Cynthia Fisher

Cynthia Fisher (born January 16, 1961) is an American businesswoman, entrepreneur, and corporate board director. She was a pioneer in the stem cell industry, founding the cord blood stem cell banking company, ViaCord, Inc., in 1993. In 2000, she co-founded ViaCell, which went public in 2005 (NASDAQ: VIAC) and was subsequently acquired by PerkinElmer for its ViaCord brand.

Fisher is Founder and Managing Director of WaterRev, LLC, an investment firm focused on companies with novel technologies that enable sustainable practices of water use. She serves as director and advisor to publicly held and private companies and nonprofit organizations.

Fisher began her career at IBM in sales and marketing in 1983. After receiving her MBA in 1990 from Harvard Business School, she joined Haemonetics and was Marketing Manager of the Blood Bank Division. In 1993, Fisher founded ViaCord, Inc., a company that tests, types, freezes and stores the umbilical cord blood of newborns for its potential use in treating certain cancers, blood disorders, and genetic diseases. She served as CEO from ViaCord’s inception until 2000.

In 2000, Fisher co-founded and was President of ViaCell, a cellular medicines company. ViaCord then became a division of ViaCell. ViaCell went public in 2005 at a $260 million valuation. Fisher’s role in the “rearing” of ViaCell was the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. PerkinElmer acquired ViaCell in 2007 for $300 million for its ViaCord business. Fisher served on the Board of Directors of ViaCord and ViaCell. From 2002 to 2004, she was Chair of the Board of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

Since 2000, Fisher has founded, advised, and invested in several privately held enterprises. She mentors entrepreneurs and is a guest lecturer at several graduate schools of business (Harvard Business School,Brandeis University,Bentley University, and Boston University).

In 2011, she founded WaterRev, LLC, an investment firm focused on companies with novel technologies that enable sustainable practices of water use. Since 2013, Fisher has been a Board Member of Water.org, the nonprofit organization founded by Gary White and Matt Damon to provide innovative, market-based solutions that change lives through safe water and sanitation.

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