Jorge Varela
President | CEO
Jorge Varela’s is an entrepreneur, startup evangelist, international speaker, consultant, and investor. He has started and/or been a part of the executive team at numerous companies most notably in telecom, software, and IT, with financially successful exits in each market segment. He has mentored and coached startups in the life sciences with exits in the last 5 years exceeding $3 Billion.
Jorge is CEO, of BioNorthTexas, the nonprofit that represents, connects, and promotes the life sciences and healthcare industries in North Texas. He is also Managing Director of AltusVista, a consultancy that works with leadership to build better companies, non-profits and executives.
Jorge was most recently Founder and CEO of VelocityTX, an innovation superhub offering incubation, mentorships, and seed investments to startups with disruptive technology. VelocityTX is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Texas Research & Technology Foundation (TRTF) where Jorge served as Executive Vice President of Innovation & Investments and managed the McDermott Legacy Fund. TRTF is a non-profit dedicated to economic development through investments both in early stage companies and in the entrepreneurial ecosystem with a focus on biosciences, medtech, & technology – especially cyber security.
Jorge is on the Executive Board of the Alliance of Texas Angel Networks, an organization consisting of accredited angel groups in Texas. He is also a reviewer for the National Science Foundation on SBIR/STTR grants.
Jorge’s passion is working with leadership to develop and grow for- and non- profit organizations to enable:
• financial independence and the creation of economic opportunities globally; and,
• to improve the quality of life through the commercialization of new technologies.
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