About
Jennifer Fried is the CEO and Co-Founder of ExplORer Surgical. Jennifer co-founded the company as an MBA student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, along with head-and-neck surgeon & OR efficiency researcher Dr. Alex Langerman.
At Booth, Jennifer received her degree with honors in Finance and Entrepreneurship. Previously, Jennifer was a Vice President at Park Lane Ventures, a healthcare-focused venture capital fund spun out of Essex Woodlands. For over two years, she was the only non-managing director as part of a four-person investor team led by three of the most experienced healthcare venture capitalists in the industry, each of whom have been practicing early stage venture capital investing for over two decades.
She also served as healthcare associate at Hyde Park Angels, during which time she was sourcing, diligencing, and evaluating early-stage healthcare businesses in the Chicago area. Jennifer began her career as a consultant at Bain & Company in Chicago after graduating from Northwestern University.
Jennifer has received numerous accolades for her professional, academic, and extracurricular participation. She and ExplORer Surgical have been featured in periodicals like the Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and Crain’s Chicago Business. In October, the ExplORer Surgical team won a Chicago Innovation Award, the Up-and-Comer award. Recently, Jennifer’s pitch led ExplOrer Surgical to win First Place in the MedTech Innovator Midwest Region. Previously, she led the ExplORer Surgical team to a 2nd place finish at the Chicago Booth New Venture Challenge, which is listed in the top 10 accelerators in the country.
Jennifer has been named a Fellow of the competitive two-year Kauffman Fellows program and was named a Herman Family Fellow by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She received a $70,000 Forte Fellow scholarship that paid a portion of her tuition at Chicago Booth. She received a $2,500 annual prize from the University of Chicago Women’s Business Group, recognizing her as an MBA student likely to advance the interests and achievements of women. She also had the Vashee Most Promising Entrepreneur Award bestowed upon her, which provides a monetary award to a graduating student who has demonstrated leadership in entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth.
Videos (1)
CEO Jennifer Fried Explains The Important Difference Between Managing And Leading
