Where does Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt work?

Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt is CEO – Radial at Astera Institute.

What check size does Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt write?

Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt typically writes checks of $500K – $40M.

Where did Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt go to school?

Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt studied at University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Molecular and Cellular Biology); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., Biology); Middleton High School.

Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt

Investor

CEO – Radial at Astera Institute

California

Writes $500K – $40M checks · typically $20M

Find your path to Rebecca

822 people in our graph share verified history with Rebecca — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Erin Price-WrightunlockedRebecca: together at Andreessen Horowitz (2024–2025)

×2Rebecca: together at Andreessen Horowitz

×6Rebecca: together at University of California, Berkeley

Rebecca: together at Arcadia Science

About

CEO of Radial with extensive experience scaling scientific innovation across academic research, industrial R&D, and venture capital. Previously an Investing Partner at a16z Bio + Health, and held roles as R&D Scientist and Business Development leader at Amgen. She has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and a B.S. from MIT.

Experience

Astera InstituteCEO - Radialcurrent2025 — presentEmeryville, CA
Arcadia ScienceTranslational Advisorcurrent2021 — present
Andreessen HorowitzInvestor2021 — 2025
AmgenSenior Manager | Business Development2017 — 2021South San Francisco
AmgenScientist | Discovery Research2016 — 2017South San Francisco
GenentechPostdoctoral Research Fellow2011 — 2015South San Francisco
UC BerkeleyPhD Student in Molecular and Cellular Biology, Department of Genetics, Genomics and Development2005 — 2011
PromegaResearch Scientist2004 — 2005Madison, Wisconsin
MITUndergraduate Research Assistant2003 — 2004Angelika Amon's lab, Center for Cancer Research
Institut PasteurResearch Intern2003Paris, France

Skills & more

Genetics41Molecular Cloning18Molecular Biology21Cell Culture17Cell Biology17Biochemistry12Microscopy9Research5Biotechnology8Protein Expression6PCR5qPCR5

+12 more

Cancer GenomicsWestern BlottingMass SpectrometryProteomicsCellMolecular & Cellular BiologyGenomicsDrug DiscoveryAntibodiesOncologyAssay DevelopmentPolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)

Languages English · French

R Programming — Coursera Course Certificates

From Rebecca's professional profile.

Colleagues at Astera Institute

Anika Gupta

COO – Foundation at Astera Institute

Cody Phillips

Venture Partner at Innovating Capital

Dileep George

Head of AI Research at Astera Institute

Doris Tsao

Chief Scientist – Neuro at Astera Institute

Eli Dourado

Head of Strategic Investments at Astera Institute

Jed McCaleb

Investor at Stellar Development Foundation

Prachee Avasthi

Head of Open Science at Astera Institute

Seemay Chou

Co-Founder & President – Foundation at Astera Institute

Frequently asked questions

Who is Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt?: CEO of Radial with extensive experience scaling scientific innovation across academic research, industrial R&D, and venture capital. Previously an Investing Partner at a16z Bio + Health, and held roles as R&D Scientist and Business Development leader at Amgen. She has a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and a B.S. from MIT.
Where does Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt work?: Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt is CEO – Radial at Astera Institute.
What check size does Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt write?: Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt typically writes checks of $500K – $40M.
Where did Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt go to school?: Rebecca (Becky) Pferdehirt studied at University of California, Berkeley (PhD, Molecular and Cellular Biology); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S., Biology); Middleton High School.

Same school

Also attended University of California, Berkeley2,000

Byron DeeterPartner at Bessemer Venture Partners Steve WozniakCo-founder of Apple Tony XuCo-founder & CEO of DoorDash Aravind SrinivasCo-founder & CEO of Perplexity AI Ali GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of Databricks Ryan PetersenFounder & CEO of Flexport

+ 1,994 more

Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology2,000

Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square Ventures Elad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil Capital Aileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy Ventures Hemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General Catalyst Philippe LaffontFounder & CIO of Coatue Management Nat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG

+ 1,994 more

Also attended Middleton High School2

Michael MounajjedFounder, CEO at Durate Warren ShepardFounder at Control Seat

Shared employers

Also worked at Amgen137

Parker ConradCo-founder & CEO of Rippling Seth LieblichInvestment Team at 8VC Sean BruichChief Technology Officer at Flare Capital Partners Steph ScottVice President at Questa Capital Beth SeidenbergFounding Managing Director at Westlake Village BioPartners Kelli McKeirnanDirector of Administration at Westlake Village BioPartners

+ 131 more

Also worked at Genentech204

David SchenkeinInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Karthik ArdhanareeswaranInvestor at GV (Google Ventures)Marco PrunottoInvestor at Medicxi Logan HilleLife Sciences Analyst at CincyTech Josephine ChenInvestor at Sequoia Capital Abbie CelnikerInvestor at Third Rock Ventures

+ 198 more

Also worked at UC Berkeley511

Ali GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of Databricks Raquel UrtasunFounder & CEO of Waabi Arhaan A.Deeptech Fellow at Clear Ventures Kevin Wijayaインドネシア法人代表 (Indonesia Office Representative) at CyberAgent Capital Paul JennyBoard Chair at CincyTech Michael PerezDeputy General Counsel at Mucker Capital

+ 505 more

Also worked at Promega4

Henry O'ConnellExecutive Officer, Director at Canary Speech Erik SchaeferExecutive Officer at AssayQuant Technologies Robert LoweryCSO & Founder at BellBrook Labs Chris LandowskiCTO & Co-Founder at Onego Bio