Kapor, an entrepreneur, technologist, investor and social advocate, will be presented with the Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership on April 12 at 5 p.m. in the LaRose Digital Theatre.
Mitch Kapor, partner at Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center for Social Impact, will be honored on Thursday, April 12, with the Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
The presentation takes place at 5 p.m. in the LaRose Digital Theatre in the Ernest A. Koury, Sr. Business Center. A reception will follow. Sponsored by the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, the program is free and open to the public.
The Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership recognizes an entrepreneur who is a leader in his or her industry and who exemplifies the values of Elon University, including integrity, innovation and creativity, passion for lifelong learning, and a commitment to building a dynamic community.
Kapor is a pioneer of the personal computing industry, and an entrepreneur, investor and advocate for social change. As partner at Kapor Capital, Kapor, along with his wife, Freada Kapor Klein, invests in social impact tech startups that narrow gaps in opportunity and access for underrepresented communities.
In 1982, Kapor founded Lotus Development Corporation and designed the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, the “killer application” that made the personal computer ubiquitous in the business world. Kapor, who is often credited with the ability to “see around corners,” was instrumental in initiatives that created the modern internet. He co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1990 and served as its chairman until 1994. He is the founding chair of the Mozilla Foundation, makers of the Firefox web browser.
As an active angel investor, Kapor participated in the initial rounds of Dropcam, Twilio, Asana and Uber. Today, with more than 100 companies in its portfolio, Kapor Capital focuses on information technology driven, seed stage startups that drive positive social impact by drawing on the lived experiences of their founders.
In addition to his role at Kapor Capital, Kapor serves on the board of the Level Playing Field Institute, whose mission is to enhance equal opportunity in education and the workplace, and sits on the advisory board of Generation Investment Management, a firm whose vision is to embed sustainability into the mainstream capital markets.
Past recipients of the Elon University Medal for Entrepreneurial Leadership include:
2009 – Jim Goodnight, CEO and founder, SAS
2010 – Bernard A. Harris, Jr., CEO and managing partner, Vesalius Ventures, Inc.
2012 – Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; founder, Grameen Bank; chairman, Yunus Centre
2013 – Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, founder and CEO, Pace Communications; chairman of the board, American Red Cross
2014 – Patrick G. Awuah, Jr., founder and president, Ashesi University
2015 – Guy Harvey, wildlife artist and conservationist
2016 – Alexander Julian, fashion and furniture designer
2017- Louis DeJoy, president of LDJ Global Strategies, LLC