Office of Technology Partnerships

Richard Kuntz, Founder of Torrey Pines Venture Advisors, provides technology commercialization advice to academic researchers, scouts technology for U.S. governmental entities, and counsels early-stage companies pursuing financings and/or transactions.  As Managing Director of Shepherd Ventures for 16 years, and previously in leadership roles at other institutional investment organizations, Rich has amassed nearly 35 years of investment, transaction, operational, and board level experience with early-stage and high-growth technology companies, particularly those operating within healthcare, medical technology, and life sciences.  As a founding board member, he has helped create several companies formed to commercialize technologies licensed from major research institutions.  Rich has been active in the NSF I-CorpsÔ program for five years and has twice participated in the National phase as a mentor to teams from UC San Diego and USC.  He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with an academic background that includes SB and SM degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.