Webinar
Masterclass Live! How Strawberry Creek Ventures Evaluates a Deal
Tune into an on-demand presentation hosted by Strawberry Creek Managing Partner Matt Caspari and Partner Carl Choi. In this session, you will discover the framework our team uses to evaluate promising startups, walk through the process, and learn how you, too, can invest in startups just like this through Strawberry Creek Ventures.
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Post Webinar Summary
Matt Caspari, Managing Partner of Strawberry Creek Ventures, opened the webinar by introducing the UC Berkeley-focused venture fund, part of Alumni Ventures, which has raised over $1 billion from accredited investors. The presentation covered legal disclosures, the fund’s mission to build diversified portfolios of 20-30 startups tied to the Berkeley ecosystem, and the rigorous criteria used for evaluating investments. Caspari detailed the firm’s reliance on a robust scorecard to assess deal dynamics, lead investor quality, execution, and team dynamics. He shared examples of successful investments like AI software firm Eight Base and biopharma company Granada Bio. Caspari emphasized the importance of leveraging the vast Alumni Ventures network to access opportunities and discussed Strawberry Creek’s latest Fund 8, outlining investment parameters and inviting prospective investors to connect for personalized discussions.
Strawberry Creek Ventures is Alumni Ventures’ fund for UC Berkeley alumni and friends of the community.
During this session, we will discuss:
- HomeUnderstanding the time horizon of venture investments
- HomePerforming due diligence and reviewing the typical types of materials available in a deal
- HomeWeighing some of the challenges, key risks, and how to factor those into the ultimate decision
- HomeTracking companies after investment and the purpose of portfolio monitoring
- HomeMore details about Strawberry Creek Ventures
About Alumni Ventures
Top 20 VC Investors in North America (2024)
#1 Most Active Venture Firm in the U.S. (2023)
#1 Most Active Venture Firm in the U.S. (2022)
World's Most Innovative Companies (2022)
Note: You must be accredited to invest in venture capital. Important disclosure information can be found at av-funds.com/disclosures.
About your presenters
Matt Caspari is a Managing Partner at Alumni Ventures, where he leads the Deep Tech, Georgetown (Potomac Ventures) and UC Berkeley (Strawberry Creek Ventures) funds. He invests in mission-driven founders developing groundbreaking technologies. His investments encompass a diverse range of sectors, including AI, agriculture, aviation, battery technology, cybersecurity, direct air capture of CO2, energy generation, longevity, and robotics. Prior to Alumni Ventures, Matt gained operational experience as a two-time venture-backed founder/CEO and as a leader of the innovation team at Nike. He was the founding CEO of Aurora Biofuels, a deep tech venture that grew to 100+ employees, secured over $100 million in funding and was acquired by Reliance Industries. In earlier roles, Matt served as a strategic management consultant at Cambridge Pharma Consultancy, later acquired by IMS Health, and gained experience on the M&A team at Bloomberg. He holds a BS in Biochemistry from Georgetown University and an MBA with a Certificate in Entrepreneurship from UC Berkeley.
Partner, Strawberry Creek Ventures
Overview:
Carl brings a systems-level mindset to venture investing, shaped by two decades of experience across public equities, M&A, and technology. He focuses on foundational technologies that rewire how the real world operates—betting on enduring platforms across deep tech sectors such as climate, energy, infrastructure, space, and AI. His work is rooted in a belief that innovation at the intersection of the physical and digital worlds is key to building a more equitable and sustainable future.
Funds actively worked on:
Strawberry Creek Ventures
Investment Areas of Focus:
At Alumni Ventures, Carl backs companies with the potential to tilt markets and drive systemic change. He gravitates toward mission-driven founders with deep technical insight—those unlocking new layers of productivity, resilience, and sustainability while reshaping legacy systems. His thesis centers on platform technologies with long time horizons and compounding strategic advantages—businesses that scale with time and fundamentally transform how industries operate.
Recent investments that reflect this approach include:
- 44.01, permanently removing CO₂ through mineralization in peridotite formations
- Omnidian, providing performance assurance for distributed solar assets
- Equilibrium Energy, building software-defined power markets
- Pebble, creating all-electric smart trailers for off-grid living
- Navier, designing hydrofoiling electric watercraft
- Neo Financial, reimagining consumer finance in Canada
- Radix Health, improving out-of-network reimbursement for healthcare providers
- Cerby, securing unmanageable apps in modern enterprises
- LeoLabs, operating radar infrastructure for orbital tracking
- Samaya AI, deploying expert AI agents in financial services
Prior to Alumni Ventures, Carl was a Principal at Solasta Ventures, where he led investments in deep tech and enterprise software. He previously held corporate development and strategy roles at Upwork and Riverbed Technology, and began his finance career at London Capital Management before moving into investment banking at J.P. Morgan in San Francisco.
Hailing from Korea and Canada, Carl holds a double degree in Mathematics and Business Administration from the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas. Outside of work, he enjoys spirited competition on the soccer field, at the poker table, or over hours-long board games.