Fundraising Fox
Mar Hershenson
InvestorFounderFounding Managing Partner at Pear VC
Los Altos, California
Writes $250K – $3M checks · typically $2.5M
FoundedPear VC
Midas 2025 · #44Midas 2024 · #31Midas 2023 · #26Midas 2022 · #30Midas 2021 · #29
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About
Mar Hershenson is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Pear VC, a Palo Alto–based seed-stage firm whose portfolio includes Guardant Health (NASDAQ: GH), DoorDash (NYSE: DASH), Gusto, Aurora Solar and Branch. Before Pear, she started three companies and held product and engineering leadership roles at Magma Design Automation, and she earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, where she now teaches as a lecturer in the engineering school. She sits on the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College and the Advisory Council of Carnegie Mellon's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and is a founding member of All Raise and the Equity Summit.
Contact· published on Mar's own website
Invests in
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingConsumerDeep TechE-commerceEnterprise SoftwareFintechHardwareMarketplacesSaaSSemiconductors
Beyond investing
- Founded
- She co-founded Barcelona Design while a graduate student at Stanford. She co-founded Sabio Labs, which was acquired by Magma Design Automation. She co-founded Pear VC (founded as Pejman Mar).
- Education
- Studied at Universidad Pontificia Comillas (B.S., electrical engineering) Studied at Stanford University (M.S.) Studied at Comillas Pontifical University
- Awards
- She received the Women of Influence Award from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal in 2011. She received the Marie Pistilli Award in 2010. She was named among EE Times' Top Ten Women in Microelectronics in 2009. She was named to MIT Technology Review's TR100 Innovators under 35 in 2002.
- Family
- She came to the United States from Barcelona, Spain for a summer job and met her future husband there.
- More
- Her native city of Barcelona gave its name to a company she co-founded.
Mentioned above: the Stanford University mafia → · the Pear VC mafia → · the Universidad Pontificia Comillas mafia →
From Mar's own website — common ground for a warm intro.
Founding Managing Partner at Pear VC
Intro paths
In turn, Mar can intro founders to Pear VC's investors below.
Pear VC's investors · 7
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Co-founders at Pear VC
Investments
Board seats
Solvvy
Investor
AffinityAspireAugustAurora SolarAxle HealthBobyardBranchCanonicalClearBrainDevAIDoorDashEagerPandaExporta TechnologiesFieldbook StudioFinkargoFlax HealthGlideGuardant HealthGustoIxlayerKaleMacroMaker WineModaOsmosPahdo LabsPandoPolarrProhostAIQuadricRedcoat AIReset Financial TechnologiesSensor Towerseven starlingSudoziThenaTrueMetertruthsystemsVanta
Per curated public sources.
Colleagues at Pear VC
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Network7
Investors connected to Mar in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Mar Hershenson?
- Mar Hershenson is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Pear VC, a Palo Alto–based seed-stage firm whose portfolio includes Guardant Health (NASDAQ: GH), DoorDash (NYSE: DASH), Gusto, Aurora Solar and Branch. Before Pear, she started three companies and held product and engineering leadership roles at Magma Design Automation, and she earned a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford, where she now teaches as a lecturer in the engineering school. She sits on the Board of Trustees of Harvey Mudd College and the Advisory Council of Carnegie Mellon's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and is a founding member of All Raise and the Equity Summit.
- Where does Mar Hershenson work?
- Mar Hershenson is Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC and Founding Managing Partner at Pear VC.
- What does Mar Hershenson invest in?
- Mar Hershenson invests in AI & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Consumer, Deep Tech, E-commerce, Enterprise Software, Fintech, Hardware, Marketplaces, SaaS, Semiconductors.
- What check size does Mar Hershenson write?
- Mar Hershenson typically writes checks of $250K – $3M.
- What companies did Mar Hershenson found?
- Mar Hershenson founded Pear VC.
- What boards does Mar Hershenson sit on?
- Mar Hershenson holds tracked board seats at Solvvy.
- What companies has Mar Hershenson invested in?
- Investments tracked here include Affinity, Aspire, August, Aurora Solar, Axle Health, Bobyard, Branch, Canonical, ClearBrain, DevAI, DoorDash, EagerPanda, and 27 more.
- What awards has Mar Hershenson received?
- She received the Women of Influence Award from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal in 2011. She received the Marie Pistilli Award in 2010. She was named among EE Times' Top Ten Women in Microelectronics in 2009. She was named to MIT Technology Review's TR100 Innovators under 35 in 2002.
Founder mafias
Stanford University mafia2,295
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Pear VC mafia34
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Foundation Capital mafia30
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Universidad Pontificia Comillas mafia29
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
About this profile. Compiled from public sources — Pear VC's own website and public professional profiles — and summarised by Fundraising Fox; every fact is kept with where it came from. Spotted an error, or would rather not be listed? Email privacy@fundraisingfox.com · How we build profiles · Your rights