Karen Griffith Gryga

Chief Operations Officer

2020 - Current

Karen is COO of Biomeme, a vertically integrated US corporation spanning specimen collection, nucleic acid extraction and purification, assay, software and instrumentation R&D, isothermal and PCR reagent lyophilization, hardware and consumables manufacturing, as well as nationwide molecular diagnostic testing services through its wholly owned subsidiary CLIA High Complexity lab network, One Health Laboratories. We offer a full suite of end-to-end mobile molecular detection solutions that perform to the gold standard used by the world’s most advanced central labs. We offer solutions that measure novel and innovative biomarkers using cutting-edge technology that address significant unmet needs in biowarfare agent identification, environmental surveillance, human and animal diagnostics.

Co President

2019

Co-President, April 2019 to present Board Member, April 2018 to present Wharton PE/VC Alumni Association, was founded in 1996 and represents more than 3,000 Wharton and University of Pennsylvania alumni working to better the conditions in the private equity industry by sharing the best practices and innovative ideas among members, and by improving the overall standing of the members within the private investor industry. The organization increases interaction between the members and the private equity industry. It brings greater knowledge to our members through varied educational programs, symposiums and panel discussions around the globe.

Board Member and member of the Finance Committee (fmr Finance Chair & Governance Chair)

2017

Please Touch Museum (PTM) was the first museum in the nation to focus on early childhood education and play. It is consistently recognized as leader in its field for its expertise in early childhood learning and its broad community based program for children and families living in diverse communities. Its home in a National Historic Landmark building welcomes over 500,000 visitors annually to engage and learn in its exhibits and programming.

Chief Investment Officer Dreamit Fund II; Managing Director, Investments; Founder of Dreamit Health

2012 - 2020

DreamIt is a venture fund coupled with a technology accelerator for entrepreneurs which has worked with and launched close to 300 companies since 2008 including SeatGeek, HouseParty, LevelUp, Biomeme, Allevi (formerly Biobots), Tissue Analytics, Parsely, MindSnacks and Adaptly. Dreamit is the only growth accelerator designed for mature startups. Post-seed companies with product market fit, some revenue, or early traction are left with limited funding options and resources to scale before qualifying for today's "super-sized" A rounds. We put our companies in front of customers, key strategic partners to drive pilot programs and distribution before we match them with larger venture funds and investor groups to raise follow-on funding. The DreamIt Fund focuses primarily on the follow on investments of DreamIt companies exhibiting strong growth and traction.

Executive Director

2011 - 2012

Mid-Atlantic Angel Group is an institutional angel group actively investing in early stage companies in the Mid-Atlantic region with a primary focus on Pennsylvania. The fund focuses on technology based opportunities within IT, healthcare, life sciences and the internet but is opportunistic and will review all types of investment opportunities.

Co-Founder and CEO

2009 - 2012

CEO

2007 - 2009

Lipstick Wisdom is a web based new media company combining the best of professionally produced videos with user generated content on issues of on-going importance to women aged 30 and above. Lipstick Wisdom addresses the female mainstream who are economically powerful and leverage the internet to efficiently address the daily multi-tasking of family, home and profession. The company is in the pre-launch phase.

Fund Manager in Residence

2005 - 2007

Led all due diligence efforts on next generation private equity fund concepts. Also led efforts in the areas of intellectual property and licensing businesses.

Co-founder and Partner

1997 - 2005

Liberty Venture Partners is a regional venture capital firm focusing on information technology and healthcare. We had two funds under management totaling $150 million. Liberty invested in over 20 companies between the two funds resulting in such successes as Synchronoss Technologies (NASDAQ: SNCR), Animas (NASDAQ: PUMP) and subsequently acquired by J&J, Liveprint (acquired by Kinkos and then Federal Express), and tickets.com.

Managing Director

1993 - 1997

Philadelphia Ventures was a national venture firm focused on information technology and healthcare early stage investments. PVI had over $100 million of committed capital and invested in such notable companies as Cephalon (NASDAQ: CEPH), SoftSwitch (acquired by Lotus), P-Com (NASDAQ: PCOM), Anadigics (NASDAQ: ANAD), Ascend Communications (NASDAQ: ASND), Kalpana (accquired by Cisco).

Software developer and Software program manager

1987 - 1991

Software developer in the areas of databases and systems programming for a 24/7 national defense system. Managed a multi-year, multi-million dollar software initiative that affected the entire user community.