Our Story

Overview

Now in its third decade, Westwood & Wilshire is recognized as the premier executive search partner to the portfolio companies of elite Venture Capital and Private Equity firms operating at the nexus of science, medicine and technology.  Through its AccelPeople Division, the firm also provides interim and fractional leadership and other highly customized talent management solutions unique to the needs of innovative growth companies. And what a journey it’s been so far… 

Founded in 2003, Westwood & Wilshire’s name pays homage to three of the founder’s great loves: family, Los Angeles, and UCLA. It took 6 months and copious amounts of blood, sweat and tears to make the first placement: an Associate Director of Regulatory for Chiron (since acquired by Novartis). In early 2004, W&W established two critical relationships with Genentech and Abbott. For much of the next decade, the firm expanded around these two organizations allowing Centers of Excellence to be built around Biotherapeutics, Diagnostics, Medical Device, Consumer Nutrition and Digital Health. W&W established a brand built on partnership and the ability to help clients expand at the frontiers of scientific innovation.

In 2012, as Big Pharma continued to cede innovation to the smaller, innovative companies, W&W embraced the trend and shifted its focus exclusively to Venture Capital and Private Equity-backed companies. Over the next decade, the company grew relationships with many of the premier Venture Capital and Private Equity firms.

In 2017, having firmly created a brand in the Life Sciences sector, W&W opened a Technology Practice in Redwood City.  Given the strong Bay Area presence of the existing client base and the use of Big Data and AI in Life Sciences, the expansion was a natural one.

In 2019, Westwood & Wilshire expanded its healthcare footprint into the Payor and Provider markets via acquisition of Meyer Consulting, a top tier boutique executive search firm with well established relationships within health systems, hospitals, and academic centers. 

After nearly two decades of delivering exceptional executive search to the world’s most innovative companies, in 2021, W&W launched AccelPeople. By delivering highly customized solutions, AccelPeople manages to deliver on the unique talent management and acquisition needs of the portfolio companies of top Venture Capital and Private Equity firms. AccelPeople provides highly scalable solutions focused on interim and fractional leadership in multiple functional areas including Human Resources, Recruiting, Finance, Medical, Quality and Operations.  

Today as the firm enters its third decade, Westwood & Wilshire has moved beyond its boutique roots to meet the complete talent needs of the world’s most innovative companies operating at the nexus of where science, medicine and technology converge.