Melissa Taunton

Melissa Taunton General Information

Biography

Ms. Melissa Taunton serves as a Partner at New Enterprise Associates. She serves as an Advisor at 3DLOOK. She served as an Advisor at Sentient Technologies. She joined NEA as a Partner in 2015. She focuses on talent acquisition at the executive level across the NEA portfolio. Ms. Taunton brings broad operating experience from the technology and healthcare sectors, along with a passion for cultivating relationships, to seek out best-in-class people who will build life-changing companies that have a global reach. She previously served as an Operating Partner at Khosla Ventures. She began her career in technology at Qualcomm (supply chain management), Hewlett Packard (global contract manufacturing strategy), and Netopia (strategic technology alliances). She then transitioned to healthcare, as President of Drip Drop, Inc. (an oral rehydration product for hospital and home use). Ms. Taunton graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of San Diego with an MBA (Summa Cum Laude) in finance and marketing, specializing in contract negotiations.