Webinar
Unicorn Hunter: Inside the Deal—Why We Said Yes to Groq
Join Chris Sklarin and Evy Chen for an exclusive masterclass detailing how our team sourced, evaluated, and ultimately invested in Groq, one of the most compelling companies in the AI hardware space.
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Groq is an exciting startup that TechCrunch recently reported landed $640M to challenge Nvidia, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Intel, and AMD, as they produce chips that run gen-AI models faster than conventional processors. Their breakthrough could reshape the future of AI computing and redefine performance standards across the entire industry.
In this behind-the-scenes session, Chris and Evy will walk through the sourcing process, the key diligence criteria used, and why Groq stood out in a competitive landscape. You’ll gain valuable insight into how venture capitalists assess early-stage opportunities and make high-conviction investment decisions.
Whether you’re an investor eager to understand our process or someone curious about how top-tier startups get funded, this webinar will deliver practical takeaways and real-world context. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to learn how a major deal comes together from start to finish.
Why Attend?
- HomeDeal Breakdown: Get an inside look at the full sourcing and diligence process behind our investment in Groq.
- HomeVC Best Practices: Learn how top venture firms assess high-growth startups in competitive markets.
- HomeReal-World Insights: Hear directly from the team about what it takes to back a breakout company.
About your presenters
Chris has 30+ years of experience in venture capital, product development, and sales engineering. As an investor, he has deployed over $100 million into companies across all stages, from seed to growth/venture. At AV, Chris has built Castor Ventures from Fund 2 – 9 to over 150 portfolio companies. Prior to Castor, Chris was a Vice President at Edison Partners, where he focused on Enterprise 2.0 and mobile investments. Previously, Chris served as Director of Business Development at a biomedical venture accelerator and at an early-stage venture firm. Earlier in his investing career, as part of JumpStart, a nationally recognized venture development organization, Chris sourced and executed seed-stage investments. Chris received his SB in Electrical Engineering from MIT in 1988 and his MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
Principal
Overview:
Evy brings a cross-disciplinary lens to early-stage investing, grounded in her experience as a founder, entrepreneur, and behavioral communications strategist. Her investment philosophy blends creative systems thinking with operational rigor, shaped by a career spanning startups, global markets, and behavioral economics.
At Alumni Ventures, Evy is a Principal on the Castor Ventures team, where she leads investments in consumer-facing technologies that drive behavior change. Her focus areas include neurotechnology, consumer AI, and next-generation commerce. She also plays an active role in Alumni Ventures’ Syndications, leveraging her founder mindset and strategic storytelling background to identify and support high-potential companies.
Funds actively worked on:
Castor Ventures
Syndications
Investment Areas of Focus:
Evy’s investment thesis is rooted in the belief that compelling, economically sound storytelling is central to unlocking market behavior and generating durable returns. She gravitates toward founders at the intersection of technology and human behavior—those reimagining how consumers interact, decide, and evolve with products and platforms.
Her unique approach is informed by her founding journey: she launched and scaled Evy Tea, a pioneering cold brew brand distributed nationally, and later founded Nudge Venture, a behavioral economics research studio focused on applied strategy. Recognized by outlets like the BBC and Forbes, her work exemplifies a blend of commercial instinct and narrative insight.
Having lived and worked across three continents, Evy brings a global perspective to her venture practice. She is a Sloan Fellow and holds an MS in Management of Technology from MIT, as well as a BS in Marketing Communications from Emerson College. She believes the most transformative consumer companies will not only drive transactions, but shape the way people think, act, and connect.