Status: Awarded TNInvestco status by ECD in 2010, following further General Assembly action; not funded in the initial round announced Nov. 5, 2009
Memphis Biomed Ventures Tennessee I LLC -- MB Venture Partners focuses entirely on life sciences and medical devices; and, is capitalizing MBVT-I with funds from its third fund. MBVP was co-founded by Gary Stevenson and entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Pitt Hyde, of AutoZone fame. MBVP was most active in Middle Tennessee in a deal it has since successfully exited: now-public BioMimetic Therapeutics. MBVP is still invested in Knoxville-based Protein Discovery and Memphis-based Expanding Orthopedics, as well as 14 other active portfolio companies based outside the state. Before founding MBVP with Hyde eight years ago, Stevenson was in investment banking and equities research, and spent seven years inside Abbott Laboratories in a variety of management roles. Stevenson serves on the boards of BioSET, Spinal Restoration, TriVirix International and is chairman of the board for Protein Discovery. He is also a board observer for AxioMed Spin and Applied Spine Technologies. He served on the board of BioMimetic, as well as on the board of Anulex Technologies. He earned his MBA at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor's in accounting at the University of Missouri. He is a CPA and holds the CFA designation. Contact: (901) 322-0330. ♦