Paris Wallace
| Paris Wallace | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981 (age 42–43) |
| 🏫 Education | Amherst College, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Good Start Genetics, Ovia Health, National Cycling League |
| Title | Entrepreneur |
Paris Wallace (born 1981) is an American entrepreneur and CEO. He grew up in Section 8 housing in the Bay Area of California.
As a graduate of Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts, he is known for co-founding Good Start Genetics, a molecular diagnostics company, and Ovia Health, a femtech company. Wallace is the CEO of the National Cycling League (NCL), the first professional cycling league in the United States. Wallace has lectured on entrepreneurship at American universities.
Early life[edit]
Wallace grew up in Section 8 housing in the Bay Area of California, where he was raised by a disabled, single mother.[1][2] He attended private schools from kindergarten through high school on financial aid.[2][3]
At age 16, Wallace started his first business, an internet retail website with a childhood friend in San Anselmo, California. The website sold bike messenger bags online.[2]
Education[edit]
Wallace is a graduate of Amherst College, Harvard Business School, and the Kennedy School of Government. He holds a Bachelor's degree in economics and psychology from Amherst College, where he graduated in 2004. He has a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, where he graduated in 2008. He completed a fellowship at the Kennedy School of Government.[1][3][4][5]
While he attended Amherst College, Wallace owned MAStorage, Inc., a student-run company that provided storage for other students. He organized a week-long business seminar, the Amherst College Pre-Business Seminar (ACPBS).[6] While he attended Harvard Business School, he received a fellowship in social entrepreneurship.[2] He was a Reynolds Fellow at Harvard.[4]
Career[edit]
Good Start Genetics[edit]
Wallace began Good Start Genetics during his last year at Harvard Business School.[2] Good Start Genetics launched as a technology company focused on fertility and reproductive health. In 2008, the company was runner up in Harvard Business School's Business Plan Contest.[7] In 2010, Good Start Genetics raised an $18 million Series A round of funding with OrbiMed Advisors, Safeguard Scientifics, and SV Life Sciences.[7]
In 2013, the company closed a non-dilutive loan facility for up to $28 million of capital from Capital Royalty L.P.[8] Good Start Genetics was acquired by Invitae in 2017 through approximately 1.65 million shares of common stock.[9]
Ovia Health[edit]
Wallace is also the co-founder of Ovia Health, which was known as Ovuline until 2016. A women's health and technology company, Ovia Health makes apps for fertility tracking, pregnancy stages and parenting advice with its apps Ovia Fertility, Ovia Pregnancy, and Ovia Parenting.[10][11]
The company Ovia Health began as FeminineMe in 2010 and was renamed to Ovuline. The idea came from Alex Baron and Vasile Tofan, students at the Harvard Business School. By 2012, they launched a beta version of the web app called Smart Fertility. The pair recruited Wallace to become the company's CEO.[11]
The company was accepted to participate in the Boston accelerator program Techstars in 2012, securing a pre-seed round investment. In 2013, the company raised $1.4 million seed financing led by Lightbank and later raised a $1.2 million seed extension.[11][12]
By 2015, the company produced over $1 million in advertising sales and appeared in headlines for its partnerships with companies such as MyFitness Pal and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.[11][13]
In 2016, Ovuline was renamed Ovia Health and raised $10 million in a round funded by Martin Ventures and Zaffre Investments.[14] Ovia Health was acquired by Lapcorp in 2021. The details were not disclosed, but Ovia had an estimated $20 million in annual revenue at the time of purchase.[10][15][16][17]
During his time at Ovia Health, Wallace did not require employees to have a degree to work for the company in an effort to diversify talent.[18]
The National Cycling League, Inc. (NCL)[edit]
In 2022, Wallace co-founded the National Cycling League (NCL), where Wallace serves as CEO. The NCL claims to be the first pro sports league in the country that is majority-minority and female owned.[5]
Investors include Founder Collective, Collab Capital, Jalen Ramsey (Los Angeles Rams), Derwin James (Los Angeles Chargers), Kevin Byard (Tennessee Titans), Emmanuel Acho (Fox Sports 1) and Michele Roberts (former executive director of the National Basketball Players Association).The first race is scheduled to be held in Miami in March 2023. His co-founder is California-based sports agent David Mulugheta.[5]
Other projects[edit]
Early in his career, Wallace worked in the asset management division at Goldman Sachs and also worked as a consultant for A.T. Kearney.[4][19]
Wallace was named to the Boston “40 under 40” list in 2017.[1] He has lectured on entrepreneurship at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Amherst College, and The University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the Boston chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO).[4][19] As the CEO of Ovia Health, he participated in Pledge 1% Boston, which donates equity or profits to nonprofit organizations.[3]
He is also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EiR) with the Harvard Business School. EiRs have founded, sold or IPO'd successful ventures and meet with students one-on-one about 6-7 times each year.[20]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bernsau, W. Marc (2017-10-19). "40 under 40: Paris Wallace". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Keulen, Madeline (March 2021). "CEO Lounge". Leadership Pillar of HBS Association of Boston. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "How Boston's Entrepreneurs Are Giving Back". www.tbf.org. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Profile: Paris Wallace - Harvard Business School". entrepreneurship.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Kaufman, Michelle (2022-08-16). "New minority-owned National Cycling League will have first race in Miami. Here is why". Miami Herald.
- ↑ Lewis, Kimberly (2004-05-20). "Wallace finds administrative success". The Amherst Student. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 McBride, Ryan (2010-09-10). "Good Start Genetics Emerges from Stealth with $18M Series A Round". Xconomy. Retrieved 2022-08-31.
- ↑ Reidy, Chris (2013-05-08). "Good Start Genetics announces $28m financing". www.boston.com. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
- ↑ Idrus, Amirah Al (2017-08-01). "Invitae leaps into prenatal screening with Good Start, CombiMatrix buys". Fierce Biotech. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Reuter, Elise (2021-08-16). "Labcorp buys fertility benefits company Ovia". MedCity News. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Jeffrey J. Bussgang and Julia Kelley, “Giving Birth to Ovia Health,” Harvard Business School, 9-818-004 (October 7, 2020)
- ↑ Rao, Leena (2013-01-07). "Ovuline Raises $1.4M From Lightbank, David Cohen And Others To Help Women Track Fertility And Pregnancy". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
- ↑ Graham, Jordan (2014-03-30). "Pregnancy app extends into tracking". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ Comstock, Jonah (2016-10-14). "Ovuline rebrands as Ovia Health, raises $10M to expand benefits business". MobiHealthNews. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ Bradford, Emma (2022-07-27). "Listen: A conversation with women's health tech leader Paris Wallace". matter.health. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ↑ Yang, Angela. "Labcorp buys Boston women's health platform Ovia Health". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
- ↑ "Labcorp buys women's digital health platform Ovia Health". NS Medical Devices. 2021-08-13. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
- ↑ Carapezza, Kirk (2021-04-29). "No College, No Problem. Some Employers Drop Degree Requirements To Diversify Staffs". NPR.org. Retrieved 2022-08-26.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Paris Wallace". Forbes Councils. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
- ↑ "Entrepreneurs-in-Residence - Entrepreneurship - Harvard Business School". entrepreneurship.hbs.edu. Retrieved 2022-09-13.
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