Chris Sklarin
Managing Partner at Castor Ventures
Chris Sklarin
Managing Partner at Castor Ventures
Boston, Massachusetts
Overview
Work Experience
Managing Partner, Castor Ventures
2017 - Current
Alumni Ventures is one of the most active VC firms in the U.S., and operates over two dozen venture funds serving all accredited investors. As the Managing Partner of Castor I partner with 50+ other investment professionals within Alumni Ventures to source and vet deals that meet our stringent investment criteria with which to build diverse portfolios for our fund investors. America's Largest Venture Firm for Individuals Top 20 Venture Firm (CB Insights '24) #1 Most Active US Venture Firm, #3 Globally (PitchBook '22 & '23) 10,000+ individual accredited investors already trust us with their venture investing Fast Company's Most Innovative Personal Finance Company ('22) $1.25B+ raised & 1,300+ portfolio companies since 2014
Managing Partner
2017
Castor Ventures is a community of MIT alums: investors, executives, entrepreneurs, and innovation enthusiasts. At our core, we are an MIT alumni venture capital firm. We raise capital from MIT alumni, community members, and friends, and then invest that capital in seed, growth, and later stage companies with an alumni connection. We build a 20-30 company portfolio for our investors that spans industry, stage and geography. The fund seeks to co-invest alongside venture capital and private equity lead investors. We are private, for profit, and not part of (but friendly with) MIT. We are bringing the school's entrepreneurial DNA to our global, engaged community of alumni. By joining thousands of other alums, you will receive monthly updates on our investments, information on events, and other content related to Castor Ventures. You can sign up at our website at www.castorventures.com.
Vice President
2011 - 2017
Investor in growth stage software businesses executing entire lifecycle of deals including nurturing a pipeline of 1000+ companies, expanding deal flow, executing due diligence, and mentoring management to strengthen organizations and prepare them for investment and acquisitions.
Director, Business Development
2010 - 2012
HC IT deal flow and consulting. Advised Explorys (acquired by IBM 2015), Cover My Meds (acquired by McKesson 2017 $1.1B), ARIS Teleradiology, and Therapy Partners (EDG investment).
Associate and Director of Business Development - Upper Midwest
2006 - 2009
Partnered with talented entrepreneurs in Healthcare and Technology, evaluated and invested in high growth tech enabled companies.
Investment Associate
2004 - 2006
Part of the founding team running investments. Identify and evaluate the region’s most promising technology startups.
VP Business Dev.
2003 - 2004
Developed and executed market strategy and sales plans with founder, lead sales negotiations with prospects, and participated in IP licensing talks.
Director of Sales Engineering
1996 - 2002
Priority Call Management and subsequent merged companies.