Ajay Kshatriya

About Ajay Kshatriya

High energy, results-focused Executive and Investor with a mission to build science-based companies. 24 years of experience including 2x CEO, Silicon Valley venture capital, and Genentech. Graduate of Stanford and Berkeley in engineering and business, respectively. Resident of San Diego with wife and two kids.Market expertise:Biotechnology, genomics, venture capital, and energySkills: Entrepreneurship, General Management, P&L Ownership, Board Governance, Venture Capital Investing, Financial Modeling, Business/Partnership Development, Enterprise Sales and Marketing, IP Strategy, Project ManagementPublic Bio:Mr. Ajay Kshatriya’s career mission is to build science-based companies.Currently, Ajay is the Chief Executive Officer of Aizen Therapeutics, an AI-native biotechnology company pioneering oral peptides to transform the lives of patients and families burdened by chronic immune disorders. He also serves as an Operating Partner at Wilson Hill Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, where he invests in science-based startups emerging from the California Institute of Technology. Previously, Ajay founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Biota, a pioneer in environmental genomics, that achieved 8-digit revenue and was acquired by the industrial biotech leader, Novozymes (NZYM) in 2021. Prior to founding Biota, Ajay was an associate in a $100M seed fund spun out from Mohr Davidow Ventures, XSeed Capital, that formed companies from science innovations emerging from Stanford and Berkeley. Ajay began his career at the world-leading biotechnology pioneer Genentech, where he held various positions in product operations, including two product core teams in early stage oncology.Ajay holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley, an M.S. in engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Berkeley-Haas School of Business. He is an active member in Life Science Cares, a non-profit addressing economic and educational empowerment, and was previously a member of YPO, a global organization for CEOs. Ajay resides in San Diego with his wife Krista and two children.

Experience

1. Chief Executive Officer

   Aizen Therapeutics

   Jan 2023 — Present

   Aizen is an AI-driven biotechnology company pioneering Mirror Peptides, a novel class of biologic medicines.Aizen discovers these Mirror Peptides through a proprietary, computational protein design platform developed by Caltech Professor David Van Valen, MD, Ph.D.

Education

• University of California, Berkeley

  BS, Chemical Engineering

  1998 — 2002

• Stanford University

  MS, Engineering

  2004 — 2005

• University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business

  Master of Business Administration (MBA)

  2008 — 2011

Skills

• Engineering
• Strategic Marketing
• Marketing
• Biotechnology
• Business Development
• Chemical Engineering
• Strategic Partnerships
• Project Management
• Research
• Strategic Planning
• Manufacturing
• Operations Management
• Partnerships
• Risk Management
• Financial Modeling
• Start-Ups
• Management
• Venture Capital
• Strategy
• Technology Transfer
• Product Management
• Leadership
• Entrepreneurship