Farah Champsi

Former Managing Director at InterWest Partners

About

Farah Champsi is a private investor and advisor to companies in the life

sciences sector, having played a key role in raising and managing over

$1 billion in venture funds. She was previously a Manging Director at

InterWest Healthcare Partners and at Alta Partners for 17 years. Farah has

served on numerous boards of public and private life biotech companies and

has had many successful exits through acquisition or initial public offerings.

In 2016 she was selected as one of the top 15 female venture capitalists in

biotech by Fierce Pharma, a major industry publication.

Prior to Alta, Farah was an investment banker at Robertson Stephens &

Company between 1987 and 1999, where she focused on biotechnology and

other life sciences companies. She was elected a General Partner in 1992 and

head of the global life sciences investment banking group in 1995. During

that time, she was responsible for building one of the most successful life

sciences investment banking franchises on Wall Street.

Farah holds a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University

and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Smith College. She is currently

Trustee of Smith College and is on the board of UCSF Benioff Children’s

Hospitals and Peninsula Bridge, an educational non-profit that serves low

income, high achieving youth. Previously she served as a trustee on the

Stanford Business School Trust, the advisory council of the UC Berkeley

School of Public Health, and Smith College’s President’s Council. In 2014 she

endowed a fellowship for female and minority students at the Stanford GSB.

Farah is married to Jim Keene (GSB Sloan class of 2010) and has twin

daughters. In her spare time, she enjoys cycling, theatre, global travel, and

watching the SF Giants.