Michael Powell
Managing General Partner @ Sofinnova Investments
Menlo Park, United States
Michael Powell is a Series B investor at Sofinnova Investments in Menlo Park focused on Biotechnology and Software. Mike Powell, Ph.D., has more than 25 years of pharmaceutical development experience, and he has focused interest in clinical-stage product companies, particularly in the oncology, endocrine, and neurology areas. He joined Sofinnova Ventures as a General Partner in 1997 as a member of the Life Science investment team. Prior to becoming a venturecapitalist, Mike worked on 20 clinical products and authored almost 100 papers and books, including an 1,100–page treatise on vaccine design. Mike was an early investor in Actelion (SWX: ATLN), InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN), Anesiva (Nasdaq: ANSV), Orexigen Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OREX), Seattle Genetics (Nasdaq: SGEN), and Threshold Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: THLD), as well as several private companies such as Ascenta and Trius Therapeutics. Mike is currently Board President of AVAC (AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition), a past Advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a Strategic Advisor to One World Health, and a Founding Venture Advisory Board member of the IAVI Innovation Fund. He flies too much, but he loves it.Mike was Group Leader of Drug Delivery at Genentech (1990-97) where his focus was developing new therapeutics. In 1987 he was part of the founding team of Cytel; as Director of Product Development, he was responsible for the company's early growth, which culminated in a successful IPO. Before this he was Scientist and Project Team Leader at Syntex Research. Mike had the honor of being the first scientist from the biotechnology industry to be elected a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He was also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kansas, an Editorial Board member of J. Pharm. Sci., and a Scientific Advisor to the Controlled Release Society.He received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Toronto in 1981, and completed his post-doctorate work in Bioorganic Chemistry at the University of California, where he was subsequently a faculty member (1981-84).
- Total investments:
- 6
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 17%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Michael Powell invests in
Stages Michael Powell invests in
Countries Michael Powell invests in
Contacts
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Investment Focus
Industry
- Biotechnology 3 (50%)
- Software 2 (33%)
- Health Care 2 (33%)
- SaaS 1 (17%)
- Mobile 1 (17%)
Stage
- Series B 3 (50%)
- Series A 2 (33%)
- Funding Round 1 (17%)
Country
- United States 3 (50%)
- United Kingdom 2 (33%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veridium, the leader in modern passwordless authentication. Veridium is the most comprehensive Integrated Identity Platform powered by AI-based Behavioural Biometrics, enabling Multi Factor Authentication, digital ID verification and a true Passwordless experience for employees and clients. | $16.5M / Series B / Jun 29, 2018 | ||
Labrys Biologics
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Labrys Biologics Inc., a company focused on treatments for chronic migraine. Labrys Biologics has acquired worldwide rights to RN-307 from Pfizer Inc. RN-307 is an antibody for the treatment of chronic migraine. | $14.6M / Dec 28, 2012 | |
| DiObex, Inc. operates as a biotechnology company in the United States. The company develops novel products for the treatment of metabolic disorders, including type-one and type-two diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, and diabetic nephropathy. Its products include DIO-901, a very low dose glucagon product that is developed for the reduction ofnocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with type-one diabetes; and DIO-902, a cortisol synthesis inhibitor that is developed as a therapy for glucose and cholesterol control in patients with type-two diabetes. DiObex, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is based in San Francisco, California. | $24M / Series B / Apr 16, 2007 | ||
| Curverider develops socially-enabled software that helps organizations to increase knowledge-sharing and productivity by enabling people to connect, share and collaborate around everyday tasks. Started in 2006, the company has built a reputation for its forward-thinking, innovative approach to the social webCurverider is the company behindElgg, the award-winning social networking platform that enables groups and organizations to create their own fully-featured social environment. Elgg is available as software-as-a-service for organizations (www.elgg.com) and the core engine is also released as open source software.Curverider delivers a range of consulting and support services around Elgg and is building a global partner network to provide local expert support and services. The company also develops a range of socially-enabled business tools and plugins that can be integrated as part of a wider social hub. | $393K / Series A / Jan 01, 2007 | ||
| Ocera is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for patients with acute and chronic liver disease, an area of high unmet medical need.Ocera's HE clinical development efforts include a recently completed Phase 2b clinical trial, STOP-HE, which evaluated the safety andefficacy of intravenously-administered OCR-002 in resolving neurocognitive symptoms of acute HE in hospitalized patients with elevated ammonia. Ocera is preparing to meet with the FDA later this year to review the IV program and discuss potential development paths forward. | $12M / Series B / Jul 10, 2006 | ||
| DiObex, Inc. operates as a biotechnology company in the United States. The company develops novel products for the treatment of metabolic disorders, including type-one and type-two diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, and diabetic nephropathy. Its products include DIO-901, a very low dose glucagon product that is developed for the reduction ofnocturnal hypoglycemia in patients with type-one diabetes; and DIO-902, a cortisol synthesis inhibitor that is developed as a therapy for glucose and cholesterol control in patients with type-two diabetes. DiObex, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is based in San Francisco, California. | $7.1M / Series A / Sep 16, 2005 |
Co-Investors
About Sofinnova Investments
Sofinnova Ventures has partnered with entrepreneurs to secure initial funding, build successful teams, win key customers, and navigate acquisitions and IPOs. Sofinnova Ventures invests in Life Science and Technology start-ups. Their professionals are seasoned business operators, possessing deep domain and investment expertise. They know how to helpentrepreneurs build successful, global businesses.
Sofinnova Investments Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Jakob Dupont
Executive Partner
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James Healy
General Partner & President
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Jonathan Leff
Executive Partner, Private Equity
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Lesley Weber
San Diego Office Manager & EA
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Maha Radhakrishnan
Executive Partner
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FAQ
What does Michael Powell invest in?
Michael Powell invests primarily in Biotechnology, Software and Health Care startups, most often at Series B and Series A stage. Most of the 6 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
How do I contact Michael Powell?
Public channels for Michael Powell include LinkedIn. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
When did Michael Powell last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Michael Powell closed in Jun 2018. Shizune tracks 6 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 Oct 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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