Michael Borrus

Michael Borrus is the founding General Partner of XSeed Capital (XSeed), where he invests in opportunities that span the technical continuum from autonomous systems to AI, blockchain applications, and where computer science intersects with other disciplines to disrupt large markets.

He is a member of the UC Berkeley School of Mechanical Engineering External Advisory Board and a lecturer in the Haas School of Business. He has served on several National Academy of Science / National Research Council steering committees and on the board of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BACEI). He currently serves on the board of trustees for the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT). He also serves on the RI2 Selection Committee at Caltech.

Michael led XSeed’s investments in and currently participates on the Boards of Artisan Bio, AtScale, Biota, Citrine Informatics, Enya.ai, Life Signals, Lilt, Mines.io, PeerWell and Widesense. He also led XSeed’s investments in Trifacta and Listo, as well as GeneWeave Biosciences (acquired by Roche – RHHBY), OPXBIO (acquired by Cargill, Inc.), Playnomics (acquired by Unity Technologies), BrightBox (acquired by Flextronics International Ltd – FLEX), Eloquent Labs (acquired by Square – SQ) and Allopartis (acquired by Novozymes – NVZMY).

Before founding XSeed in 2006, Michael was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Mohr Davidow Ventures. He also spent five years at a financial services start-up, was Adjunct Professor in UC Berkeley’s College of Engineering, and a partner in a strategy consulting firm. While at UC Berkeley, he co-founded the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy.

Michael has authored three books and 75 chapters, articles and monographs on topics including the internet and data networking, management of technology, competition in information technology industries, international trade and investment, and financial strategies for technology companies. The common thread in his varied careers has been a focus on emerging new technologies, and the business models and strategies necessary to exploit new market opportunities.