InterWest Partners History

InterWest Partners proudly celebratd its 30th anniversary in 2009, commemorating a long record of success in helping entrepreneurs turn ideas and ambitions into reality. A leading diversified venture capital firm, InterWest Partners was founded in 1979 in San Francisco, California, by Wally Hawley, Scott Hedrick and Gene Barth, three investors who shared a vision of creating a firm that would provide not just early-stage funding, but active management and coaching to help build promising young companies into the nation's top businesses. Since raising $33.7 million for its first fund in 1979, InterWest has played a formative role in the success of more than 200 companies, including Anesiva, formerly Corgentech, Aspreva, CIENA, Copper Mountain Networks, Corixa, acquired by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Cor Therapeutics, Crystal Semiconductor, Cyrix, Epicor Medical, IntraLase, Lightera, Myogen, PlaceWare, Silicon Graphics, SiTera, Spinal Dynamics, Stratacom, TheraSense, Ventritex and Xilinx.

THE 1980s - EARLY LEADERSHIP
& FRANCHISE BUILDING

From the very beginning, InterWest worked to build a diversified franchise. In addition to successful early IT investments like Lam Research and Bridge Communications, some of InterWest's other early successes were in consumer sectors, most notably Scott Hedrick's investments in groundbreaking retailer Office Club, which was acquired by Office Depot, and Il Fornaio, which grew from one of San Francisco's signature eateries into a diversified group of full service restaurants, retail markets and bakeries spread across the West. Soon, however, the PC boom of the early 80s created the modern IT business and changed the venture capital sector from a cottage industry to the important engine for technological advancement and economic growth that it is today. Grasping this potential, InterWest Partners deepened its focus on early-stage, technology-based product companies in the information technology industry.

Joining the firm at the time were partners Bob Momsen and Flip Gianos, in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Momsen, an early pioneer in technology-based health care devices, began InterWest's drive into the health care sector, seeking out companies that not only promised to deliver outstanding return on investment, but also to improve quality of life. With these goals in mind, Momsen led InterWest Partners' investments in companies such as Cor Therapeutics, TheraSense and Ventritex, leading the firm to a position as one of the premier VCs in the life sciences sector.

Gianos, an engineer with an extensive background in chip design and broader information technology, led InterWest's investments in the networking and semiconductor industries, building the firm into a major force in both sectors. During the 1980s he guided the firm's investments in such groundbreaking companies as Xilinx and Stratacom, which was acquired by Cisco as a public company for $4.5 billion.

Also during this time, InterWest expanded its operations beyond its Silicon Valley base by investing in the Berry Cash Southwest Partnership, which was managed by Berry Cash, a seasoned and successful entrepreneur. Since formally joining InterWest in 1985 as head of the firm's Dallas office, Cash has played a key role in funding some of the world's most successful information technology companies, including CIENA, Convex Computer, Crystal Semiconductor and Cyrix.

By the end of the 1980s, InterWest had raised four funds totaling over $260 million. More importantly, InterWest had become a recognized leader in the venture capital industry — a diversified firm with innovative and successful early-stage investing franchises.

THE 1990s & BEYOND - DIVERSIFIED FRANCHISE YIELDS SUCCESS

During the early 90s, InterWest remained focused on its core competencies in both information technology and life sciences. In particular, InterWest concentrated on the networking and communications sectors. One of the firm's early-stage investments, CIENA, set a record as the most valuable venture-backed IPO in history at the time of its public offering in 1997. The business plan for CIENA was written in InterWest's Dallas office in 1993 and Berry Cash remains on the CIENA board today.

InterWest reaped significant returns from the technology boom of the late 1990s. Alongside the CIENA success, InterWest achieved large gains with investments such as SiTera and Copper Mountain. Lightera was a particularly notable case as it was incubated in InterWest's California offices with an eye toward augmenting the revolution that CIENA had started. Ultimately, Lightera was acquired by CIENA for nearly $463 million. Joining the firm at this time was Tom Rosch, a successful investor at AT&T Ventures, who deepened the firm's practice in networking, infrastructure and semiconductors.

During the late-1990s information technology boom, InterWest, unlike many other firms, continued to invest in its life sciences franchise. Playing a central role in the growth of the firm's presence in this sector was partner Dr. Arnold Oronsky, who joined InterWest in 1994. The former vice president of research at Lederle Labs and the founder of Coulter Pharmaceutical, Oronsky has led partnership investments in such companies as Corixa (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline PLC), Cubist Pharmaceuticals and Myogen, building InterWest's life sciences team to a leadership position in the biotech sector. InterWest also added life sciences partners Dr. Gil Kliman, a practicing physician and seasoned venture capitalist, and Michael Sweeney, a former medical devices CEO. This active participation in the life sciences sector paid off during the information technology downturn. Most recently, InterWest portfolio company, TheraSense, went public and was subsequently purchased by Abbott Labs for $1.2 billion. In 2003 and early 2004, five InterWest life sciences companies went public or were acquired.

INTERWEST TODAY

InterWest Partners remains devoted to what it set out to do in 1979: use deep domain knowledge to build promising portfolio companies into industry leaders. With more than $2.8B in capital under management, and a current investment fund of $650 million, InterWest's experienced partners have the resources and know-how to continue turning this vision into reality.