08.26.14
Noxilizer Inc. has elected three new members to its Board of Directors: Jack K. Ahrens II, Tomotaka (Tommy) Goji, and Charles Immel.
“We are committed to recruiting talented leaders to our board. Jack, Tommy and Chuck bring tremendous capital allocation, operational and commercial experience and expertise to the table," Board Chairman Alfred R. Berkley III said. "I’m confident they will make enormous contributions as we support Lawrence Bruder and his team in commercializing NO2 sterilization technology.”
Ahrens is a founding general partner of TGap Venture Capital Funds, a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based venture capital fund that has raised more than $46 million. He has been a venture capitalist since 1979, first as president of United Capital Corporation of Illinois (an SBIC), and for the past 31 years, as a general partner of Pathfinder Venture Capital Funds I, II, and III. Prior to that he had seven years of experience in bank trust investments and operations. Ahrens has served on nurmerous boards during his career including Afmedica Inc., Central Data Inc., Micro Business Applications Inc., MedVantx Inc., MinuteClinic Inc., NeoChord Inc., Rapid Diagnostek, Regenesis Biomedical and Vector General Inc.
Goji is managing partner at UTEC (The University of Tokyo Edge Capital), a Tokyo-based seed/early stage focused venture capital firm. Since co-founding UTEC in 2004, he has raised three UTEC funds totaling approximately $300 million, which achieved nine initial public offering and seven M&A exits. Prior to UTEC, Goji worked for Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, where he drafted “The Limited Partnership Act for Venture Capital Investment,” an enactment for Japan’s private equity/venture capital funds. His portfolio companies where he served on board include Tella (immunology), Morpho (digital image processing), and SAIAN Corporation (nitrogen dioxide sterilization, merged by Noxilizer in 2013).
Goji graduated from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Immel is an independent healthcare industry advisor with broad global experience in medical devices and biopharmaceuticals. He has served most recently in executive leadership roles in Gambro, a large European manufacturer of renal therapy products recently acquired by Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Immel was president of the Healthcare Division of Steris Corporation, a global provider of medical devices in infection prevention and surgical environments. He started his career with Baxter Healthcare Corporation in the Biosciences Division, where he held various commercial leadership roles in North America, Europe and Japan. During his career Immel has launched numerous new products and services in the healthcare market by focusing on solutions that improve the efficacy and safety of care while addressing overall system cost.
Immel is a former member of BioOhio (Board of Trustees and Executive Committee), the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), American Chamber of Commerce Japan, and Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (Operations Committee). He is an Ohio State University graduate.
“Jack and Tommy provide relevant experience from their portfolio companies, while Chuck brings a hands-on perspective of leading a sterilization company, especially in operations, sales and marketing. We welcome them to the team to accelerate our progress,” Noxilizer President/CEO Lawrence Bruder said.
Noxilizer Inc. provides room temperature nitrogen dioxide sterilization technology, offers contract sterilization services and sells sterilization equipment to pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device manufacturers. Founded in 2004, Noxilizer is privately held with offices in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.