Our Team
John Steuart
Managing Director
John has spent more than 20 years managing, building and investing in technology and life science companies and is passionate about understanding and combining powerful themes in information technology and in biology to create products that deliver better health care at a lower price. One theme is Moore’s Law, which guarantees year after year that semiconductor-based devices are smaller, faster and cheaper than their predecessors. Another is the genomics revolution, which, with the help of Moore’s Law, makes it possible to tailor an individual’s medical treatment to his particular genetic profile.
Two Claremont Creek companies that reflect these themes are Gene Security Network and AssureRx. John sits on the board of Gene Security and oversaw the firm’s investment in AssureRx. Gene Security Network provides a better and less expensive version of screening tools that allow doctors in fertility medicine to determine whether embryos have any number of conditions pre-implantation. This assures parents that their offspring won’t have a major genetic disease. AssureRx uses a clinically validated form of genetics to determine which psychiatric drugs are most likely to benefit a specific patient.
John is an Industry Fellow at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at the College of Engineering and a member of the Advisory Council to the Lester Center's Berkeley Entrepreneurs' Forum at UC Berkeley. Early in his career, he joined Alafi Capital, an Emeryville-based venture firm specializing in early-stage biomedical companies, where he served as an officer of the General Partner. At Alafi, John lead investments in more than a dozen successful start-ups, and served as the senior executive and board member of various firms such as Tanox, Software Ventures, Lipomatrix and Megan Health.
In the mid-90s, together with colleague Nat Goldhaber, John helped start Cybergold, an Internet marketing and payments company, serving as the early COO and CFO through its IPO, merger with Mypoints and sale to United Airlines. John continued with the Mypoints unit of United, serving as the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.
John lives in Berkeley with his wife and three children, a block away from the Triple Rock brewery. .
Investment Portfolio
AssureRx Health
CellScope
Fluxion Biosciences
Natera
SmartZip
Tibion