Pier 70 Ventures
Venture capitalSeattle · Seed–Series A · 17 people tracked
Find your way into Pier 70 Ventures
Sign up to see every warm intro you have to Pier 70 Ventures
- Paths you didn't know you had: your email and LinkedIn already hold routes to the Pier 70 Ventures team. We find them for you
- 2nd- and 3rd-degree connections: the friend-of-a-friend routes that take hours to manually find through your inbox or LinkedIn
- Answers now, not in days: momentum is everything in a raise. Skip asking around whether someone knows someone
Days of research, done the moment you sign in, with every route ranked by how warm it is.
Investment thesis
Pier 70 Ventures seeks out overlooked talent and backs entrepreneurs advancing innovation with potential for strong financial returns. The firm emphasizes impact-driven innovation and disruptive technologies, especially in healthcare, aiming to shake up the status quo. It partners with early-stage companies to build diverse teams and leadership, viewing diversity across experiences and perspectives as a driver of profit. Beyond capital, Pier 70 provides counsel and access to an extensive global network of business leaders, university and government contacts, and investors, including Fortune 200 leaders. The team combines deep investment and operational experience, supporting companies from deal sourcing and due diligence through corporate and government contracting.
Source: firm website, verified Oct 26, 2026.
Team · 17 people
from the firm's website & public directoriesBalk is a Co-Founder and Venture Partner at Pier 70 Ventures with a background in strategy, finance, and venture capital investing. He joined Boeing in 1997 and later led its Phantom Works venture capital fund-of-funds program, growing it into a $250M portfolio of 32 funds with a focus on areas such as energy, materials, and advanced computing. Since leaving Boeing he has worked in entrepreneurial programs in Central New York, including mentoring at Cornell University and serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at High Tech Rochester. He holds an MBA from the University of Rochester Simon School and a BS from SUNY Buffalo.
Preetha Ram is Managing Partner at Pier 70 Ventures, where she manages portfolio investments, deal flow, and portfolio company development. She previously founded and led OpenStudy, a peer-to-peer online learning community that she scaled to over 60 million learners and exited, and has held academic leadership roles at Emory University, Alliant University, and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. She holds a PhD in Chemistry from Yale, an MBA from Emory University, and studied at the Indian Institute of Technology.
Miller is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Pier 70 Ventures, where he handles investor development and relations and helps lead the firm's deal flow strategy. He previously served as VP Global R&D Strategy at The Boeing Company and President of Boeing Phantom Works Investments, and later was EVP for Corporate Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary at Integral Systems, Inc. Trained as a lawyer, he began his career advising early-stage technology companies on financing and business matters, and holds a BA from Seattle University and a JD from the University of Puget Sound School of Law.
Shaun Hawkins is a Managing Partner at Pier 70 Ventures, where he manages investments and builds the portfolio with a focus on healthtech. He has over 20 years of experience in healthcare and life sciences investing, and previously served as Vice President of New Ventures and Private Equity at Eli Lilly and Company, where he helped create a $450 million Capital Funds Portfolio. He is the founder of Prosyte Companies, which includes Auxigen Health and Auxigen Medical, and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Former NASA astronaut and aerospace materials science research engineer who co-chaired the White House National Science and Technology Council's Committee on STEM Education.
Dean of the University of Virginia, co-founder of ImmuneWorks, board member of Baxter International, and a former major in the USAF.
Chair of The Emory Institute for Drug Development and Chair of Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory.
Physician (MD, MGH/HMS), MLK Scholar, former Communications Fellow at the CDC, and Gold Congressional Award winner.
Chairman of Triad Development, a real estate developer and angel investor.
Investor at LRG Ventures and Managing Director of IP and Research at Emory.
Technical Director in the Office of the CTO at Google Cloud, focusing on enterprise digital transformation, advanced manufacturing, and ESG.
CPA serving as the firm's Chief Financial Officer.
Professor of Surgery, Medicine and Pediatrics at UCSF, member of the FDA Science Board, Rosenman Institute founding fellow, and Medical Director of the Kidney and Pancreas Transplant Program at UCSF.
Investor at LRG Ventures and Chief of Staff and Director of Financial Operations at Liotta Research Group.
Head of Sales & GTM for Google Cloud HCLS, specializing in AI and digital health, cloud transformation, and strategic growth.
Digital health leader, clinician executive, founder, and board chair, serving as a director of digital health innovation.
What they invest in
from 3 of 4 portfolio companiesHealthtech ×2AI & Machine Learning ×1Digital Health ×1Enterprise Software ×1FemTech ×1Marketing Tech ×1Medical Devices ×1SaaS ×1
HQs:United States×2Canada×1
Investments · 4 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2024 · 22023 · 13 dated
Pelvital is a medical device company that develops FDA-cleared in-home treatments for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic floor muscle weakness in women, using a proprietary mechanotherapy technology.
Digital HealthFemTechHealthtechMedical DevicesEagan, US
Dale Wahlstrom(Co-founder and founding CEO (retired from CEO role, serving as Executive Chair))Lydia Zeller(CEO)
Co-investorsBoomerang VenturesWisconsin Investment Partners
Flyte provides sales leaders with a unified platform for sales coaching, buyer sentiment analysis, competitive intelligence, and deal insights to monitor frontline team performance and achieve revenue goals.
AI & Machine LearningEnterprise SoftwareMarketing TechSaaSSales TechToronto, CA
Shilpa Sharma(Founder)inChhavi Singh(Founder)in
Co-investorsTechstarsBoomerang Ventures
Vital View Technologies has rebranded to PrīmSphera and directs visitors to its new website.
Ray Fraser(Founder)in
Co-investorsElevate Ventures
Other
Tracked investments with no reachable website or further public details — typically companies that wound down, renamed, or were absorbed.
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does Pier 70 Ventures invest at?
- Pier 70 Ventures invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
- What sectors does Pier 70 Ventures focus on?
- Pier 70 Ventures focuses on AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Cloud Computing, Data & Infrastructure, Deep Tech, Digital Health, Healthtech, Impact & Social Good, SaaS, Wellness & Fitness.
- Where is Pier 70 Ventures located?
- Pier 70 Ventures is headquartered in Seattle, US.
Media · Podcasts & interviews
featuring the teamDiversifying Science at LWHS, Episode 2: Dr. Preetha Ram
LWHS and KANG News · Preetha Ram
Images
Similar investors
Everywhere Ventures is an early-stage venture firm that writes pre-seed checks and is backed by a community of founder and operator LPs.
Lauder Partners is the venture investment vehicle of Gary Lauder, investing in early- and growth-stage private companies across a broad range of technology, healthcare, energy and consumer sectors.
Alpha Edison is an early-stage venture firm that partners with entrepreneurs using technology to unlock latent demand in markets where consumer and business behaviors are shifting.
MDI Ventures is the corporate venture arm of Telkom Indonesia, managing a $100 million fund and investing in technology startups, primarily at Series A and beyond.
2B.VC is a boutique, family-owned venture capital firm that invests in early-stage disruptive technology companies, offering mentorship, strategy consulting, and network connections beyond capital.



















