Our place in the future of technology and healthcare
05.20.2020 / News
When I started Section 32 three years ago, I wanted to create a venture fund that could focus on areas where technology can make a real difference on the most important aspects of our lives.
My last job before Section 32 was as founder and CEO at Google Ventures, and even though I loved my time there, I saw a need for a different type of fund — one that could help improve the human condition by accelerating the discovery, development, adoption and distribution of important technologies and lifesaving medicines.
Over the last three years we have continued to grow and evolve on that mission. We’ve added fantastic partners in Mike Pellini and Steve Kafka, and have invested in dozens of companies that are making significant innovations in the merging worlds of technology and healthcare.
But recent global events have continued to shine a light on how important our mission is. We’ve all seen COVID-19 devastate communities all over the world at an intense speed. The world we live in now was for many unimaginable a few short months ago.
Now more than ever we need to find the people that share our values and want to find ways to create the necessary tools we need for a healthy and good life, not just for the wealthy few, but for everyone.
Today we are extremely proud to announce several new hires to our team.
Sarah Larson as Chief People Officer, bringing with her more than 20 years of HR and leadership development, most recently as partner/Chief Human Resources Officer at Third Rock Ventures. Sarah will provide guidance and counsel to the firm’s portfolio companies as they build organizational capabilities, focusing on areas of human capital, leadership development, and culture creation.
Kimberly Shih has joined as our Talent Specialist from Essential, and Anna Bullard is joining us as an Executive Assistant as we continue to grow our Boston office.
We’ve also brought on some additional former Google colleagues that we are excited to be working with.
Alice Cheung, a ten year veteran of Google and Google X, who joined in March from Playground Global/Essential as our Head of Talent, to advise and identify top talent for our portfolio companies.
Kenzo Fong Hing as Advisor to support the fund with marketing, comms, and growth expertise. Kenzo was formerly the Head of Marketing for Android at Google, and the Global Head of Marketing, Sales and Growth at Uber Eats.
Claire Stapleton has also joined us as Writer in Residence to work on our content and comms. Claire is a marketing and communications leader who comes to us with a unique background from over 12 years at Google, where she was noted for both her existential company-wide emails and for calling for the Google Walkout in 2018.
With this team in place we are ready for the next chapter. We are committed to our mission and will continue to find and support the innovators that are paving the way for the future of healthcare and technology, in order to make the world a more gentle and humane place for everyone.
Bill Maris is the founder of Section 32, a venture capital fund investing at the frontiers of technology, healthcare and life sciences. Bill is the founder and first CEO of Google Ventures, where he generated over $5 billion in venture returns across 600+ investments. These investments have resulted in more than 20 IPOs, 100+ mergers and acquisitions and 40+ companies that have exceeded $1B valuations.
Section 32 is a venture capital fund investing at the frontiers of technology, healthcare and the life sciences with the goal to improve the human condition by accelerating the discovery, development, adoption and distribution of important technologies and lifesaving medicines. Founded by Bill Maris, the firm’s focus areas include biotechnology, therapeutics, advanced diagnostics, precision medicine, software, cybersecurity, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. Section 32 has offices in San Diego, Silicon Valley and Boston.
Originally published at https://www.section32.com on May 20, 2020.
