Castor Ventures Team

Bio: Chris has 20+ years of experience in tech investing, product development, and sales engineering. He has invested over $80 million in companies from seed to venture stage. Most recently, he was Vice President at Edison Partners, where he focused on investments for Enterprise 2.0 and mobile. Previously, Chris was a Director of Business Development with biomedical venture accelerator BioEnterprise and Director of Business Development with Chrysalis Ventures. Earlier, at JumpStart, a nationally recognized venture development organization, he sourced and executed seed investments. Chris has an SB EE from MIT (’88) and an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Notable Deals: MoneyLion, eSentire, Uptivity, HealthMedia

Bio: Darrin is an investment professional with an extensive background in financial services and B2B. Throughout his 25 year career, he has worked with individual investors, investment advisors and their clients, and institutional (foundations and endowments) clients, with various investment vehicles including mutual funds, separately managed accounts, socially responsible portfolios, and alternative investments. He earned a BA in Economics & Public Management from UMaine and an MBA from Boston College.

Bio: For the past 15 years, Cainon has worked with startups as an entrepreneur, advisor, and investor. Prior to Castor, Cainon helped co-found five companies: Viafy, Human Design Medical (merged with Breas Medical of General Electric [NYSE:GE]), Triangle Research Labs (acquired by Lonza [SIX:LONN]), Revive Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Concordia Healthcare [TOR:CRX]), and University Laundry (acquired by a national operator, then Proctor & Gamble’s Tide [NYSE: PG]). Previously, he was an investor at PBM, a $500M healthcare-focused VC firm. Cainon also worked at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Goldman Sachs, and NASA. He has an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a BS from the University of Virginia in Systems and Information Engineering.
Notable Deals: Mythical, RapidSOS, Excision, FarmWise

Bio: Isaac is an experienced investor and analyst, leading research, sourcing deals, and coordinating diligence for venture and growth equity firms. Prior to joining Castor, he was an Investment Consultant to Tiger Global Management and founded Buttonwood Gaming, developing a digital economic simulation game with collaborators at MIT and worldwide. Earlier, Isaac served as Senior Analyst, Business and Research at Catalyst Investors, and an Associate at Samson Capital Advisors (now Fiera Capital). Isaac has an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, an AB from Brown University in Economics and Political Theory, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Bio: Alain has 30+ years of experience as a VC, angel investor, CEO, serial entrepreneur, Board Member, and advisor. He was Co-founder of Common Angels, New England’s leading investment group; Managing Director and CEO of Navigator Technology Ventures, a high-tech VC firm funded by Draper Lab; and CEO of Viewlogic, an innovative chip design software company. Alain has mentored over 100 MIT high-tech spinoffs and served on the MassTech Board through the terms of six governors. He was honored as Inc Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year. He has BSEE and SB Math degrees from MIT, SM Computer Science from Harvard, and OPM from Harvard Business School.
Notable Deals: Viewlogic, Applix, EverQuote

Bio: Ayla’s career began in the early-stage investing space in Chicago. Before joining AVG, she was an Associate for the Sustainable Local Food Investment Group (SLoFIG). Ayla continues to be a part of SLoFIG’s mission to identify promising start-up and early stage companies, then provide capital, expertise and a network of contacts to help drive their success. A proud Wildcat, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree Cum Laude and with Honors from Northwestern University.

Bio: Taylor graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a B.S. in Finance/Economics. Prior to joining Alumni Ventures Group, Taylor spent the early part of his career at Fidelity Investments as a licensed Financial Advisor, providing existing 401k clients with financial planning advice.

Bio: Mustafa is a business growth strategist, investor, and advisor to tech companies, with experience taking innovative ideas to successful product launches. He is an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he has helped global technology, energy and automotive companies on new product development, go-to-market strategy, transformational performance improvement, M&A target scans, and due diligence. Prior to McKinsey, Mustafa worked in product management and software engineering at both startups and enterprise companies. He has a Bachelor in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Auburn University, Master in Systems Engineering from Cornell University, and an MBA from MIT. In his spare time, Mustafa enjoys mentoring young entrepreneurs and supporting non-profits focused on education.

Bio: Nestor has 15+ years of experience of running an independent M&A and strategy advisory team. While having maintained his interest in venture investing since 2015, he is now increasingly focused on exploring early stage & deep tech VC opportunities via Fund of Funds approach. His non-VC engagements ranged from raising capital or seeking exit opportunities for privately held metals & mining projects globally to exits in regional fixed/mobile players in Russia, his country of birth. His career started at McKinsey, followed by stints in investment banking and private equity. His most recent work engagement involved overseeing the largest industrial assets, primarily in non-ferrous metallurgy and power generation, of a Global Forbes 1000’s Family Office.

