Our Team | Puma Venture Capital

A Team of Investment Professionals and KOL Surgeons

Our venture firm is led by a team of seasoned investors with deep backgrounds in medical technology. We are further powered by over 20 surgeon venture partners spanning the most relevant specialties, each a key opinion leader and innovator in their respective fields.

Amit Hazan

Founder & Managing Partner

Amit Hazan is the Founder and Managing Partner of Puma Venture Capital, bringing extensive research and analytical expertise to the firm’s investment process, along with deep relationships in the sector.

Mr. Hazan is a former Wall Street equity research analyst covering the medical technology sector for nearly 23 years. He was most recently a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he led the medical technology equity research team. He previously held senior roles at Citigroup, Oppenheimer (formerly CIBC World Markets), SunTrust, and Gleacher & Co.

He serves on several Boards and Board Observer roles across Puma VC portfolio companies and is a Board Member of the Society of Robotic Surgery.

He holds an undergraduate degree from UCLA and a JD/MBA from Santa Clara University.

Fred Moll

Senior Portfolio Advisor

Fred Moll is perhaps one of the most well-known and respected pioneering entrepreneurs and investors within early-stage medical technology and robotics.

Dr. Moll is best known as a co-founder of Intuitive Surgical, where he played a key role in the development of the da Vinci surgical system. He later founded several other successful companies including Auris Health, creator of the Monarch robotic platform, which was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. He has served on numerous boards and advisory roles across leading healthcare and medical technology companies.

Dr. Moll holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.S. from Stanford University, and an M.D. from the University of Washington.

Scott Zinober

Partner

Scott Zinober has been one of the top healthcare investors on Wall Street for over two decades, serving as a Senior Portfolio Manager at Viking Global Investors, where he led a multi-billion dollar portfolio across all healthcare sectors, and he also ran Viking’s software team for several years.

Scott served on Viking’s investment steering committee for over a decade, was a board member of the Viking foundation and was on Viking’s management committee. He holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management and earned his undergraduate degree (cum laude) from Williams College.

Surgeon Venture Partners

Our venture firm is powered by more than 20 surgeons who are key opinion leaders across the most relevant specialties, and led by co-founder Dr. Vipul Patel. Their collective wisdom, deep relationships and access, and entrepreneurial spirit will continue to serve as a great asset for both our investment process and our portfolio companies in every stage of their life cycle.

Dr. Vipul Patel

Dr. Vipul Patel is the co-founder of Puma Venture Capital and Senior Surgeon Venture Partner. He is a board-certified urologist at AdventHealth and a global leader in robotic surgery.

Dr. Patel has performed more robotic surgeries than any surgeon worldwide, including more than 20,000 robotic prostatectomies. He serves as Director of the Global Robotics Institute at AdventHealth Celebration and is the founder of the International Prostate Cancer Foundation, as well as a founding member of the Society of Robotic Surgery.

He is a Professor of Urology at the University of Central Florida, has published extensively in peer-reviewed medical journals, and teaches advanced robotic surgery courses for the American Urological Association.

Dr. Patel earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed his urology training at the University of Miami School of Medicine.