Last week, we were pleased to announce Pillar II, a new fund dedicated to backing founders building the next generation of pillar companies in Boston. As we begin to invest out of this fund, we are also happy to share that we have added five new Founding Pillars to our firm.
During the past three years, our Founding Pillars have been a constant source of guidance and advice for our team and our portfolio founders. All are accomplished operators, and most are still running their own companies, but somehow they manage to carve off plenty of time to dive in with help.
As significant owners of our firm, each brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our portfolio, acting as board members, advisors, and customers––sometimes just lending an ear with a founder is navigating a tough challenge.
As we approached Fund II, we saw an opportunity to expand this group, broadening our coverage across core areas of interest to our firm. Each of our five new Founding Pillars brings a fresh and valuable perspective, helping us expand our knowledge in healthcare, SaaS, blockchain and computational bio.
Our five new Founding Pillars include:
Gail Goodman recently announced that she has joined Boston startup, Pepperlane, as Chief Product Officer. Most recently, Gail was the CEO of Constant Contact, an email marketing company she took public and sold successfully for $1B. Previously, Gail was with Open Market and Progress Software. Gail brings specific expertise around marketing SaaS solutions to small and medium businesses.
Reshma Shetty is the co-founder of Gingko Bioworks, a biotech company that uses genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications. Reshma was part of the founding team to spin Gingko Bioworks out of MIT, and brings valuable knowledge to our portfolio in the area of synthetic biology.
Yvonne Hao was most recently COO and CFO of PillPack, a Pillar Fund I portfolio company. Yvonne brings enormous operating strength and financial discipline to Pillar — we saw a dramatic change when she joined PillPack. Yvonne is six sigma trained, having previously worked at McKinsey, Honeywell and Bain Capital.
Jeremy Allaire is Founder and CEO of Circle Financial, a leading cryptocurrency investment and trading platform. Previously, Jeremy was the Founder and CEO of Brightcove and of Allaire. Jeremy brings great insight to our blockchain and crypto efforts, and 20 years of building successful startups.
Rushika Fernandopulle is the Founder and CEO of Iora Health, a primary care organization bringing an attractive new model to consumers and employers. Rushika has degrees from both Harvard Medical and Harvard Law school, and previously worked at Renaissance Health. Rushika brings valuable experience in the health services space.
Please join us in welcoming our new Founding Pillars!
