Management Team
Jeffrey M. Closs
President and CEO, Benu, Inc.
Jeff Closs is the co-founder, President and CEO of Benu Inc. Prior to co-founding Benu; Jeff was President and CEO of Fox Hollow Technologies, Inc., a leading cardiovascular device company in the Silicon Valley. Previously, Jeff was Vice President and International General Manager for Perclose, where he was part of the senior executive team that led the company from early formation through a successful IPO and ultimately an acquisition by Abbott Laboratories. Prior to Perclose, Jeff held positions in a variety of functional areas including marketing, sales, clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and international operations with Devices for Vascular Intervention/Guidant and Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Jeff testified before the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S Congress on Healthcare reform. He is an Adjunct Associate at Stanford University Center for Health Policy. He is also a past president of the St. Raymond School Board. He is a member of the Board of Directors, audit, nominating and governance committees of Nellix, Inc. Jeff received his MBA from Emory University and his BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Jon Hawkins
Chief Operating Officer
Jonathan is the Chief Operating Officer responsible for revenue generation and day to day company operations. He co-founded Benu and has been responsible for developing partnerships with Benu's health plan partners and launching Benu's products in the Northwest, Mid Atlantic States and California. Jon also created Benu's marketing and branding strategy. Prior to Benu, Jonathan was most recently Director of Business Development at PlanetRx.com where he had responsibility for partnership development and strategy. , Outside of Benu, Jonathan serves as a director for the non-profit Shelter, Inc. Jonathan received his MBA from Harvard University and a BA from Stanford University.
Board of Directors
Alan Hoops
Chairman, Benu, Inc.
President and CEO, CareMore
Mr. Hoops is the co-founder and Chairman of Benu, In March of 2006, Mr. Hoops became Chairman and CEO of CareMore Health Group. CareMore Health Group includes CareMore Medical Enterprises, Inc. and CareMore Health Plan. Previously, Mr. Hoops held the position of Chief Executive Officer, PacifiCare Health Systems (NYSE: PHS). Mr. Hoops co-founded PacifiCare: an $11 billion Medicare-focused HMO based in California in 1977 and later led the rapid expansion of the company during the 1990's. During Mr. Hoops' tenure as President and CEO from 1993-2000, PacifiCare grew five-fold from $2 billion to $11 billion with approximately 4 million members in 9 states and Guam. During Mr. Hoops' first five years as President and CEO, PacifiCare's stock price doubled. Mr. Hoops started PacifiCare's Secure Horizon's program, which under his leadership, became the nation's largest Medicare HMO health plan, serving more than 1 million Medicare beneficiaries in nine states. Under Mr. Hoops' direction, the company also became a major commercial HMO and one of California's largest managed care insurers. Mr. Hoops also serves as Board Director for Enwisen and Corvel. Mr. Hoops received his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Masters in Health Care Administration from the University of Washington.
Ryan Drant
General Partner, New Enterprise Associates
Ryan joined NEA in 1996, and became a General Partner in 2004. He specializes in healthcare investments in the specialty pharma, medical device and healthcare information technology sectors. Present board memberships include BENU, Carticept Medical, Concentric Medical, ExploraMed III, ForHealth Technologies, Intrinsic Therapeutics, Neotract, PatientKeeper, Simplex Diabetic Supply, Spine Wave, Viacor and Vibrynt. Ryan also co-manages NEA's investment in TriVascular2. Past board memberships include ESP Pharma (acquired by Protein Design Labs, Inc.), Esprit Pharma (acquired by Allergan), FoxHollow Technologies (NASDAQ: FOXH), Provation Medical (acquired by Wolters Kluwer), and Proxima Therapeutics (acquired by Cytyc Corporation), and Ryan co-led NEA’s investment in XcelPharmaceuticals (acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). Prior to joining NEA, Ryan was with the Health Care Investment Banking Group of Alex. Brown & Sons in San Francisco. Previously, he worked in the San Francisco office of Arthur Andersen & Co. Ryan received a BA from Stanford University.
David Devereaux
Former Sr. Executive, CIGNA Healthcare & UnitedHealthcare
Mr. Devereaux spent 37 years in the managed care industry Thirty-two years with CIGNA and five years with United Healthcare in various senior management positions, including Chief Financial Officer of Cigna HealthCare, President, Western Region for CIGNA and senior operating responsibility for western states for United Healthcare. He is a former F.S.A. (Fellow, Society of Actuaries). Mr. Devereaux received his B.A from Hamilton College.
Fred de Grosz
Former Vice Chairman, Wells Fargo Insurance Services
Mr. de Grosz was President and Chief Executive Officer of ABD Insurance and Financial Services, Inc. since 1990.From 1972 to 1990; he served as Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alburger, de Grosz Insurance Services, Inc. From 1967 to 1972, Mr. de Grosz held various sales and management positions with General Food Corporation in Denver CO, Memphis TN and White Plains NY. Mr. de Grosz serves on the Board of Directors of Greater Bay Bancorp and San Jose National Bank. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Washington D.C. based Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers (CIAB). He is also co-chairman of the Foundation for Agency Management Excellence (FAME). Fred received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Masters in Business Administration from San Francisco State University.
Greg Morris
President and CEO, Transengen
Greg Morris is President & CEO of TransEngen. He has spent his entire career as an innovator, strategist and successful manager in the healthcare industry. Prior to founding TransEngen, Greg was Chief Operating Officer of Aon's National Healthcare Practice where in addition to building the core business, he helped re-design the company's approach to risk through Aon's ROR™ (Return on Risk) and CPD (Center for Predictive Data) initiatives. Before Aon, Greg served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of HealthMarket, a pioneer in the new health insurance category called consumer driven health plans. Under his leadership, HealthMarket developed a new generation data-based technology that allowed consumers to act as partners in managing costs by tracking and controlling their own spending and utilization. HealthMarket grew from a virtual start-up to become one of the nation's largest consumer driven insurance plans with over 2,600 employer clients and $130 million in revenues. Greg also served as President of HealthMarket's insurance subsidiary, American Travelers Assurance Company. HealthMarket was later acquired by UICI, a New York Stock Exchange company. In 2006, Risk and Insurance Magazine named Greg as one of only six healthcare executives in the industry's "Top 100 Power Brokers." Greg is a frequent speaker on consumerism and innovative trends in healthcare. He is a graduate of Harvard University with a Bachelor's degree in Economics.
Jeffrey M. Closs
President and CEO, Benu, Inc.
Jeff Closs is the co-founder, President and CEO of Benu Inc. Prior to co-founding Benu; Jeff was President and CEO of Fox Hollow Technologies, Inc., a leading cardiovascular device company in the Silicon Valley. Previously, Jeff was Vice President and International General Manager for Perclose, where he was part of the senior executive team that led the company from early formation through a successful IPO and ultimately an acquisition by Abbott Laboratories. Prior to Perclose, Jeff held positions in a variety of functional areas including marketing, sales, clinical, regulatory, manufacturing and international operations with Devices for Vascular Intervention/Guidant and Baxter Healthcare Corporation. Jeff testified before the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S Congress on Healthcare reform. He is an Adjunct Associate at Stanford University Center for Health Policy. He is also a past president of the St. Raymond School Board. He is a member of the Board of Directors, audit, nominating and governance committees of Nellix, Inc. Jeff received his MBA from Emory University and his BA from the University of California, Los Angele