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
Overview
Chris Sklarin is Managing Partner of the Castor Fund at Alumni Ventures, where for over eight years he has led investments in transformative technology companies redefining how we compute, communicate, and cure. He has deployed more than $120 million across all stages—from seed to growth—building Castor Ventures and expanding the portfolio to over 150 companies. The Castor portfolio features industry leaders such as Algorand, Boldin, Capital RX, Enable, Groq, Ocient, Qedma, RapidSOS, Synchron, and Unlearn AI, each tackling high-impact problems with ambitious solutions.
With over 20 years in venture capital and more than a decade in product development and sales engineering, Chris has also held venture roles focused on enterprise and mobile investments, served as Director of Business Development at a biomedical venture accelerator and an early-stage firm, and sourced seed-stage deals at JumpStart, a nationally recognized venture development organization in Cleveland. Chris holds an SB in Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
Funds actively worked on
- Castor Ventures
- Syndications
Investment Areas of Focus:
Chris targets companies at the forefront of software, AI, data infrastructure, and connectivity, backing teams that are not just innovating but reengineering the physical and digital infrastructure powering the modern world. He believes the next generation of breakthrough companies will emerge from foundational shifts in technology and is committed to supporting the leaders driving that transformation.
A core component of Chris’s strategy is leveraging the powerful innovation engine of the MIT ecosystem. As an MIT alumnus, he taps this network to source compelling investment opportunities and connect with top-tier investors. Chris’s investment approach is informed by his early career as a software and sales engineer, with technical expertise in databases, telecom systems, and software architecture. This hands-on background sharpens his diligence and ability to assess technical complexity and market viability.
Evy Chen Senior Principal, Castor Ventures, Neurotech Syndicate & AV Women’s Fund
Evy Chen is an investor and operator whose thesis is simple: behavior is the real moat. She invests in technology that shifts human behavior at scale — across consumer, AI, deep tech, and neurotech — from Seed through Series B.
As Senior Principal at Alumni Ventures, she leads investment strategy and deal execution across Castor Ventures (AV’s MIT fund), the AV Women’s Fund, and the AV Neurotech Syndicate, which she co-founded.
Her portfolio reflects that conviction. She backs founders missioned to better human lives — Synchron, the brain-computer interface enabling people to control digital devices through thought alone, restoring not just function but agency; and Psyonic, the world’s first touch-sensing bionic hand, giving amputees the ability to feel again. These are companies that don’t optimize existing behavior — they unlock behavior that didn’t exist before.
That perspective is earned. Evy bootstrapped Evy Tea from a farmers market into a nationally distributed brand, and founded Nudge Venture, an applied behavioral economics research studio. She holds an MS in Management of Technology as a Sloan Fellow and Dean’s Fellow at MIT Sloan, and a BS in Marketing Communications from Emerson College.