THE TEAM
20+ YRS EXPERIENCE IN ASSET MANAGEMENT
STARTUP & HIGH-GROWTH ENTERPRISE
FOUNDERS | CEOS
OPERATORS
Chris Cunningham
Chris is a seasoned entrepreneur and venture capitalist with a strong advertising, media, and technology background.
As the CEO and Co-founder of appssavvy, he played a pivotal role in pioneering native advertising, generating substantial revenues for the app ecosystem on platforms like Facebook and mobile devices.
His leadership helped drive $70 million in revenues for the company. Chris has been deeply involved in the NYC tech community throughout his career, holding executive positions at prominent companies such as Ironsource, which has grown into an $11 billion technology business.
Additionally, he is a limited partner in Bowery Capital and TechStars, indicating his commitment to supporting early-stage startups.
With a passion for fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, Chris has launched three early-stage venture funds to scale the C2V platform and has invested in over 48 portfolio companies. His contributions to the mobile advertising industry have been recognized, earning him a place among the "Most Important People in Mobile Advertising" by Business Insider.
Furthermore, his entrepreneurial achievements led him to be named an Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist" for two consecutive years.
Chris's academic background includes a degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where he graduated in 1997. Outside of his professional endeavors, he enjoys spending time with his two sons, engaging in activities such as scuba diving and participating in marathons and triathlons.
Matt Olivo
Prior to co-founding C2V’s institutional business, Matt spent 20 years in traditional finance, (fixed income and project finance, as well as some M&A and private equity), primarily working with owner‐operated, high‐growth companies in a variety of industries.
Following more than a decade in banking, Matt co‐ran a $1 billion trade finance portfolio, initially under the umbrella of a boutique hedge fund manager and later as part of The Carlyle Group.
Matt was subsequently hired by one of Carlyle’s portfolio companies as its CFO and tasked with building most of the firm’s financial infrastructure from scratch, revamping and scaling its credit facilities, and leading efforts to divest of non‐performing and non‐core assets, leading to its most profitable ever 2-year period.
As a General Partner of C2V and its COO & CFO, Matt has built and oversees the fund’s infrastructure and has been an integral part of our investment selection process, leveraging his two-plus decades of experience in evaluating owner-operators of privately held companies as well as applying the deep financial and operational analysis of prospective investments that, while the hallmark of traditional fund management, is exceedingly (and unfortunately) rare in the early-stage venture world.
Matt shares his experience, network, and expertise with our portfolio companies, assisting with financial modeling, capital structure optimization, financial and operational infrastructure building, and growth and cash management strategies, and has served on several portfolio company boards, including Somatic, Steelhead, and Condoit.
Matt holds a BA from Colgate University and is a CFA charterholder. He is a member of the CFA Society and New York Society of Security Analysts and would generally rather be skiing with his two kids or playing the guitar (ideally for the ‘90s grunge cover band he swears he’s going to start one day).
C2V is everything we hoped for in investors. They feel like an extension of our team as opposed to outside investors that just help fund the company. As an early stage startup, you face uncertainty trying to figure out which direction to take. C2V has always been there to give their perspective on the challenges we are working through and also challenge our thinking.