Guy Paul Nohra

Guy Paul Nohra is a life-sciences venture-capital veteran with more than 30 years of investing experience. Born in Lebanon, he left the country as a teenager during the civil war in the mid-1970s and settled in California. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Stanford University (1982) and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business (1989). Before venture capital, he was Product Manager of Medical Products at Security Pacific Trading Corporation, where he ran a multi-million-dollar product line and traveled extensively across Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, and Southeast Asia.

Nohra entered venture capital in 1989 as a partner at Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. In 1996 he co-founded Alta Partners in San Francisco alongside Jean Deléage, Garrett Gruener, and Marino Polestra. As one of the four original founders, he helped raise eight venture funds and deploy over $2 billion into private and public life-sciences companies. Under his tenure Alta Partners became one of the most prolific life-sciences investors worldwide by number of M&A and IPO exits — including a reported 12 IPOs in 2000 and 10 in 2004 — and Nohra was named to the Forbes Midas List in 2007.

In 2016 Nohra relocated to Barcelona to establish Alta Life Sciences, where he serves as Managing General Partner. The firm operates as a "bridge fund" connecting Catalonia's strong academic and clinical science base with Silicon Valley venture expertise, U.S. syndication, and eventual U.S. listings or acquisitions. He compares Barcelona's ecosystem to San Diego in the 1990s. He has also served on numerous boards, including Bioventus (BVS), AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, USGI Medical (Chairman), PneumRx, Vertiflex, and Carbylan Biosurgery, and was President of the Silicon Valley chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Outside of investing, Nohra ran as a Republican candidate in the 2022 Nevada gubernatorial primary, campaigning as a first-time "political outsider" and businessman; he did not win the nomination.

• Invests in life sciences — biotech, medical devices/medtech, and digital health — with a stated eye on where life sciences and information technology converge.
• Two core criteria in his own words: "world-class science and quality of the entrepreneur… If you have a world-class scientist who is also intelligent and has good judgment, then you have a combination for success."
• Bullish on Barcelona/Catalonia: "Because the science is so good here! It's world-class science that needs to be invested in," likening the region to 1990s San Diego.
• Hands-on, active investor: leads rounds, takes board seats, and helps with recruitment and funding strategy.
• Bridges European science with U.S. capital — structures deals for later U.S. syndication, IPO, or acquisition by American buyers.
• Track record oriented toward exits: Alta Partners historically ranked among the top firms in life-sciences IPO/M&A exits.