Human Resources

VC-backed Gamida Cell adds Adams to board

Gamida Cell, a Jerusalem-based developer of cellular and immune therapies that treat cancer and genetic diseases, has named Dr. Julian Adams as chairman of its board of directors. Adams, who succeeds Ruben Krupik as Gamida's chairman, is president of R&D at Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Gamida is backed by investment firms including Israel Healthcare Ventures, Denali Ventures and Auriga Ventures.

Versant Ventures co-founder Link joins Allegro Ophthalmics' board

Allegro Ophthalmics, LLC, a biotech company focused on treating vitreoretinal diseases, has appointed Dr. William J. Link to its board of directors. Link is the co-founder and a managing director of Versant Ventures.

NEA General Partner Harry Weller, 46, passes away

New Enterprise Associates General Partner Harry Weller, who led the firm's East Coast venture practice, died in his sleep Saturday. He was 46. Weller joined the firm in 2002 and was a well-recognized VC. His industry honors included the Forbes “Midas List” for nine years running, Washingtonian’s "Titans of Technology,” Business Insider’s “Top 5 East Coast VCs” and the Washington Business Journal's "Outstanding Director Award.”

Vestigo Ventures appoints Bison founder Nugent as MD

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Vestigo Ventures, a fintech venture firm, has hired Mike Nugent as a managing director. Nugent is the founder of Bison, a provider of analytics for the private markets sector.

Frazier Healthcare Partners adds operating partner for growth buyout team

Frazier Healthcare Partners has hired Rob Kill as an operating partner for its growth buyout team. Previously, Kill was the chairman and CEO of Cogentix Medical Inc.

VC-backed MapR hires chief revenue officer

MapR Technologies, a converged data platform provider, has appointed Jim Kowalski as chief revenue officer. Previously, Kowalski worked at Marketo and has held several senior leadership roles at Oracle. MapR's backers include Future Fund, Google Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mayfield Fund, NEA, Qualcomm Ventures and Redpoint Ventures.

VC-backed Swift Capital appoints Sveen as CFO

Swift Capital, a provider of financing for small businesses, has appointed Paul E. Sveen as chief financial officer. Previously, Sveen was the founder and managing partner of Pantelan Real Estate Services. Swift Capital is backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital and SV Angel.

NIN.VC appoints Chahal to advisory board

NIN Ventures has named Gurbaksh Chahal to its advisory board. Chahal is the founder, chairman and CEO of Gravity4, a high-frequency marketing cloud.

VC-backed Kabbage hires a CTO and a data chief

Atlanta-based Kabbage, a financial services tech and data platform, has named Amala Duggirala as chief technology officer and Rama Rao as chief data officer. Previously, Duggirala was executive vice president of global software development and implementations services at ACI Worldwide while Rao was head of analytics and insights at eBay’s global risk, policy and compliance organization. Kabbage's backers included Reverence Capital Partners, SoftBank Capital, Thomvest Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, BlueRun Ventures, the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, ING, Santander InnoVentures, Scotiabank and TCW/Craton.

Boston-based Pillar adds Rob May as venture partner

Boston-based venture firm Pillar Companies, which is raising an inaugural fund of $100 million, has added Rob May as a venture partner. May, an angel investor and a former operator, was co-founder and chief executive of Backupify, which was acquired in 2014, and Talla. Pillar founder Jamie Goldstein blogged that May is a thought leader in the AI space and "important voice in the conversation around machine intelligence in Boston."