8VC Names Dr. Francisco Gimenez Partner

Gimenez has enabled 8VC to become a thought leader and sought-after investor in the rapidly expanding convergence of biologics and next generation technology.

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–8VC, the leading venture capital firm founded by entrepreneur and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale with $3.5 billion in assets under management, named Dr. Francisco Gimenez as partner.

Francisco originally joined predecessor firm Formation 8 in 2014 as the Data-Scientist-in-Residence and has been a key member of the team since 2016 when 8VC launched. Alongside his work with data and smart enterprise platforms, Francisco has helped develop and execute the firm’s focus on the convergence of biology and technology. Francisco and colleagues have helped 8VC partner with transformative companies defining technology powered innovation in the biosciences including Synthego, Mantra Biosciences, Sirona Medical, Unlearn.ai, Cambium Biomaterials, BigHat Biosciences, Senti Biosciences, and SyntheX.

“There is a renaissance occurring at the intersection of computational science and biology,” said Lonsdale. “The convergence of advancements across genomic sequencing, cloud computing, microfluidics, and gene editing are enabling a step function change in the way we understand life and practice biology, which means it’s also impacting how we detect and treat diseases. Francisco helped educate us on this technological wave while he was an intern with us during his Ph.D. program, and has been instrumental in building our strategy in Bio-IT. I’m excited for Francisco’s continued leadership in this area, as we support a generation of companies that promise to transform the health and wellness of our society.”

“Joe and the team took a chance on me six years ago,” said Gimenez. “From our work over the years, I’m inspired to think about what the future should look like, and how to empower entrepreneurs building towards that vision. I’m excited to be part of this extraordinary team and partnership as we continue to help define this future of how technology and computation are transforming the enterprise and life sciences.”

Francisco previously was the Data-Scientist-in-Residence at Formation 8 where he worked with portfolio companies to strategize, prototype, and recruit for data products. He was the founder of Catenus Science, a data science consulting and recruiting firm that used an apprenticeship model to help early stage companies build data science teams.

Francisco received his Ph.D. from Stanford in Biomedical Informatics, where he was a Ruth L. Kirchstein Fellow. His research focused on clinical decision support for radiology which won him the Martin Epstein award for best paper at the American Medical Informatics Association in 2014. He was the commencement speaker for the Stanford School of Medicine in 2015.

Prior to that, he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley while doing research in Parkinson’s disease at UCSF.

8VC is a leading technology investment firm investing in visionary teams and backing industry-transforming companies. The partners have a proven track-record as founders, engineers, and operators of successful companies including Palantir, Addepar, Affinity and OpenGov, among others. The predecessor firm Formation 8 was founded in 2012 and today, manages $1.1 billion in committed capital. 8VC was founded in 2016 and manages $2.4 billion in committed capital. 8VC invests primarily in smart enterprise platforms across industries including financial services, healthcare, logistics and others, and Bio-IT. For more information, please visit http://8vc.com.