E Rogers Novak

Bio

Roger Novak brings over 25 years of experience as a venture capitalist, "angel" investor, and operating principal. Novak Biddle Venture Partners (NBVP) is a premier early stage venture capital firm backed by some of the country’s most prestigious investors. Over the last five years, Novak Biddle has been the most active venture capital firm investing in education. Two of their deals, Capital Schools, Inc. and 2Tor, Inc., were recognized by the NVCA (National Venture Capital Association) as 2010 top education deals. Prior to co-founding NBVP, Roger was a private investor. In 1984, he was co-founder and three-fund general partner of Grotech Partners, where he was principally focused on information technology, with two of his investments, Verity and Secure Computing, among the top 10 performing IPOs of 1995. Earlier in his career Roger led the investment banking effort at Baker, Watts & Co., where he served on the firm’s executive committee. During his career, Roger has served on many public, private and civic boards. Currently, he serves on the boards of Blackboard, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) where he is lead director, Capital Schools, Inc., Centrifuge Systems, Digital Signal Corporation, Intelliworks, Parchment, Inc. and SS8. He also serves on the advisory boards of the Department of Homeland Security’s PREDICT (Protected Repository for the Defense of Infrastructure Against Cyber Threats), and is a member of the OSD’s (Office of Secretary of Defense) DeVenCI program. In addition, he is on the advisory board of Kenyon College’s Innovation Greenhouse. He recently served on the board of the NVCA where he was Treasurer and a member of the Executive committee for three consecutive years. Over the years Roger has served on the State of Virginia’s Joint Commission on Science and Technology. He also served as a member of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s project to examine the funding gap between innovation and commercialization. In addition, Roger has participated in a presidential High Technology Summit. A frequent speaker on venture capital, risk and innovation issues, Roger has spoken before the National Institute of Science and Technology, the World Bank/IFC, DARPA, and many other institutions. He has also advised members of Congress and government agencies, about ways the public and private sector can work together to improve the nation’s high-tech economy. A frequent contributor to the local and national media on technology and investment issues, Roger has appeared on The McNeil Lehrer Newshour, CNN, CNNfN, Wall Street Week and other programs. Recently, Roger was named the winner of the 2007 Early Stage East Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has clearly impacted early stage technology and fast growth opportunities.