Wayne Embree, Founder and Managing Partner has been a seed-stage investor since 1986, co-founding six funds with investments in nearly 100 companies.  He has been the lead investor in numerous startups in the energy, environmental, life science and information technology sectors.  He was a founder of Cascadia Partners and has played a major role in creating over 20 spin out companies from research universities and corporate labs.  His prior experience includes policy work for the Oregon Legislative Assembly and former Arizona Governor Bruce Babbitt.  He also served as a tactical operations officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1975 through 1980, directing real-time command, control and communications systems where he was consistently given responsibilities reserved for higher ranks. 

Wayne holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences from Western Oregon University and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon.  He is a board member of several companies, the Western Sustainability Institute and an advisor to TechLink, the principal technology transfer manager for the U.S. Department of Defense.  He is a frequent speaker on technology commercialization and venture creation.  Wayne is an active private pilot, flying classic and antique aircraft.

 

John B. "Brock" Metcalf, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner, has nearly twenty years' experience with all aspects of technology development, working cooperatively with all levels of management. Prior to co-founding Reference Capital, he was a partner at Cascadia Partners and co-founder of Oregon Life Sciences (OLS) LLC, an early stage venture firm focused largely on the biotechnology and biomaterials markets. OLS invested in 22 companies and maintains significant positions in ten firms.  Prior to OLS, Dr. Metcalf was a principal in the international biotechnology advisory firm, the Epistat Group where he oversaw all aspects biotechnology transfer negotiations and licensing agreements.

Brock holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master of Arts in Biology from San Francisco State University and a Ph.D. from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is a past Trustee of Oregon Graduate Institute and is currently active on the Corporate Development Committee of Oregon Health and Sciences University's Oregon Graduate Institute School of Science and Engineering.