OUP Announces Promotions of Manny Stockman to Managing Partner, Mitra Miri to Partner, and Beth Grafstrom to SVP Finance

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OUP (Osage University Partners), a venture capital firm that invests in startups commercializing breakthrough research, today announced the promotions of Manny Stockman, PhD, to Managing Partner, Mitra Miri, PhD, to Partner, and Beth Grafstrom to SVP Finance.

These three promotions reflect OUP’s continued growth and strong commitment to building category-defining companies leveraging relationships with the world’s leading research institutions and deep tech entrepreneurs. In their expanded roles, Stockman and Miri will help shape firm strategy, lead investments in OUP’s core sectors, and strengthen university and investor relationships, and Grafstrom will continue to lead OUP’s finance and accounting team.

Manny Stockman joined the team in 2015 after a career in early-stage R&D and has been critical in shaping OUP’s technology portfolio across a broad set of sectors stretching from advanced computing and AI-enabled infrastructure software to materials and frontier tech. He has led the firm’s investments in IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), SiFive, Quintessent, Censys, NuMat Technologies, and many others.

Mitra Miri joined OUP in 2021 and has played a pivotal role in advancing OUP’s life sciences investment efforts across therapeutics and platform technologies built on strong scientific differentiation. She has led and managed several OUP investments, including Veradermics, Precede Biosciences, Normunity, RedRidge Bio, and others.

Beth Grafstrom joined OUP in 2015 and has helped build OUP’s finance and accounting team to provide strong reporting, insights, communications, and support to OUP’s investment team and limited partners across its many funds.

“Manny and Mitra exemplify the thoughtful, forward-thinking investment mindset required to invest in startups based on cutting-edge science,” said Marc Singer, Managing Partner of OUP. “Both have proven to be strong investors and excellent company builders, helping guide founders through the multitude of challenges of technology commercialization. Beth has helped OUP build a strong operational foundation to manage multiple funds and maintain strong investor connectivity. These three promotions recognize each person’s impact to date and their importance to OUP’s future.”

“I’m proud to step into the Managing Partner role at a firm whose core mission aligns perfectly with the growth we have seen in venture capital activity in deep tech startups,” said Manny Stockman, Managing Partner. “Very few funds have the broad mandate to track how the earliest research advances can convert into compelling, outsized venture returns, and I’m excited to continue backing visionary founders building technology companies that can shape the next several decades.”

“It is in the firm’s DNA to invest in leading edge companies, either when they are born directly out of university research or are inspired by it,” said Mitra Miri, Partner. “We recognize research institutions are core to enabling fundamental biological insights and technologies that both underpin and have inspired some of the most transformational start-ups we will see in our lifetime. I am deeply committed to working with colleagues across the biotech ecosystem to support the translation of these innovative ideas into therapeutic realities for patients.”

With these promotions, OUP reinforces its commitment to supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and strengthening the ecosystem that brings university and university-inspired innovation to market.

About OUP (Osage University Partners)

OUP (Osage University Partners) is a venture capital firm that invests in breakthrough start-ups emerging from the world’s leading research labs and innovation ecosystems. We leverage our global network of 150+ university partners as well as deep relationships with founders, entrepreneurs, and industry to source and support the translation of cutting-edge research into transformative companies with impact. Founded in 2009, OUP manages over $800 million and has invested in more than 150 life science and technology start-ups. For more information, visit oup.vc.