Eric Donsky is the Managing Partner of Laguna Ventures, a technology incubator commercializing revolutionary materials that have applications across a broad range of industries. Laguna Ventures has 3 companies currently in its portfolio; Singularis, Code Footwear and Axium Nanofibers. Prior to forming Laguna Ventures, Eric was the founding CEO of TearLab™ Corporation (NASDAQ:TEAR), an in-vitro, diagnostics company commercializing novel, laboratory-on-a-chip technologies that provide eye care practitioners with the capability to quantitatively measure biomarkers in tears at the point-of-care. The TearLab™ platform enables physicians to personalize treatment and objectively track patient outcomes. During Eric’s tenure, the Company raised $30M in a series of private and public offerings, developed a first-in-class product from the lab to commercial launch in 15 countries, concluded 2 multi-center clinical studies, built a chip manufacturing process from the ground-up receiving ISO-13485 certification, and obtained a 510(k) clearance from the FDA to market its product in the United States. TearLab™ received the 2009 Medical Device Excellence Award for its achievements in the design and engineering of its proprietary TearLab™ system.
Eric was also the founding CEO of Applied CarboChemicals, Inc. (“ACC”), an industrial biotechnology company that pioneered the production of chemicals and polymers from renewable resources. ACC, now Diversified Natural Products (DNP), has developed the only process capable of economically manufacturing succinic acid through fermentation. Succinic acid serves as a chemical intermediate for the synthesis of a vast range of derivative chemistries that function as detergent additives, surfactants, monomers, polymers, coatings, solvents, among many other applications. Its joint venture with French agribusiness company ARD has facilitated the construction of a succinic acid manufacturing facility. The Company is venture-backed by Sofinnova Ventures and corporate backed by Samsung, Toyota, and Mitsui. DNP has recently announced a partnership with DuPont to manufacture succinic acid derivatives. Mr. Donsky graduated from Boston University in 1987 with a B.S. in Business Administration.
