Cristy Barnes is a Managing Director in Hercules’ Life Sciences Group. Cristy brings to Hercules over 25 years of investing experience working in both the private and public equity markets.

Most recently, Cristy served as Managing Director at Lighthouse Capital Partners, a leading venture debt firm, where she led the fund’s healthcare efforts, focusing primarily on VC-backed biotech and medical device opportunities. While at Lighthouse, Cristy sourced, structured and negotiated 70 loan transactions providing $455 million in commitments to promising growth-oriented businesses.

Prior to joining Lighthouse, Cristy was a Senior Associate at Highland Capital Partners, where she worked on west coast technology venture capital investments.  Before Highland, Cristy spent five years at Robertson Stephens and Company in the Technology Research Group.

Cristy holds a BA in Psychology with a minor in Business from the University of California, Los Angeles.