Press Release

Opus Capital Names Stanford Professor Serge Plotkin as Venture Partner

MENLO PARK, CA. July 26, 2006—Early-stage venture capital firm Opus Capital today announced it has named Serge Plotkin as a venture partner. Plotkin currently serves as associate professor of Computer Science at Stanford University. In his role as venture partner, Prof. Plotkin will work on sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities, as well as contributing technical assistance to portfolio companies.

"Serge is a tremendous addition to the team," said Gill Cogan, general partner for Opus Capital. "He brings not only deep security expertise but also experience across networking, storage, standards and the broader field of computer science."

Plotkin has served as a Stanford professor since 1989. Together with Opus Capital General Partner Dan Avida, Plotkin co-founded Decru in 2001 where he served as chief technology officer and vice president of engineering. Decru became the leader in the emerging field of security for data-at-rest and was acquired by Network Appliance in 2005.

"Joining Opus broadens my exposure to new technologies," said Plotkin. "The Opus focus on early-stage investments enables me to assist entrepreneurs in building successful companies."

Plotkin has published more than a hundred technical papers and has been issued seven patents. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science from MIT and BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering from Ben Gurion University, Israel. Before his studies at MIT, Plotkin served for five years as an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces. He is currently the vice chair of the Security in Storage Workgroup P1619/P1619.1, IEEE standardization committee, which is tasked with creating a standard for storage encryption, and is the editor of the IEEE1619 standard.

About Opus Capital

Opus Capital is a venture capital firm with more than $1 billion capital under management, investing in committed, high integrity entrepreneurs building early-stage technology companies. The team has participated in the successful outcomes of more than 80 companies (including 50 IPOs) in the U.S. and in Israel including AirGate PCS, Electronics for Imaging, FedEx, Genesys, Harmonic, Precept Software and Vantive. Opus Capital is headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California.

Return to News »

top^