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OVP Venture Partners Announces New Venture Partner

Posted on: Friday, 6 August 2004, 06:00 CDT

OVP Venture Partners, the venture capital market leader in the Pacific Northwest, today announced that veteran computer scientist, professor, research and development executive and venture advisor Dr. Rick LeFaivre has joined the firm as a venture partner.

Dr. LeFaivre has been at the forefront of innovation as a senior executive of market-leading companies during multiple waves of technology advancements within the fields of personal computing, advanced software environments, computer graphics, and user interface technology.

He began his executive career in Oregon in 1978, where he spent 11 years as Director of Computing and Visual Systems Research at Tektronix. In 1989 he moved to Silicon Valley, spending the next 10 years as an R&D executive at several high-technology leaders, including Sun Microsystems (Director of Windows and Graphics Systems), Silicon Graphics Computer Systems (Vice President of Engineering for Network Systems), Borland International (Senior Vice President of R&D and Chief Technology Officer), and Apple Computer, where he spent five years as Director and then Vice President of Apple's renowned Advanced Technology Group.

Before moving back to the Pacific Northwest in 2004, he spent five years in La Jolla, helping to incubate new ventures as a founder of IdeaEdge Ventures and the Zazi Forum, and as Executive Director of the von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at the University of California, San Diego.

"Rick brings us a legacy of insight and a track record of success in being one step ahead of the next waves of technology convergence," said OVP general partner Chad Waite. "Very few people on the planet have the breadth and depth of experiences in technology as does Rick LeFaivre. We are extremely pleased to welcome him back to the Northwest and to have him on our team."

Dr. LeFaivre has testified before the Congress of the United States on matters of technology policy, has served on a number of industry and academic advisory boards, and has been published extensively in computer science literature. His responsibilities have included overseeing international R&D centers in France, Germany, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, Australia and India, and he has launched ventures in the United Kingdom and India as well as the U.S. He is an advisor to several high-technology startups, and serves on the Board of Directors of WatchGuard Technologies (Nasdaq:WGRD), an OVP-funded start-up.

Waite added, "Over the next two decades, our industry is going to see major technology shifts in mobility, video processing, the digital home, as well as advanced networks and embedded software. All of these arenas are Pacific Northwest strengths supported by global heavyweights who live in our backyard -- Intel, Microsoft and Linux, to name just a few. Rick will provide us with his industry expertise and perspectives into these technologies and their market cycles in the years ahead, providing a win for our entrepreneurs and investors."

"I took a long, hard look at opportunities with industry and venture players in Seattle, and no matter which way I reviewed it, OVP always led the pack," said Dr. LeFaivre. "Their strategies to identify, invest and work hands-on with the entrepreneurs and technologies that will lead the next wave of technology convergence fit my own interests and convictions head-on."

At OVP, Dr. LeFaivre is charged with working side-by-side with the other members of the partnership on identifying and analyzing "white spaces" -- market technology areas where there may be opportunities for successful new ventures. He will be based in OVP's Kirkland office while serving the full portfolio of OVP investments.

LeFaivre is a mathematics major from the University of Missouri, received his Ph.D. in computer sciences at the University of Wisconsin and spent four years as a professor in the computer science department at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, teaching and carrying out research in artificial intelligence and advanced programming technology. He was one of the first researchers to apply the principals of "fuzzy reasoning" to the development of intelligent systems.

About OVP Venture Partners

OVP is the leading venture firm in the Pacific Northwest and has more than $500 million in capital under management. The firm has raised six venture funds with an investment focus in pre-revenue software, communications, and electronics companies. Over the past 20 years, OVP has invested in almost 80 start-up companies, with 22 IPOs and a similar number achieving merger and acquisition. OVP VI closed in 2002 at $185 million. OVP's Technology Advisory Board includes leading CIOs and CTOs who work, or have worked, at Intel, Microsoft, Nike, Morgan Stanley, Aventis, General Electric, Deutsche Bank, Providence Health Systems and TCI. For more information, please go to: www.ovp.com.

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