
Founder & Managing PartnerDBL Partners
Ira Ehrenpreis is the founder and managing partner of DBL Partners. Ira is a recognized leader in both the venture capital industry and the energy innovation sector. For many years, Ira led Technology Partners’ venture practice investing in energy innovation opportunities. Ira has served on the board and executive committee of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), was chairman of the 2010 NVCA annual meeting, and serves as the president of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC). Ira also serves as the co-chairman of the VCNetwork, the largest and most active California venture capital organization. He is the founder and chairman the World Energy Innovation Forum (“WEIF”) and has served on several industry boards, including the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advisory Committee (ERAC), the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) advisory council, the Clean-Tech Investor Summit (chairman), the Renewable Energy Finance Forum (REFF) West (co-chairman), the Cleantech Venture Network (advisory board chairman), American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), the Energy Investors Forum (conference chairman), the Energy Venture Fair, and the California Climate Change Advisory Board. Ira has invested in a wide range of companies, including SpaceX, and serves on the board of Tesla Motors, Mapbox. He is an active leader at Stanford University, where he has served on the board of visitors of Stanford Law School and has been an advisory board member of the Stanford Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP). Ira has also been a guest lecturer, including teaching the course on venture capital. In addition to the foregoing, Ira served for many years on the advisory board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE) and recently served as co-chairman of the Silicon Valley Technology and Entrepreneurship Forum (SVIEF). In 2007, Ira was named one of the “Top 50 Most Influential Men Under 45″ and in 2014 was inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame.