Special Purpose Vehicles Team

Adam Stern has built his career around his passion for innovation and his entrepreneurial spirit. Formerly Senior Managing Director at Spencer Trask Ventures, Mr. Stern has more than 25 years of venture capital and investment banking experience focusing primarily on the life science and technology sectors of the capital markets. Mr. Stern has completed over 100 transactions throughout his career, including private placements, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions, with an aggregate value in excess of a billion dollars. Mr. Stern has led private and public financings for a wide variety of companies. Mr. Stern currently serves as a Director of Dance Biopharm, Inc., and MatinasBioPharma Holdings, Inc.. He is a former Director of InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp., Organovo Holdings, Inc., Prolor Biotech, and Labstyle Innovations Corporation. In 2013, Prolor was acquired by OPKO Health, Inc. for over $500 million. Mr. Stern was Senior Managing Director at Spencer Trask Ventures from 1997 to 2012 and was at Josephthal&Co.from 1989 to 1997, most recently as Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Private Equity Marketing. Mr. Stern has been a FINRA licensed securities broker since 1987, General Securities Sales Supervisor since 1991 and a General Securities Principal since 1999.

Cassel Shapiro, CFA, Managing Director of Private Equity Investment Banking, joined Aegis Capital Corp. and SternAegis Ventures in January 2013. Mr. Shapiro also serves as Manager of Tech Insight Management LLC and Aegis Special Situations Management LLC, managers respectively of Tech Insight Partners LLC, Aegis Special Situations Funds I & II LLC, and Aegis Special Situations QP Fund LLC. Mr. Shapiro is a CFA Charterholder, a Microsoft Certified Application Developer in C# .Net (MCAD.Net), and has attained the FINRA 7, 63, 55 (Nasdaq Trader), 24 (Securities Principal) and 87 (Research Director) designations. He holds a B.S.B.A., finance concentration, from Boston University Questrom School of Management.