Bio: Zeid is an entrepreneur in high-tech companies, focused on novel approaches to biotech, healthcare, and financial services. He is Director at Scimitar, driving cutting-edge initiatives for life-science firms in healthcare, new product launches, portfolio optimization, and more. Previously, he was Co-founder and COO of hedge fund Flyberry Capital, leading fund formation, fundraising, and business development. He also served as a Senior Manager with PwC and as a Co-founder of Aura Biosciences, a drug delivery company focusing on orphan indications. Zeid received a BA in biochemistry from Bowdoin College, an MA in biotechnology from Harvard, and his MBA from MIT.

Bio: Kirstan is Managing Partner of KBB Capital, investor in biotech, medical devices, SaaS, consumer tech, and fintech companies. She has 20+ years’ experience in management, M&A, financing, regulatory, strategic, operating, and Board. She was a partner at leading investment advisory Bracebridge Capital, playing key roles in risk, operations, management, and legal and regulatory affairs. She also founded and is Chairman of SheGives, applying a collective angel investing model to philanthropy. Before that, Kirstan ran financing and M&A deals at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault. She has a BA from the University of New Hampshire, a JD from Georgetown, and an MBA from MIT.

Bio: Carlos is an experienced innovator, entrepreneur, and manager in advertising, marketing, and high tech, as well as a nine-time company founder and active angel investor. He is currently Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Thras.io, an e-commerce operating company. Carlos is also Managing Partner of Internet marketing company ConstellationCK. Over the past 20 years, Carlos has worked with many successful startups as an executive, founder, investor, and advisor. He also co-founded CourseAdvisor, a leading search engine marketing firm in post-secondary education (acq. Washington Post), and Opus360 (NASDAQ: OPUS, sold to Artemis International) where he and his team created the first free agent marketplace, FreeAgent.com, in 1998. Carlos has a custom BS degree in Information Systems from MIT.

Bio: William is the Lead Programmer and Systems Architect at Tower Research Capital. He specializes in high-volume automated-trading systems, simulation design, risk management systems, hedge funds, and client-server architecture. Previously, he was an Athena Consultant at MIT, Staff Consultant and Programmer at Polytronics, and Consultant at Bose. William holds a BS EECS and Biology and MS EECS from MIT.

Bio: Sandra is an operating executive with over 20 years leading through periods of growth, restructuring and transformation on Wall Street: improving business returns, launching new businesses and managing reputational risk of organizations. As US Chief Operating Officer across Finance and Risk at Barclays she is an expert at leading global, enterprise-wide transformation and risk management and brings a track-record of curating technology and data solutions in an evolving landscape to benefit clients, customers and investors. She has a reputation for cultivating talent and advising aspiring entrepreneurs. Sandra led strategic planning, portfolio management, product development and technology across Lehman Brother and UBS, and was a fintech entrepreneur in Tokyo, Japan.  Sandra holds BS in EECS from MIT

Bio: Karl has 20+ years’ experience as a CEO, Board Member, advisor, and venture investor, driving revenue and business growth. He is Managing Partner of Leawood Venture Capital, a professional investment firm that manages private venture funds. Previously, he was founder and CEO of Elecsys Corporation (NASDAQ: ESYS), a leader in industrial IoT technology and cloud-based data management solutions that was acquired by Lindsay (NYSE: LNN). He has also served as President of DCI, VP of Operations at Airport Systems International, and Director of Manufacturing at Goodrich Aerospace. Karl has a BS Aerospace from MIT and a Master’s of Engineering from Boston University.

Bio: Dan has been an active info tech and services executive, investor, entrepreneur, and consultant for many years. He has founded several companies from software to insurance, materials science, and accounting. Currently he is a Principal at Apollo Partners, specializing in health insurance services. Previously he was Co-founder and CSO of Immedia Semiconductor, and served as President of tech consultant Chainwave Systems. He was also Chairman of Uniform Metal Powders and VP Technology & Director at Jackson Hewitt Tax Service. He has been a long-time member and served as Director of CommonAngels. Dan received his BS, MS, and PhD EECS from MIT.

Bio: Kathleen is a distinguished entrepreneur, startup founder and advisor, philanthropist, and computer network specialist. She is a mentor with MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service, as well as with the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program and Graduate Women at MIT. Kathleen was Co-founder and CEO of Pico Innovation, an energy utilities services startup using smart technologies, and Founder and CEO of Silver Beech Networks, sending content services over high-speed data networks. Prior to that, Kathleen was Co-founder and VP of Business Development for Iron Bridge Networks, a carrier-class terabit router company. Kathleen holds a BS EECS from MIT.

