Jeff Grammer
Partner, Rho Canada

Jeff has a 23-year background in technology as both an entrepreneur and investor. Most recently he was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sigma Capital in Boston. Previously, he was the CEO and President of Ember Corporation for three years, a venture-backed leader in 802.15.4 (Zigbee) wireless communication. Prior to joining Ember in 2002, he was a Managing Director of Techfarm Ventures, a venture capital firm, where he was responsible for east coast investments. Prior to rejoining Techfarm in 2000 (after a six year operating sabbatical), he was founder and CEO of N*Able Technologies, a company focused on cryptography for secure electronic transactions, which was sold to Wave Systems in 1999, generating over a 6x return for Techfarm. Prior to starting N*Able Technologies in 1997, he was the CEO of Databook Inc. for three years, where he successfully sold the business to SMC in 1996. Prior to joining Databook in 1994, Jeff co-founded Techfarm, Inc., one of the first technology incubators. Several successful companies were incubated at Techfarm including: Resonate, Cobalt Networks, and Portal Player. Jeff played a particularly prominent role at Portal Player as seed investor and CEO mentor. The Company developed the MP3 chip which today powers Apple's iPod. Portal Player went public in 2004 with a market cap in excess of $600mm. Jeff's first technology start-up was Chips and Technologies, Inc. in 1984, the first fab-less semi-conductor company known for helping to create the IBM "compatible" industry. He spent over seven years at CHIPS in both marketing and general management roles. While at CHIPS he was responsible for creating Summit Systems, a successful US/USSR joint venture for personal computer development and distribution in the USSR and eventually Russia. He began his technology career at GTE Corporation, followed by several assignments at Intel Corporation. Jeff has both a BA and MA in International Economics from Boston University.