Christopher Deutsch

Summary

Chris Deutsch has spent over 25 years starting up, investing in, and working with early-stage, venture-backed startups. He is now a full-time, first-check angel investor and backs founders that are givers, brilliant, gritty, and embody problem-founder-fit. Chris is the founder of Lofty Ventures, which is the platform he’s built to holistically support 160+ founders at 90+ portfolio companies, 80% are in Chicago and 75% are led by underrepresented founders. Investments range from five to six-figures in mainly pre-seed stage startups. Lofty’s portfolio includes Turbo Appeal (acquired), teaBOT (Y Combinator), Popular Pays (acquired, Y Combinator), Tovala (Y Combinator), Cubii (acquired, #180 on Inc500), 4Degrees (Techstars), Paladin (Techstars), and Gather Voices (LAUNCH). Chris is also Re-founder & Board Director at Y Combinator-backed teaBOT. Organizations such as Google, HubSpot, Accenture, McKinsey, and 1871 leverage their tea-making robots as the killer amenity to recruit and retain top talent. Chris was previously VP of Business Development at Loft Development Corporation, his family’s Chicago-based commercial real estate business, which brought the concept of lofts from New York to Chicago in the 1960s. Loft sold its portfolio of six office buildings and two self/wine storage facilities in 2016. In addition, Chris is an LP in social impact venture fund Impact Engine (IV), and a current or former member or board director of the following civic and/or nonprofit organizations: Outreach With Lacrosse & Schools, the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Emerge curatorial group, Chicago Ideas’ Radical Creators, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s MakeWork council, and Social Venture Partners Chicago. He has been a mentor, judge or speaker at Kellogg School of Management, Pritzker Law School, University of Chicago, Vassar College, Colorado College, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, Impact Engine, Techstars, Women Tech Founders, National Association of Realtors, U.S.-Japan Council, Cradles To Crayons, Embarc Chicago, Future Founders, DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago, and NASA iTech. Chris received his BA in Economics from Vassar College, where he played varsity lacrosse, basketball, and rugby. He previously coached Chaparral High School’s lacrosse team (Scottsdale, AZ) for six years and helped lead them to five championship appearances and three state titles in 1999, 2002 & 2004.