The ECenter, along with UNH, is pleased to announce the fourth annual cohort into its Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame with the announcement of the 2021 honorees. Both 2020 and 2021 inductions will take place on Friday, October 1, 2021, as part of a double ceremony during Homecoming Weekend.
“Each selection process becomes more competitive as we continue the tradition of the UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame," said Ian Grant, executive director of the ECenter. "What is continually exciting to see is the range of companies and experiences UNH alumni have in their entrepreneurial journeys. I look forward to the induction ceremony this fall, which will include a roundtable discussion with some of UNH's most entrepreneurial-minded students. For these inductees to share their stories with the next generation is always impactful.”
The 2021 inductees, in alphabetical order, are:
Kirstan Barnett ‘86
Kirstan Barnett is the founder and managing partner of KBB Capital LLC, which has made over 50 pre-seed investments into early-stage tech companies.
In addition to KBB Capital, she was co-founder of the Element Group, a fintech startup in the digital asset space. It had revenues of $10mm in its first 12 months of operation, before the founders pivoted to take advantage of other market opportunities. Before that, she was a partner in the world’s leading hedge fund focused on fixed income arbitrage, where as an early member of the executive team she played key strategic roles on distressed debt governance and cybersecurity, and directed everything from investor negotiations to investment transactions, and handled high stakes litigation to media affairs.
In addition to her professional work, Kirstan founded SheGives. Named a #SOGOOD Award Finalist by BostInno and featured in the Boston Globe for its innovative philanthropic model, SheGives is a platform to introduce donors to a portfolio of highly vetted, high impact nonprofits. SheGives has made grants of almost $1mm to Boston-area nonprofits.
Kirstan graduated from UNH is 1986 with a BA in English Literature.
Joel Berman ‘76
Joel Berman founded Iatric Systems in 1990 after working in the healthcare software field for 11 years. Iatric Systems provides software, both administrative and clinical, to hospitals in the US, Canada, and UK. When Joel founded the company he was the only employee, and he has since grown it to 330 employees. “What made us unique was that we were a remote office environment from the beginning,” he explains of his 330 employees working in approximately 40 different states and three countries. In 2010, Iatric Systems was named one of the top 100 healthcare companies to work at in the country, in addition to having some of the top-rated software products in the industry. Joel sold Iatric Systems in 2018 in a cash deal.
Joel graduated from UNH with a BA in Earth Science and a BS in Physics in 1976. In 1979, he received his masters in Earth and Planetary Science from MIT. His passion for entrepreneurship grew from the belief that solving business problems can be as challenging and rewarding as solving scientific ones.
Joel is involved with my non-profit groups but most proud of his work with the University of Wisconsin and he serves on the UNH Entrepreneurship Center’s Advisory Task Force Board.
Following the death of his wife Sandy, Joel fulfilled her dream to establish a $5 million scholarship fund in her mother’s name for school of social work students at the University of Wisconsin Madison as both Sandy and her mother went to college there. In the years that followed, he reconnected with UNH and visited the Entrepreneurship Center. Wishing he had had the programs, resources, and experiences available to him as a student, he saw the ECenter as was a great way today for UNH to distinguish itself from other area universities and supported and joined the ECenter board and as a student entrepreneur mentor.
David Ferran ‘78
David Ferran is the CEO of Torrey Project, a non-profit organization that is educating and empowering a new breed of conscious entrepreneurs who are committed to building sustainable businesses while simultaneously creating value for all stakeholders. David launched his entrepreneurial career immediately after graduating from UNH in 1978, with the launch of Vacuum General, a technology startup based in Framingham, MA.
In the following years, David grew Vacuum General organically and acquisitively until renaming it Tylan General and taking it public on the NASDAQ in 1995 (DASDAQ:TYGN).
After a hostile takeover attempt forced the sale of Tylan General, David went on to execute two more public company turnarounds before establishing Noblemen Group, a global M+A advisory firm focused on the technology sector. After a decade of transactional work, he decided to return to his roots with the formation of two more semiconductor sector startups, Reno Sub-Systems and Ferran Technology. The sale of Ferran Technology to Sumitomo Heavy Industries of Japan in 2016 opened the door for his transition out of an operating capacity and into his new role as leader of Torrey Project.
