Chris Babcock
Operator turned Investor & Advisor | 25+ yrs in Enterprise Software | Former CTO & SVP Product Development
- Role
- Limited Partner at Vela Partners
- Location
- San Diego, CA, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About Chris Babcock
I’m an engineer turned operator turned investor with a background in building and scaling enterprise software platforms.For 25+ years, I led product and engineering teams across a range of industries, most notably in commercial real estate. As CTO of Real Capital Markets (RCM), I helped scale a global marketplace that facilitated over $2T in transactions. Following its acquisition of RCM, I stayed with LightBox as SVP of Product Development, where I worked across a broad portfolio of data, analytics, and workflow solutions serving lenders, brokers, and service providers.Today, I’m focused on early-stage investing and advising, with an emphasis on AI-native companies looking to replace legacy workflows where I spend time with founders working through product strategy, go-to-market decisions, and the realities of scaling early systems. I’m a member of NuFund Venture Group (formerly Tech Coast Angels - San Diego), a Limited Partner in Vela Partners, and an angel investor with seed investments in enterprise software, life sciences, and commercial real estate opportunities.
Experience
Limited Partner
Jan 2025 — Present
Vela Partners is a San Francisco-based venture capital firm founded in 2017 that specializes in early-stage investments in AI-native startups. With a focus on sectors like artificial intelligence, B2B software, cybersecurity, and developer tools, Vela uses a proprietary AI-driven platform to guide its investment decisions. The firm supports its portfolio with data-informed strategies.Vela also collaborates with institutions like the University of Oxford and contributes to the AI community through open-source projects, aiming to transform venture capital with the power of artificial intelligence.
Education
UC San Diego
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science
1990 — 1995
Skills
- Sdlc
- Strategy
- E-Commerce
- Software Engineering
- Email Marketing
- Extreme Programming
- Product Management
- Software Development
- Scrum
- Team Leadership
- Agile
- Database Design
- Databases
- Agile Methodologies
- Management
- Software Project Management
- Vendor Management
- Quality Assurance
- Saas
- Web Applications
Find verified contacts for anyone on LinkedIn
Unifers gives sales teams verified emails and direct dials, enriched profiles, and outreach that lands in the inbox.
Free plan included · No credit card required
This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.