MIKE GAUSLING

As an entrepreneur, Mike was a co-founder and former CEO of OraSure Technologies. During his tenure, he helped build the Company from a start-up to more than $50 million in annual sales and a market cap of more than $500 million over a 17 year period. The Company was best known for developing and securing FDA approval for the first rapid oral fluid HIV test in the world. During that time, Mike raised more than $100 million from angel investors, venture capitalists, public offerings, and commercial banks. Its angel investors enjoyed up to a 70x ROI and its venture capital investors enjoyed an 8x ROI.

 

As a venture capital investor, Mike was a co-founder and Managing Partner of Originate Ventures. Originate is an early stage venture capital fund which invested in early stage and emerging growth technology companies. Since its inception in 2007, the Fund invested more than $44 million in 17 start-up companies. In most cases, Originate was the first institutional money in the deals and Mike served as a board member, mentor, and deal maker for many of those portfolio companies. To-date, the Fund has returned almost $137 million to its investors and expects to deliver an additional $13 million from the active portfolio companies.

 

Mike has had many active C-level experiences as both a CEO and a board member in an interesting mix of private, public, and non-profit organizations. Public company experiences include OraSure Technologies as its co-founder, CEO and Board member and at KNBT Bank, now BB&T Bank, as its Audit Chair and as a member of its Executive, Loan, and Compensation Committees

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In his role as a social entrepreneur, Mike has tried to leverage his skills as a financially oriented entrepreneur in game changing projects that have driven job creation, economic well-being, sheltering, and food access in the local community. The most visible projects include his role as Chairman of Lehigh Valley Industrial Park and former Board member and Treasurer for the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.

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