Rick Cooper
About Rick Cooper
Accomplished serial entrepreneur with experience in eight start-ups. I have been working in senior management positions, including CEO, COO, CFO, VP BD, Sales and Marketing, in high tech and cleantech start-ups since 1996. My work in clean technology goes back to the early 80s and includes some interesting research on rechargeable lithium battery technology for the Canadian company Ballard – now the world leader in hydrogen fuel cells. We sold one of the companies I was involved with starting up for $400 M and we did an IPO on the AIM exchange in London with another company. I have lead or been involved with 14 proposals that resulted in 13 government contracts or grants totaling $28M. Most of my work has been in automotive, consumer electronics, portable power and scientific instruments. I’ve worked in a joint venture and other collaborative relationships with most of the world’s leading companies in those sectors including Ford, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Nissan, Chrysler, BYD, Samsung, Sanyo, Toshiba, Panasonic, Lenovo, Intel, NEC and HORIBA Instruments. I'm a former Treasurer and Board Member of Tech Coast Angels, a southern California based angel investment network. Most recently I was co-founder and CEO of MANTA Instruments where we successfully commercialized a breakthrough scientific instrument for characterizing nanoparticles. Based on our outstanding team, important intellectual property and market validation through initial sales, MANTA was acquired by HORIBA Instruments Inc. I am also an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Office of Innovation and Commercialization at UC San Diego, Mentor at UBC Okanagan, and Board Member for other start-ups. Specialties: Entrepreneurship, leadership, team building, strategic planning, negotiations and highly effective execution of product development, finance, sales, marketing, business development, brand development both domestically and internationally.