Leen Kawas
Entrepreneur in Los Angeles, California
Leen Kawas, Ph.D. Managing General Partner, Propel Bio Partners
Leen Kawas is a biotechnology entrepreneur and investor whose career spans drug discovery, clinical development, and venture capital. Originally from Jordan, she came to the United States in 2008 and built her scientific foundation through a Ph.D. in Molecular Pharmacology before pivoting from academia to company building.
As co-founder and CEO of a biopharmaceutical company focused on neurodegenerative diseases, she advanced multiple clinical programs and led a successful IPO in September 2020 — raising over $400 million and becoming the first woman in twenty years to take a company public in Washington State.
In 2022, she co-founded Propel Bio Partners, a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm that backs early-stage biotech companies with both capital and hands-on strategic support. Her investment focus spans oncology, CNS, and metabolic disease, with a consistent emphasis on patient-centered science and diverse founding teams.
She serves on the boards of Inherent Biosciences and Persephone Biosciences and is an active mentor to emerging life sciences entrepreneurs.