05/12/2010

NEA Operations Chief Splits for Foundation

Eugene Trainor is leaving his post as New Enterprise Associates' chief operating officer to take a similar job at Foundation Capital.

Trainor officially exited NEA on Feb. 19, but agreed to continue working with the Menlo Park, Calif., venture capital shop for a few months to assure a smooth handoff. Chief financial officer Tim Schaller and general counsel Louis Citron are absorbing his duties, with no immediate plans to hire a direct replacement.

Trainor joined NEA about a decade ago and took over day-to-day responsibility for the firm's non-investment activities with his promotion to head of operations in 2002. He earlier served in a similar capacity at New York asset manager Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn.

Foundation, led by founder Bill Elmore, invests mainly in early-stage software, clean-technology and consumer-Internet companies. It has been deploying capital at an increasing pace this year.