The Band was founded in 1994 by Johannes C. (Hans) Severiens. Hans, who passed away in February of 2004, was an ex-scientist, Wall Street analyst, and Venture Capitalist who formed friendships with many of the first generation of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and high technology executives - the founders of Fairchild, National Semiconductor, Genentech, Intel, Compaq, Kleiner Perkins, and Sequoia. When these executives retired from their initial career and became angel investors, Hans hit upon the idea of bringing them together at one place and time; to pool their expertise and their capital when considering investing in startups. Dr. Severiens was widely acknowledged as one of the earliest and most active Silicon Valley angels and was a partner/officer in two Venture Capital funds: Bay Ventures (a seed stage fund), and MIP Equity Fund (a later stage Dutch government fund). For the latter, he managed the U.S. investments and originated thirteen successful investments totaling $62 million. He spent four years as a Partner with two small San Francisco firms that specialized in high technology.
Prior to 1983, he was a Vice President in investment banking and security analysis for high technology concerns with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Merrill Lynch, and Paine Webber (Mitchell Hutchins), located primarily in New York City. He was named an All Star Institutional Analyst four times, in 1973-1976.
Earlier, from 1955 until 1968, Dr. Severiens pursued a scientific career at Perkin-Elmer (Assistant Chief Scientist), Columbia University (Research Professor), the Atomic Energy Commission (Staff Scientist) and the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen (Ford Foundation post-doctoral fellow).
He graduated with a Ph.D. degree in nuclear physics from the Johns Hopkins University and awarded Phi Beta Kappa membership. He received a B.A. degree in physics from Harvard College. He has presented and published numerous scientific papers and articles in addition to being a frequent guest speaker on the topic of financing for startup, high technology businesses.
The Angel Capital Association (ACA) recently established the Hans Severiens Memorial Award for Outstanding Contribution to Angel Investing. This award will be given annually to an individual or group that has made substantial contributions to the advancement of angel investing.
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The Angel Capital Education Foundation (ACEF) and Angel Capital Association (ACA) have named Luis Villalobos, founder of one of the most active angel investor groups in the country and a founding member of the Angel
Capital Association, as the recipient of the Hans Severiens Award.
The award was presented at the 2007 ACA Summit, which was attended by 325 angel group leaders and investors from the United States, Canada, and several other countries. In announcing the award, Marianne Hudson, executive director of ACEF, said, “Luis is a pioneer in the angel group field, with impact on a national and world stage. He has willingly shared his knowledge about the angel investing process, particularly in valuation, with other angels and angel group leaders through education, writing and informal mentoring. He has truly advanced the legacy of Hans Severiens.”
For complete coverage of this award, please click here.
The Angel Capital Association named Jeffrey E. Sohl, Director of the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, as the recipient of the 2006 Hans Severiens Award. As Director of the Center for Venture Research at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire, Professor Sohl conducts research on the angel and venture capital market, analyzing trends in the market and providing timely analysis of market conditions to entrepreneurs, investors and public policy makers. For complete coverage of this award, please click here.
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