Ira Ehrenpreis is the founder and managing partner of DBL Partners, a leading impact investing venture capital firm, currently managing more than $1 billion of capital. DBL invests in companies that can deliver top-tier financial returns while simultaneously driving social or environmental change.

Ehrenpreis is a recognized leader in the venture capital industry, having served on the board, on the executive committee, and as annual meeting chair of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). He currently serves as the chair of the VCNetwork, the largest and most active California venture capital organization, and the president of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists, the oldest venture capital organization in California.

For his significant contributions to the venture capital and impact industries, Ehrenpreis has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the NACD Directorship 100™ for being “one of the most influential leaders in the boardroom and corporate governance community.” Ehrenpreis was inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame for his pioneering work and leadership in sustainability innovation. The NVCA awarded him the Outstanding Service Award for his career contribution to the venture capital industry. The Japan Society of Northern California honored him with its 2023 Visionary Award for his “pioneering leadership in impact investing and the global sustainability community.” Most recently, DBL Partners was awarded the 2024 Investor of the Year by Springboard for Ehrenpreis’s leadership in supporting equity in entrepreneurship.

Ehrenpreis serves on the board of Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) and currently leads DBL’s investments in several companies, including Airspace, Apeel Sciences, The Boring Company, Mapbox, Menlo Micro, Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), R-Zero, SpaceX, Terram, and xAI.

A sampling of Ehrenpreis’s leadership includes serving for several years as the chair of the Silicon Valley Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum. He is the founder and chair of one of the most prominent annual energy innovation industry events, the World Energy Innovation Forum, which convenes the who’s-who in the industry to discuss the important energy issues and opportunities of our time. Ehrenpreis also currently serves on the board of the NACD Northern California and, for many years, served on the advisory board of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.

Ehrenpreis is also an active leader at Stanford University, where he has served on the board of visitors of Stanford Law School, is currently chair of the Precourt Institute for Energy in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, and was one of the founding board members of the Global Climate and Energy Project. Ehrenpreis has also been a frequent guest lecturer, including helping to teach a course on venture capital.

Ehrenpreis received his law degree and master of business administration from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review. He holds a bachelor of arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude.