Ian Tolfree, Ph.D., and Cy Schroeder Each Named Principal, Joshua Smith Appointed Director, Investor Relations
New York and Miami, November 21, 2022 – Emerald Development Managers, an early-stage venture capital firm, today announced that Ian Tolfree, Ph.D., and Cy Schroeder have been named Principals of the firm and Joshua Smith has been promoted to Director, Investor Relations.
In making the announcement, Neil Cohen, Founder and Chairman, Emerald Development Managers, said, “As soon as Ian joined our firm, we immediately recognized his depth of knowledge across many areas of science and technology and called on him to help lead our scientific diligence process. Cy has been instrumental in transaction execution, project management and working with the portfolio, which has made him a great asset to our team. Josh was our first Investor Relations professional and his fundraising efforts, excellent investor service and dedication have set him apart. It has been exciting to see Ian, Cy and Josh grow with Emerald and we look forward to great things as they move into their new roles.”
Previously, Dr. Tolfree was Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Emerald since 2019. Before joining Emerald, he led Johns Hopkins University’s FastForward incubator, which helped faculty from across the university transition into start-ups, and led start-ups across a variety of verticals. He is the founder and CEO of TBT Pharma, Inc. Dr. Tolfree received a B.S. in Applied Physics from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from The Johns Hopkins University.
Mr. Schroeder joined Emerald in 2020 as a Senior Associate. Previously he was an Associate Director at Barings LLC, where he worked from 2014 to 2018, and was a Summer Associate at Rhapsody Venture Partners in 2019 while in business school. Mr. Schroeder received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Mr. Smith has been Vice President of Investor Relations at Emerald since 2019. Previously he was Director of Operations and Membership at Plum Alley Investments from 2017 to 2019. Before that Mr. Smith spent 10 years in operating roles at large nonprofit organizations, including 92NY. He received a B.A. in International/Global Studies from The Ohio State University, an M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business, and an M.A. in Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.
Emerald Development Managers
Emerald Development Managers is an early-stage VC firm investing in elite scientific and engineering teams that are solving real problems. Deals are sourced from decades-long relationships with academic research institutions, operating managers, incubators, and like-minded VCs. Emerald’s expertise was developed over 25 years of funding venture capital and commercializing university research while simultaneously gaining invaluable experience founding, building, and operating an industrial unicorn that has returned over $1 billion to investors and still has a current market value over $1 billion. In addition to capital, Emerald brings experience, discipline, critical thinking, financing expertise, and significant hands-on involvement to the companies it supports. Emerald’s three main investment focus areas are Cybersecurity / Enterprise SaaS; Biotech / Healthcare IT; and Clean Tech / Industrial Tech. Follow Emerald on Twitter at @EmeraldDevVC.
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Contact:
Abbe Serphos
abbe.serphos@emeraldmanagers.com
917-699-9661