Since 2007, David has been an active board member and supporter of the Outreach Project, a non-profit organization based in Des Moines, Iowa that provides food, water, education and medical services to some of the world’s poorest people. He also serves as a member of the advisory board for the UNH Sustainability Institute.
David and his wife, Paula, have five children, four grandchildren, and a little dog named Smudge.
Kash Kapadia ‘99
Kash Kapadia is an entrepreneurial leader who focuses on building and scaling global digital businesses. As Founder and CEO of Anchor Health, he built an AI platform that champions individuals in navigating the complex and fragmented health care industry. Andreessen Horowitz recognized the company as part of the new technology stack for virtual first health care.
Before Anchor Health, Kash launched new businesses inside companies. As Vice President and General Manager of Digital Health at Stanford Health Care, he built the health system’s digital health unit and spear headed telehealth legislative reform in California. Previously, as Vice President and Worldwide Business Line Leader for Next Wave Industry Solutions at HP, Kash focused on creating new digital businesses across seven industries globally. Earlier in his career, he held leadership roles at McKinsey & Company, Booz & Company, and Sun Microsystems.
An active supporter of innovation ecosystems, Kash serves on Blumberg Capital’s CIO Advisory Board and was a judge for Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year award. He has also contributed to the Walgreens Innovation Advisory Board, the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, Stanford MedX, and the UNH Department of Computer Science Industrial Advisory Board.
Kash obtained an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, where he graduated on the Dean's List, and a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of New Hampshire, where he graduated with Honors. He was born and raised in Mumbai, India and now lives with his family in Palo Alto, California.
Steve Singlar ‘94
Stephen A. Singlar is co-founder and board member of Single Digits, Inc. He is an uber competitor with over two decades of experience in many aspects of technology, including sales, marketing, support and management, all the while leveraging a complementary blend of hardware and software expertise. Frustrated by the complexity of network configurations and limited options for people to connect online, in 2003 Steve Co-Founded Single Digits from his garage in Exeter, NH. The vision for Single Digits was to partner with property owners, primarily in the apartment, student housing, senior living and hospitality sectors, to design, build and support property wide networks which allow consumers to connect seamlessly and for the owners to maximize the benefits of the network through enhanced customer engagement.
Single Digits’ propriety software was named NH High Tech Council Product of the Year in 2012. The company now services over five thousand venues and one million rooms throughout Mexico, Canada and the US, generating $120M in revenue. It has become a trusted partner to some of the largest multi-dwelling unit (MDU) and hospitality brands and has over 455 employees across six office locations including its HQ in Bedford, NH.
Like many startup businesses, success took a while and when it came, it often created more challenging times for the business. In 2009 the company completed its first acquisition of a local competitor and has since completed fourteen others, contributing revenue, EBITDA, customers, technology and the critical employees needed to continue its growth. In 2012 Steve and his team partnered with Tudor Growth Equities from Boston, MA, who’s investment helped build the needed infrastructure to complete the next set of M&A opportunities. Single Digits has had three successful investment relationships over the years dating back to 2012, it later partnered with Bregal Sagemount in 2016 and GI Partners in 2018, a private investment firm in San Francisco with over $28B in capital, who today owns the company.
Steve earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1994 where he was also President of his Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. His accolades including being named Co-Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 by the NH High Tech Council. He enjoys spending time with his wife and three children and has been involved in a variety of local projects including The Key Collective’s #areyouin program, Exeter Hospital’s Center for Cancer Care, The Moore Center and Friends of Exeter Parks and Rec. Steve is also an avid runner, a Boston sports enthusiast, and enjoys playing the harmonica and guitar.
Selection for the UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame is based upon alumni who (a) have achieved entrepreneurial success with ventures as a founder, co-founder or owner, and (b) have given back to the community in a meaningful way. The definition of “ventures” includes economic or social value in for-profit and non-profit entities. The Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) is home to the Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame.
Nominations are not yet open for the 2022 selection, but if you'd like to nominate yourself or an entrepreneurial alum in your life, please check back at www.unh.edu/ecenter/hof
