Dennis Merens

Dennis Merens retired from the Dow Chemical Company in 2013 with almost 43 years of service. During his Dow career he accumulated extensive business and marketing experience in diagnostic products, specialty chemicals, metals, separation products and corporate venture capital. His geographical experience spanned both Latin America and the U.S. Merens co-founded Dow Venture Capital (DVC) in 1994 which invested in 32 fund partnerships and made 59 direct investments in the fields of IT, healthcare, water treatment, energy and materials science. Under his leadership the investment team expanded to seven professionals located in Asia, Europe and the U.S. Total capital under management by DVC reached $450 million. The venture unit integrated its business and technology resources into a structure to efficiently identify and evaluate investment opportunities. DVC developed a broad set of venture community relationships, both private and corporate, and grew to become a highly respected corporate investor. In addition to its investment activities the unit also led the spin-out of four Dow developed technologies in displays, healthcare (2), and diagnostics. Prior to his Dow career Merens worked at Federal Public Health Services, American Home Products and Bristol Laboratories. He also served in the USMC reserves. Upon retirement he transitioned to venture consulting including work at the University of Arizona and Arizona State University to capture value from university-developed technologies. His academic pursuits include a University of Wisconsin B.S. degree and completion of executive programs at The NVCA Institute, Wharton, and Harvard. He was a founding member of the NVCA Corporate Venture Capital advisory committee.