Andrew Perlman is an American entrepreneur who has co-founded nine venture-backed companies in the telecom, high-tech, pharmaceuticals, energy, water, and biotechnology industries. He is currently General Partner of GreatPoint Ventures, and the former Chairman and CEO of GreatPoint Energy, a company based in Chicago, Illinois which develops technology to produce clean natural gas from coal. Perlman has been featured on the MIT Technology Review’s list of the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35 and Crain’s Chicago Business’s list of 40 leaders under 40 in Chicago. Perlman and GreatPoint Energy have been profiled by The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Forbes, and Fast Company.
Early life
Perlman was born in Boston and grew up in the cities of Newton and Cohassett in Massachusetts. At age 12, he began tracking down the owners of dormant bank accounts, and taking a 20% commission in exchange for leading them to their forgotten money. Later in his youth, he applied for a federal license to construct an ethanol still in his parents’ house, though he was unsuccessful. Perlman began college at Washington University in St. Louis, and as a sophomore he attempted to license and commercialize a university-owned technology to prevent credit card fraud. The university declined the request because he was still a student, so Perlman dropped out.
Early career
Perlman and a friend dropped out of Washington University and moved to Washington D.C., where they “hung around business and government offices, knocking on doors, asking anyone they could find about some kind of new technology they could turn into a business.” The two had little technical education, but through research and trial and error, they built a device that converts voice calls into a data format. By age 22, they signed a deal for the first $14 million in startup financing for their new company Cignal Global Communications. Three years later, Perlman sold the company for $200 million.
Previous companies
Perlman went on to “launch five successful startups before he turned 30.” On its list of the world’s top 35 innovators under 35, the MIT Technology Review cites Perlman’s former project GreatPoint Energy as well as other disruptive technology ventures in important areas: “cheaper desalination plants, anti-obesity medicines, drugs that fight diseases of old age, and .” To date, Perlman has helped launch the following companies:
Cignal Global Communications – A pioneer in integrated voice/data communications technology; acquired by United Pan-European Communications.
Coatue Corporation – Developer of high speed flash memory chips; acquired by Advanced Micro Devices.
Coskata, Inc. – Commercializing technology to produce low cost liquid fuels and chemicals from natural gas or gasified biomass
Sirtris Pharmaceuticals – Commercializing Sirtuin activating compounds to prevent and treat diseases of old age, such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes; taken public and then acquired by GlaxoSmithKline.
Zafgen – Developing novel drugs for the treatment of obesity; entering Phase III human trials. Zafgen executed an IPO on the NASDAQ in June 2014 and trades as
Foro Energy – Commercializing high power lasers for the oil, natural gas, geothermal, and mining industries.
Oasys Water – Provider of advanced seawater desalination and water treatment technology
GreatPoint Energy – Developed a catalyst to convert coal into clean-burning methane gas, using much less water and chemicals than hydrofracking and producing much less pollution than coal combustion power plants
Perlman is on the board of directors for both Coskata Energy and Oasys Water. He also sits on the board of AMP Americas, an integrated transportation company working with compressed natural gas.
