Spotlight: Q&A with TechNexus Venture Collaborative's Cristin Pacifico

Cristin Pacifico
TechNexus Venture Collaborative

Cristin Pacifico is a director on the investment team at TechNexus Venture Collaborative, where she drives innovation by connecting corporations with startups. Throughout her career, she’s been an investor, an entrepreneur, and an operator. Cristin serves on Chicago:Blend's Advisory Board and was a mentor in the Chicago Venture Fellows summer cohort.

1.  TechNexus has evolved quite a bit in the last few years. A lot of people know about TechNexus as a physical convening space, but TechNexus is also an active investor. Tell us about TechNexus’ different areas of focus and how it fits into Chicago's broader VC ecosystem.

On the investing side, TechNexus partners with large corporations and builds meaningful connections between enterprises and entrepreneurs. Some of our focus areas include: audio and media, aviation, outdoor recreation, future of mobility, public safety, and electrification. We commonly co-invest in Seed and Series A rounds. TechNexus has been a longstanding part of Chicago’s tech community, and we are proud to welcome and support many local organizations, founders, and companies into our space. 

2.  How is TechNexus thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion, both within your organization, but also as it relates to your community members?

TechNexus has always valued and emphasized the importance of DEI. There are some staggering statistics in the venture industry, both on the investor side and the founder side. Our team at TechNexus actually has one of the highest percentages of female venture investors relative to other firms. We also have quite a few diverse members on our immediate team and diverse founders within our portfolio and pipeline. We are meaningfully committed to finding and investing in diverse founders, and have partnered with organizations like Chicago:Blend and GET Cities to help connect us to diverse, minority, and underrepresented founders. 

3.  What inspired TechNexus to partner with Chicago:Blend?

TechNexus is proud to partner with Chicago:Blend because we are aligned with and support its mission ‘to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Chicago's venture capital and startup community.’ As a member of the advisory board, I serve by providing strategic guidance and recommendations related to programs and initiatives that will help increase representation within the Chicago community. TechNexus and TeamWorking have opened our doors to Chicago:Blend faculty and their Chicago Venture Fellows, and aim to sponsor, promote, and amplify programming and events that support the Chicago:Blend community.  

Advancing DEI starts in conversation; at TechNexus, we’ve seen firsthand how fostering a sense of community and opening the door to conversation can facilitate change. TechNexus and Chicago:Blend have worked together to put on a series of successful events, including a Pride Panel in June and Women’s Panel in March. Whether just stopping by these events, or staying for the day to work out of our space, it has been invigorating to see introductions being made and connections being strengthened. 

4.  You talk to aspiring VCs and entrepreneurs all the time. For someone who is looking to build a career in tech, why should they do it here in Chicago?

Chicago is at an exciting inflection point for venture activity; 2021 marked a significant year for expansion across the venture ecosystem. The count of closely held companies valued at $1 billion or more has jumped to 26 from just eight in 2016, [Bloomberg] 13 of which were newly minted as unicorns in 2021 [Pitchbook]. 13 venture firms announced they raised over $100M, and tech companies raised over $7 billion in venture capital in 2021, more than double what was raised in 2020 [WBC, Pitchbook]. Notably, tech companies led by underrepresented founders raised nearly $1B in funding across over 100 investments [WBC]. With the inception of funds like Fifth Star Funds, LongJump Fund, and Capitalize VC, these numbers will likely continue to accelerate over the next few years. Whether you are an investor, operator, or entrepreneur, the resources you need to build a career in tech are here in Chicago. 

5. What advice would you give to women trying to break into venture?

I am very fortunate because I have had a balance of both female role models and male allies who have helped me throughout various parts of my career path. The most important advice I would give aspiring female venture capitalists is: build meaningful connections, surround yourself with people who challenge and inspire you, and pay it forward. Getting more women into venture capital is an achievement on its own, but my ultimate hope is to see more women get promoted and placed on a partner track. Pave your own path, and bring as many as you can along for the ride.