NEA Promotes Makhzoumi And Puttagunta To General Partner; Chang Named Chairman And Head, Asia

MENLO PARK, Calif., Oct. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) today announced that two members of its investing team have been promoted to General Partner:  Mohamad Makhzoumi, head of the firm's healthcare services/IT investing practice; and Chetan Puttagunta, a technology investor focused on enterprise software. NEA also recognized Partner Carmen Chang's growing leadership role in the firm's China operations, naming her as Chairman and Head, Asia. Additionally, two members of the firm's Portfolio Services team were promoted:  Albert Lee to Design Partner and Holly Rose Faith to Talent Partner. 

"We congratulate Mohamad, Chetan, Carmen, Albert and Holly Rose, and are thrilled to recognize the outstanding contributions each has made to our partnership," said Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner, NEA. "Our deep bench is one of our core strengths, and this is particularly clear when you look at the composition of our General Partner group todayâ€"nearly all have been promoted from within. Mohamad and Chetan have both proven themselves to be outstanding investors, partners and leaders, and these promotions acknowledge the integral role each plays in our firm today."

Mohamad Makhzoumi first joined NEA as an intern in 2000, and returned in 2005 as an Associate. He was promoted to Partner and assumed leadership of the firm's healthcare services/IT investing practice in 2011. Makhzoumi is a Director of American Pathology Partners, Bright Health, Collective Health, DaVita NephroLife, Docent Health, Elements Behavioral Health, Nuvolo, Radiology Partners, SCI Solutions, U.S. Renal Care, and Welltok. His past investments include Bravo Health, CHG Healthcare, DSI Renal, and Vantage Oncology.

Chetan Puttagunta joined NEA in 2011. He focuses on enterprise software and services across both early and growth stage investing. His investments at NEA include MuleSoft, Elastic, MongoDB, Acquia, Reltio, Placester, Heap, Sentry, Swiftype, Forter, ScoutRFP, Canopy, and Folloze. He is also involved in several seed stage companies.

Since joining NEA in 2012, Carmen Chang has played an integral role in refining and executing the firm's global investing strategy and has provided invaluable support to many of the firm's U.S.-based companies conducting business in China. A recent Washington Post article dubbed her a "whisperer" between Silicon Valley and China, able to help companies like Uber and CloudFlare successfully navigate the complex landscape; indeed, throughout her career, Chang has been involved with many of the seminal technology transactions and companies in China. She has led the evolution of NEA's China investing strategy to a model that combines direct investments and co-investments in partnership with local independent teams, and today oversees all of NEA's partnerships in China including its relationships with Long Hill Capital, Xiang He Partners and Northern Light Venture Capital. Chang is a Director of AAC Technologies Holdings, Alien Technology, Availink, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and STX Entertainment.

NEA also promoted two members of its Portfolio Services team, signaling the growing importance of these functions (including Business Development, Marketing/Communications, Talent and Design) within the organization and the value they bring to companies across the portfolio.

• Albert Lee was named Design Partner, a newly created role at the firm. Since joining NEA as a Designer-in-Residence in 2015, Lee has worked closely with NEA portfolio companies across the consumer, enterprise and med-tech sectors. He has also been actively involved in building the NEA Studio program in New York, which provides resources and opportunities for design-focused entrepreneurs. With a deep background at the intersection of design and business, Lee was named to Fast Company's The Most Creative People in Business 2014 list.
• Holly Rose Faith was promoted to Talent Partner. She joined the firm in 2015 as Vice President, Talent, and has worked to help dozens of NEA portfolio companies attract top talent as well as helped to improve numerous processes related to talent and human capital within the firm. As a Talent Partner, she will continue to focus on these functions across NEA and its portfolio, with a focus on early- to mid-stage companies spanning the enterprise, consumer and medical technology sectors.

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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SOURCE New Enterprise Associates, Inc.