# Leighton Read

> Leighton Read is a Series C investor at Alloy Ventures backing Biotechnology and Nanotechnology. See 1 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Alloy Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alloy-ventures)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 1
- Last investment: Nov 2008
- Lead investor: 100%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/leightonread
- X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/leightonread

Leighton Read is a General Partner in four Alloy funds investing with us in companies from 2001-2007.Before joining Alloy, Leighton spent 14 years as a biotechnology entrepreneur and investor. He co-founded Affymax NV, under the direction of Dr. Alejandro Zaffaroni, setting the stage for two successful spin-outs: Affymetrix and Maxygen.Hefounded Aviron, a biotechnology company best known as the developer of FluMist, the intranasal influenza vaccine, where he served as Chairman and CEO until 1999 and Director until its acquisition by MedImmune in 2002.While at Alloy, he served as the first CEO of Avidia, a spin-out of Maxygen later acquired by Amgen. For over two decades, he has also been interested in the psychological principles that underlie successful electronic games and is currently devoting substantial time to his role as Chairman of Seriosity, a start-up leading in the application of game principles to the challenges of large enterprises.He received a B.S. from Rice University in Psychology and Biology (1973), an MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (1976) and completed internal medicine training at Duke and the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston where he held appointments at the Harvard Medical School and School of Public Health. His research dealt with applications of decision theory in medicine, cost-effectiveness analysis and policy regarding medical innovation.Leighton is a director of Alexza Pharmaceuticals, AnaptysBio, Apptera, Cambrios Technologies, Genomatica, Opal Therapeutics, and Siluria. He also serves as a trustee or director of The BeneTech Initiative, BioVentures for Global Health, The UC Berkeley Foundation and School of Public Health Council and the Santa Fe Institute. His awards include several as co-inventor of technology underlying the Affymetrix GeneChip

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Biotechnology | 2 | 200% |
| Nanotechnology | 2 | 200% |
| Fuel | 1 | 100% |
| Mobile | 1 | 100% |
| Content | 1 | 100% |

16 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series C | 3 | 300% |
| Series D | 2 | 200% |
| Series A | 1 | 100% |
| Series B | 1 | 100% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 100% |

6 stages tracked in total.

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Apptera | Apptera is a mobile communications and advertising company with their flagship consumer product Raved.Their Apptera MobileAd Network provides a powerful way for advertisers to engage and interact with millions of mobile consumers through unique set of publisher partners including AOL Moviefone, 1-800-FANDANGO, Movietickets.com, Mozes, UpSnap,RH Brands, TapFury, and more. Apptera has been recognized with numerous industry awards including, most recently, the 2011 OnMobile 100 Top Private Companies and holds numerous patents for their communications technology. Founded in 2001, Apptera is a privately held, venture-financed company headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices in New York and Los Angeles. | $10.5M |  | Nov 19, 2008 |  |

1 of 1 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Lightspeed Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/lightspeed-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Walden Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/waldenvc) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Alloy Ventures

VC Fund · Palo Alto, United States

Alloy Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm that invests in the areas of life sciences, information technology, and cleantech.

5 contacts available at Alloy Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Craig Taylor | Co-Founder & General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/craig-taylor |
| Dave Pidwell | Venture Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dave-pidwell |
| John Shoch | Co-Founder & General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-shoch |
| Leighton Read | Venture Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/leighton-read |
| Leighton Read | Venture Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/leighton-read-2 |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Sequoia Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sequoia-capital) — VC Fund
- [New Enterprise Associates](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/new-enterprise-associates) — VC Fund
- [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bessemer-venture-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Leighton Read invest in?

Leighton Read invests primarily in Biotechnology, Nanotechnology and Fuel startups, most often at Series C and Series D stage. Most of the 1 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Leighton Read last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Leighton Read closed in Nov 2008. Shizune tracks 1 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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