Mar Hershenson
Mar Hershenson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Barcelona, Spain |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, electrical engineer, academic, venture capitalist |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Known for | Co-founder and managing partner of Pear VC; work in electronic design automation sector |
'Mar Hershenson is a Spanish-American entrepreneur, electrical engineer, academic, and venture capitalist specializing in the electronic design automation sector. She co-founded Pear VC and currently holds the position of managing partner. In 2021, she was placed at number 29 on the Forbes Midas List.
Education and career
Hershenson completed her Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering with distinction at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain.
She pursued graduate studies at Stanford University, where she obtained both her M.S. and Ph.D. in 2000. Her doctoral research concentrated on utilizing convex optimization techniques to enhance analog circuit design.
During her time at Stanford, she co-founded Barcelona Design and served as its CTO. Subsequently, she established Sabio Labs in 2004, acting as CEO until 2007; the company was later acquired by Magma Design Automation. From 2008 to 2010, Hershenson held the role of Vice President of Product Development within Magma’s Custom Design Business Unit.
Between 2002 and 2011, she contributed as a consulting assistant professor in electrical engineering at Stanford University.
Since 2013, Hershenson has been a founding managing partner at Pear VC (initially known as Pejman Mar). She also sits on the Board of Directors for Solvvy, a startup focused on machine learning-driven customer support solutions.
She is widely acknowledged as one of the foremost women venture capitalists in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Honors and distinctions
- 2011: Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award
- 2010: Recipient of the Marie Pistilli Award
- 2009: Named among Top Ten Women in Microelectronics by EE Times
- 2002: Included in MIT Technology Review’s TR100 list of Innovators Under 35
Personal background
Originally from Barcelona, Spain, Hershenson relocated to the United States for a summer position where she met her future spouse. The name of her native city served as inspiration for one of her co-founded companies.
As of 2010, she is a mother to three children.
External links
- Mar Hershenson on LinkedIn