Melinda Richter

Founder & CEO, Prescience International

Melinda Richter is the Founder and CEO of Prescience International, a full-scale management firm dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of science and technology. With over 15 years of global experience in creating, financing, and managing innovative companies, Melinda specializes in advancing products to market and preparing companies for investment.

Prescience International operates and manages life science and cleantech centers of innovation, including incubators, institutes, and foundations. These centers include Janssen Labs, the San Jose BioCenter, and the Environmental Business Cluster (EBC), all of which have earned significant accolades under Melinda's leadership.

Key Achievements

Janssen Labs

Located at Janssen Research & Development in San Diego, Melinda leads the operations management team to support innovative life sciences companies in delivering rapid and effective solutions to today’s healthcare challenges.

San Jose BioCenter

Under Melinda’s guidance, the San Jose BioCenter has become a leading life science research center and incubator. This $15M, 40,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility has achieved notable recognition, including:

• Named one of the Best Life Science Incubators in the U.S. by CNN

• Recipient of the 2009 Incubator of the Year Award from the National Business Incubation Association

• Honored with the Harvard Bright Ideas Award

Environmental Business Cluster (EBC)

The EBC, one of the first cleantech incubators in the U.S., has earned a global reputation for advancing green technologies. Notable achievements include:

• Ranked among the "Top 10 Incubators Changing the World" by Forbes.com

• Listed as one of the "Top 10 Startup Incubators to Watch" by Inc.com

• Featured by Popular Science Magazine as one of three Places Where Inventors Are Born

• Successfully attracting over 180 cleantech companies

Professional Affiliations

Melinda has contributed to the field through governance and advisory roles, including:

• Board member of the National Business Incubation Association

• Member of boards at:

o UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Center for Executive Education BioExec Institute

o San Jose State University’s Masters of Biotechnology Program

o UC San Francisco’s School of Dentistry

Education

Melinda holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada and an MBA from INSEAD in France.