Tony Florence and Mohamad Makhzoumi Named Co-CEOs of NEA; Scott Sandell Assumes Role of Executive Chairman & CIO
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) announced today that longtime partners Tony Florence and Mohamad Makhzoumi have been named Co-CEOs of the 47-year-old firm, recognizing the growing leadership roles each has played over the last decade-plus and reflecting NEA's enduring focus on both organizational continuity and continuous evolution over multiple generations. In conjunction with their appointments, Scott Sandell will assume the full-time role of Executive Chairman and Chief Investing Officer. All three will continue to actively invest, with Sandell's new role also signifying an enhanced day-to-day focus on company building and team mentorship.
"Tony and Mohamad are exceptional leaders who have been shaping key aspects of NEA's strategy and operations for many years. With a collective tenure of nearly four decades, they have made tremendous contributions as investors, heads of our technology and healthcare investing practices, and most recently Co-Presidents," said Sandell, a nearly 30-year veteran of the firm who has jointly or solely led the organization since 2015 and most recently served as CEO, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer. "It has always been my intent to continue NEA's tradition of thoughtful succession planning, honoring our founders' aspirations to build an enduring institution that would thrive for generations, and I am thrilled to work alongside Tony and Mohamad in leading our organization as we enter a new era in our firm's evolution."
NEA's long track record of investing across the spectrum of technology and healthcare spans five decades and more than 20 funds. Today, with more than $25 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023, and investment professionals across the U.S. and in Europe, the firm continues to invest across a wide swath of sectors within technology and healthcare and, increasingly, at the intersection of the two as tech innovation transforms the $4 trillion healthcare industry.
"It's an honor to assume the role of Co-CEO and work alongside my partner Mohamad to help drive NEA's continued evolution and growth," said Florence, who joined NEA in 2008 and led its technology investing practice for more than a decade before becoming Co-President. "It's an incredibly exciting time to invest, and we believe NEA's scale, deep domain expertise, and world-class team investing in technology and healthcare innovation across many stages, sectors and geographies puts us in a unique position globally."
When NEA's founders began raising the firm's first fund in 1977, they had a shared vision to create a "100-year firm" that would far outlast any of their individual tenures, and to build a platform anchored on both coasts that would allow them to invest in innovation wherever it flourished. In the decades that followed, NEA became one of the world's most active investors across both technology and healthcare?from the $16 million NEA 1 fund to the most recent NEA 18 and NEA 18 VGE funds totaling more than $6.2 billion.
"I've been part of the NEA family for nearly my entire career, and my abiding respect for those who founded and built this firm is matched only by my conviction that our best days are in front of us," said Makhzoumi, who first joined NEA in 2000 and led the healthcare investing practice before becoming Co-President in 2023. "Within NEA, we view ourselves as stewards of an enduring legacy?one that encompasses many key technological shifts and scientific breakthroughs?and I can't imagine a more compelling time to step into the role of Co-CEO and continue working closely with my partner Tony."
The appointment of Florence and Makhzoumi as Co-CEOs continues a long tradition of seamless succession and leadership continuity: Co-Founder Dick Kramlich served as Managing General Partner until 1996; he and Peter Barris were Co-Managing General Partners until Barris became sole Managing General Partner in 1999; and Barris and Sandell became Co-Managing General Partners in 2015 until Sandell assumed sole leadership in 2017.
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. Founded in 1977, NEA has over $25 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2023, and 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 investing includes more than 270 portfolio company IPOs and more than 450 mergers and acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.nea.com.
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