nabisco, Inc. Ms. Marram's vision and direction led to the 1992 launch of SnackWell's cookies and crackers, which pioneered low-fat snacking and is considered one of the most successful new products of the 1990s.
Ms. Marram was President of Nabisco's Grocery Division from 1987 to 1988, and from 1970 to 1986 she was in marketing management at Nabisco/Standard Brands, Johnson & Johnson and Lever Brothers. Ms. Marram serves as a director of Ford Motor Company, The New York Times Company and Eli Lilly. She is a member of the Healthcare Executive Leadership Network, serves on a number of non-profit boards including The New York-Presbyterian Hospital, City Meals-on-Wheels, Lincoln Center Theater and The Families and Work Institute and has served as a Trustee of the Conference Board and as a member of the Board of Associates of Harvard Business School. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and received an MBA from Harvard Business School.