Global venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) announced that Jeff Immelt has joined the firm as Venture Partner. Immelt, who recently retired from his role as Chairman and CEO of GE after 16 years at the helm of the 125-year-old company, is widely regarded as one of the world's most innovative and capable business leaders. His extensive domain and company-building expertise are closely aligned with NEA's core sectors of focus, and he will work closely with technology and healthcare companies across the firm's portfolio in this new role.
"I am excited to join NEA because they understand how to work with visionary entrepreneurs to build successful technology and healthcare enterprises," Immelt said. "I have a passion for these sectors and I am eager to work with NEA and its partners to develop great businesses, nurture talented leaders and grow diverse teams."
During his tenure at GE, Immelt revamped the company's portfolio, global footprint, workforce and culture with a focus on technological innovation. Under his leadership the company returned $143B in dividends—more than in the cumulative history of the company—and grew emerging market revenues by 4x to 60% of GE's revenue. Immelt helped build GE Healthcare from a $3 billion business to a nearly $20 billion market leader in imaging, life sciences, and devices. He was also among the first CEOs to recognize that great industrial companies must be digital leaders, and that the combination of physical performance and analytical data can predict outcomes in industrial products. Under Immelt, GE built a digital industrial platform that is consistently ranked as a top "internet of things" platform.
"Jeff is deeply knowledgeable about the complex global innovation landscape we're operating in today and he understands how businesses must evolve to compete and win in that environment, particularly across industrial and medical technologies," said Scott Sandell, Managing General Partner, NEA. "Jeff's skill in building and scaling businesses will be a tremendous asset to NEA's investing practice and to our portfolio, and we are thrilled to welcome him to the team."
Immelt has been named one of the "World's Best CEOs" three times by Barron's, and GE has been named "America's Most Admired Company" by Fortune magazine and one of "The World's Most Respected Companies" in polls by Barron's and Financial Times. Immelt has received 15 honorary degrees and numerous awards for business leadership. He joined GE in 1982, holding increasingly senior positions in the company's plastics, appliances and healthcare businesses and serving as President of GE Healthcare before assuming the role of GE CEO in 2001. Immelt earned his M.B.A. at Harvard Business School and holds an A.B in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Dartmouth College.
In addition to his role at NEA, Immelt will be teaching a course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business with Robert Siegel. The course, "Systems Leadership for the Digital Industrial Transformation," will be offered this spring.
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. With over $20 billion in cumulative committed capital since the firm's founding in 1977, NEA invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company's lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm's long track record of successful investing includes more than 210 portfolio company IPOs and more than 360 acquisitions.