Bio: Kerry is Director of International Distribution of Boston Partners Global Investors, overseeing all non-U.S. sales efforts. Previously she oversaw U.S. institutional sales, consultant relations, relationship management, and marketing services. Prior to that, she was a Senior Product Specialist for Boston Partners based in Europe and working with non-U.S. clients and prospects. She has over nineteen years of experience including time in equity trading at Goldman Sachs, business development at Wellington Management, and sales and equity analysis at Morgan Stanley. She serves on the MIT Sloan Alumni Board and the board of uAspire Massachusetts. Kerry has a BS in Management from MIT and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Bio: Bart is a multi-faceted executive with 20+ years of experience in the industrials, maritime shipping and financial sectors, spanning start-ups, restructurings and growth vehicles. Currently he is CEO for Chembulk Tankers, a PE-backed global operator of 25 chemical tankers, and previously served as the company’s CFO and Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to Chembulk, Bart was COO and acting CFO for the shipping asset manager Principal Maritime from the company’s formation with private equity shareholders through its exit. He has experience as an equity analyst covering machinery, industrials and renewable energy at Bear Stearns and as a merchant banker and project finance arranger investing in and lending to the renewable energy, oil & gas, and shipping industries. Earlier in his career, he served as an officer onboard oil tankers and held management positions in the cruise industry and with a leading naval architecture firm. Bart earned a BE in Naval Architecture from SUNY Maritime College, an MS in Ocean Systems Management from MIT, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Bio: Tiffany drives and defines product and commercialization strategies for biotech, medical devices, and digital health products. Currently, she is a Senior Manager driving product portfolio planning for Microsoft Healthcare. She also has experience commercializing diagnostics for low and middle-income countries with a global health organization PATH. Prior to PATH, she was a Life Sciences and Healthcare Manager at Deloitte where she consulted organizations on product, business, and launch priorities for innovative drugs, medical devices, and digital health / AI products. Her experiences also include shaping product /marketing strategies and running operations as a co-founder of a personalized medication YC-backed start-up, Multiply Labs. Tiffany holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a Masters and Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rice University. In her spare time, she loves exploring and creating.

Bio: Val is a customer strategist with broad cross-industry, cross-function experience. He is part of Deloitte Consulting’s customer strategy practice where he currently focuses on helping high tech and health care clients improve their marketing, pricing, and go-to-market strategies. Val specializes in customer segmentation and identifying opportunities for organic growth. Through his consulting, Val has led numerous projects with startup organizations, both within and outside of large cap clients; this experience helps inform his perspective on venture opportunities. Val graduated from Davidson College with degrees in Math and Economics. He also holds an MBA from MIT Sloan where he focused on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Bio: Chee-We is a partner at Oak Seed Ventures, a VC firm that seeds and helps daring entrepreneurs shape a better world. Having written his own virus scanner and word processor when he was 14, he’s passionate about deep tech and enterprise tech: AI, Big Data, 5G, Internet of Things, Fintech, SaaS and Lithium Batteries. He currently advises and sits on boards of a number of tech startups across Autonomous Vehicle, SaaS and Big Data. Previously, Chee-We led Cisco’s investment team in China, was a McKinsey consultant and as a product manager, created infosecurity products that are still award winning after 18 years. He holds an M.Eng and S.B. in EECS from MIT and MBA from Harvard.

Bio: Bhavesh T. Patel has 20+ years of experience in general management, finance, mergers and acquisitions, operations and engineering spanning multiple technology-based industries including software, aerospace/defense, health IT, and IOT. He is currently CEO of Constellant, a pioneering provider of SaaS software for digital business ecosystem management. Bhavesh received a Bachelor’s degree in aerospace systems engineering from University of Southampton (UK), a Masters degree in aeronautical/astronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. Bhavesh is married and loves to spend time with his lovely wife and two young sons. In his spare time, he is an avid triathlete, marathon runner, and mountain climber. He is a technology enthusiast, plays Indian drums, and loves to volunteer and raise money for children’s charities.

Bio: Hermann is a software architect specializing in designing and implementing flexible enterprise systems. He has worked for startups and large companies like Oracle and SAP and in several industries including semiconductor manufacturing and healthcare. His latest job was at rfXcel where he designed systems that track pharmaceuticals to ensure counterfeits cannot make it into the supply chain and harm patients. He has done some angel investing and is a real estate investor. Hermann holds a MS in EECS from Stanford and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Bio: Ray Zoeller has over 30 years of leadership experience and demonstrated results. An entrepreneur, strategist, and adept P&L/turnaround manager, he has held key operating and consulting positions with premier consulting firms, international information-based conglomerates, and his own enterprises. During his 16 years with Thomson Healthcare, Ray helped grow its revenue from $114M to over $500M, directing strategic planning, acquisitions, and new business development across the company’s businesses. Thomson enjoyed a windfall exit of those properties, which in large part are now assimilated in IBM Watson as Truven Analytics. Ray’s earlier roles with Cincinnati Bell Informations Systems, Planning Research Corporation, and Strategic Planning Associates (now part of Mercer) helped shape his forthright style and team building skills. Ray earned a BS in management and an MS from Sloan in a self-designed, cross-registered program with Harvard Business School in just four years, while engaged in ROTC, volunteer work, and consulting.

