Esther Dyson

Overview

Esther Dyson is a Swiss-born American angel investor, journalist, author, commentator, and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a 10-year nonprofit project dedicated to improving health and equity in five U.S. communities. Dyson has a longstanding focus on healthcare, technology, and space exploration, investing in startups such as 23andMe, Omada Health, and XCOR Aerospace. She has also served on the boards of various organizations, including Charity Navigator and The Commons Project Foundation. Dyson began her career as a fact-checker for Forbes Magazine and later became a securities analyst on Wall Street. In 1983, she founded EDventure Holdings, which produced the newsletter Release 1.0 and ran the PC Forum conference. She sold EDventure to CNET in 2005 and left in 2007. Dyson has been a board member of Yandex until March 2022 and has served on the board of many startups, including 23andMe, Evernote, Meetup, WPP Group, XCOR Aerospace, and Yandex. In addition to her investment activities, Dyson has been involved in various philanthropic and advisory roles. She was the founding chairman of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, from 1998 to 2000. She has also served on the boards of organizations such as the Sunlight Foundation and the Long Now Foundation. Dyson trained as a backup cosmonaut in Star City, Russia, and has been an active investor in space-related ventures, including Space Adventures and XCOR Aerospace.

Investment Focus

• Focus on healthcare, technology, and space exploration sectors
• Preference for early-stage companies with innovative solutions
• Alignment with Wellville's mission of improving health and equity

Portfolio Companies