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Ellen Chisa

Ellen Chisa

Partner·boldstart ventures

Somerville, MA
LinkedIn Bio source

Bio

Professional summary

Ellen Chisa is a partner at boldstart ventures. Her official profile says she joined the firm in January 2021 after working with the team as a founder at Dark. At boldstart, she invests in and supports founders building pre-product, developer-focused enterprise companies. Her background includes early-stage product roles at Lola, Kickstarter, and Microsoft, where she worked on cross-platform Office Mobile. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. The profile states she lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Investment focus

Stage, sector, and overall fit

Stage

pre-productinceptionearly-stage

Sector

enterprise softwaredeveloper-focused toolsdevtools

Thesis

pre-product developer-focused enterprise companiesenterprise software at inception

Notable companies

Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed

DarkLolaKickstarterMicrosoft

How to approach

Framing and angles for outreach

Pitch framing

Relevant for founders building early developer tools or enterprise software products before product-market proof is complete.

Personalization hooks

  1. 1Reference her founder experience at Dark if pitching developer infrastructure.
  2. 2Emphasize the creative-work-enabling aspect of developer or productivity tools.

Recent signals

What the partner has said or done recently

  • Personal site states she invests in enterprise software companies at inception.

Background

Career, education, and skills

Career history

  • boldstart venturesPartnerPresent
  • DarkCo-founder / CEO
  • LolaProduct Manager
  • MicrosoftProduct Manager

Education

  • Franklin W. Olin College of EngineeringDegree

Skills

Product developmentInception-stage investingDeveloper toolsRobotics / physical AI

Other partners at boldstart ventures

3 more profiles

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Ed Sim

Ed Sim

Founder and General Partner

boldstart ventures

Ed Sim is the founder and general partner of boldstart ventures, backing technical founders at inception across enterprise, cybersecurity, AI infrastructure, and physical AI.

Data & AI infrastructureDeveloper-first securityInception-stage enterprise
Eliot Durbin

Eliot Durbin

General Partner

boldstart ventures

Eliot Durbin is a general partner at boldstart ventures who has led first rounds in enterprise startups for more than a decade.

AI/MLData infrastructureInception-stage enterprise
Ernest Addison

Ernest Addison

Senior Associate

boldstart ventures

Senior Associate at boldstart with Audax and BofA experience.

Business servicesConsumerHealthcareSecuritySeedSoftware