Ira Ehrenpreis

Emeritus Board Member

Founder and Managing Partner, DBL Partners

Ira Ehrenpreis is founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners, a leading impact investing venture capital firm, currently investing out of a $400M fund. Ira is a recognized leader in the venture capital industry, having served on the Board, Executive Committee, and as Annual Meeting Chairman of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Ira currently serves as the President of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC) and as the Chairman of the VCNetwork, the largest and most active California venture capital organization.

In 2007, Ira was named one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Men Under 45″ and in 2014 was inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame. Ira has invested in a wide range of companies, including SpaceX, and serves on the board of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA), Apeel, Mapbox and numerous other companies.

In the energy sector, Ira is the Founder and Chairman of one of the most prominent annual energy innovation industry events, the World Energy Innovation Forum (WEIF), which convenes the who’s-who in the industry to discuss the important energy issues and opportunities of our time.  Ira has been a chairman & advisor on several industry Boards, including the DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee, the NREL Advisory Council, the Clean-Tech Investor Summit, the Cleantech Venture Network, and ACORE.

Ira has also served as the Chairman of the Silicon Valley Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (SVIEF) every year from 2014- 2017. He has been an active leader at Stanford University, where he has served on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School and is currently an advisory board member of the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy (PIE) Advisory Council and the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP).  Ira has also been a guest lecturer, including helping to teach a course on Venture Capital.

Ira received his JD/MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of Stanford Law Review.  He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude.