Ex-Bazaarvoice executive targets early-stage health care investments

Bazaarvoice Inc.'s former CEO and chief financial officer is busy these days targeting the health care industry nearly a year after he left the company.

Stephen Collins, who was also the Austin-based company's chief innovation officer, is now a board member of three different companies. He's also a venture partner for Nashville, Tennessee-based Martin Ventures, connecting Austin entrepreneurs and investors with early-stage health care technology companies.

Collins, who is still based in Austin, is looking for early-stage ventures focused on "consumer-izing" health care.

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"I believe that Austin can be a leader in health care technology because we have such a great eco-system to leverage," he said. "There is a growing enthusiasm in the entrepreneurial and venture communities that now is the right time for innovative new solutions in health care."

In November 2013, Bazaarvoice (Nasdaq: BV) named Gene Austin to replace Collins as the company's CEO prior to Collins' departure in January 2014. Collins took over the C-suite when founding CEO Brett Hurt unexpectedly quit in 2012 after the U.S. Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation in the company related to the acquisition of PowerReviews assets that year. The company was ordered to divest those assets, and the case reached its conclusion this week after Bazaarvoice agreed to appoint an employee to oversee its antitrust compliance efforts.

Earlier this year, Collins launched d4d2, a venture he describes as a "container that I am using to organize various professional activities of mine."

Christopher Calnan covers technology, finance and clean energy for the Austin Business Journal. Subscribe to the Energy Inc. newsletter