Bio: Ben is a Project Manager at the US Army Corps of Engineers Support Center in Huntsville, AL. He has over five years of experience leading teams through both tactical and technical mission sets, such as combat engineering exercises and vertical construction tasks. Additionally, Ben has two years of experience as as research scientist at MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the Lewis Group at Harvard, specializing in nanotechnology material integration with extrusion-based 3D printing. Ben received his Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point and MIT, respectively.

Bio: Navin is an experienced Health tech and product executive with experience in Strategy, Product development, Enterprise software, Analytics, M&A, and Divestiture. Currently, he is a director of IT at RTI Surgical, a medical device company. In the past, Navin worked at CVS Health where he developed and launched patient-facing health care products for growth. Earlier, he worked with Wipro Technologies and Hewlett Packard managing technology consulting teams and overseeing client relationships for fortune 500 clients in Europe and the United States. His first job was in a technology startup firm Talisma, based out of India. Navin has also co-founded Allthatrealestate, a technology-based real estate startup that is funded by the MIT sandbox innovation fund. Navin holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor of Engineering from Bangalore University in Electronics and Communication.

Bio: Arooshi is currently a chief resident in neurology at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. She has co-authored several publications with focus ranging from software applications to enhance patient management systems and diagnose neurodegenerative disorders, basic molecular neuroscience, and clinical vascular neurology. She additionally helped lead the Committee on Health Information Technology for the American Medical Association – Medical Student division and has worked at the World Bank conducting due diligence for a project combatting a fatal eye disease in Africa. She is particularly excited about innovative technologies that can lead to better health outcomes. Prior to completing medical school, she received SB in Brain and Cognitive Science with a concentration in Public Policy from MIT in 2013.

Bio: Rajesh is a management consultant supported by 18 years of Sales, Marketing, and Operations leadership in the Software and Financial Services sectors. His clients are C-level executives at SaaS/PaaS/IaaS startups and turnarounds to Fortune 50 firms such as AXA, where Rajesh joined the $22B Commercial Business’ Enterprise Data leadership team as Senior Vice President & Chief of Staff reporting to the Chief Data Officer, driving digital transformation adoption globally.  Outside of work, Rajesh is honored to serve on the Board of ATASK, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, a Boston-based nonprofit helping over 1,000 Asian domestic violence survivors annually. Rajesh holds an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor’s in Finance from Santa Clara University.

Bio: Tyler’s professional experience spans the energy and environmental sector from cleantech investing to chemical engineering. Originally a materials chemist, he has synthesized new molecules for thin-film organic solar cells and developed sampling techniques for ocean exploration. He is currently interested in the intersection between decarbonization and cybersecurity. Tyler received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a Master’s degree from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Bio: Michael co-founded two educational non-profits in the Boston area before starting a career in product design and research in the Bay area.  Michael spent two years at Y Combinator Research before leading product research for three years at Coda.  Michael is deeply passionate about great products, great teams, and doing the hard work to bring both of those to life.

Bio: Birkan is a Software Development Engineer at Amazon with over five years of experience in building technology that spans a variety of domains, such as: devices, mobile applications, cloud services and machine learning. Throughout his career, he has launched several large-scale products, working through the entire product life cycle in a start-up setting, from prototyping to development and into delivering for general availability. Birkan received his Bachelor of Science and Masters of Engineering degrees in Computer Science and Engineering at MIT.

Bio: Jacqueline is an MBA candidate at MIT Sloan where she serves as VP for MIT’s Entrepreneurship Club, Technology Club, and Sloan Women in Management. Jacqueline also leads SI Ventures, MIT’s first-ever student-led impact fund, and chairs MIT’s Robo-AI Conference. Prior to business school, Jacqueline worked at Facebook where she launched numerous new products and features across verticals, including Ads, Commerce, and Social Good/Charitable Giving. Before Facebook, Jacqueline worked in Strategy & Operations at a recently acquired Series C SaaS startup in San Francisco and began her career in financial services consulting. Jacqueline holds a B.S. from UC Berkeley.