Bob Johnson
Award Sponsor: CSU Channel Islands
Bob Johnson is the managing partner of Founders Capital Partners (FCP), a venture capital angel group focused on early-stage technology-based businesses. Originally established in New England, Founders moved its focus to the Central Coast in 1999.
FCP’s early investments included Genetic MicroSystems, acquired by Affymetrix; Webline, acquired by Cisco; Smart Cells, acquired by Merck; and Indigo Systems, acquired by FLIR Systems.
Prior to FCP, Bob was the managing partner of the Sprout Capital Group, the venture capital arm of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ). He was also engaged in research and private equity investing with DLJ from 1969 to 1981, and with Kidder Peabody from 1966 to 1969.
Bob retired from the Board of West Pharmaceutical Services in 2014, after serving for 25 years. He is currently a director of two Santa Barbara companies: Affinity Biosensors, a leader in rapid antibiotic susceptibility test instruments and systems, and Seek Thermal, a third-generation infrared camera and systems company. Both companies have received funding from Founders Capital Partners.
Bob served as a director of Indigo Systems until its acquisition by FLIR, and was a director of Genetic MicroSystems until its acquisition by Affymetrix. He is also a former director of the National Venture Capital Association and a former governor of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies.
Bob earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from MIT in 1963 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1965. He is a Life Member Emeritus of the MIT Corporation and has served as a Board director for the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts.