About
Chris Arsenault is a senior executive with over 25 years of general management experience in high technology industries, with extensive experience in business development, strategic planning, venture growth, and scaling operations. Chris is the co-founder, President & CEO of Inovia Capital, a Venture Capital firm launched in 2007 with now over US$2.2 billion dollars under management.
Chris currently serves as a director on the boards of AppDirect, Groupe Dynamite, Super.com, Talent.com, LifeHouse; and until recently, Lightspeed (IPO NYSE), Luxury Retreats (acquired by Airbnb in 2017), Pola (acquired by IFS), Reflex Photonics (acquired by Smiths Interconnect in 2019), and Well.ca (acquired by McKesson in 2017). Chris is also a board member of Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, and of Forum AI Québec (part of the Quebec Supercluster for Artificial Intelligence), and a proud Charter Member of Silicon Valley-based The C100.
Before launching Inovia Capital in 2007, Chris first joined MSBi Capital in 2002 as a Partner and prior to that, had founded, co-founded or launched a number of Software, Mobile and Consumer Internet technology start-up companies, including two spin-offs of telecom giants Microcell and Teleglobe.
Chris’ entrepreneurial and investment experience includes several notable exits that generated large shareholder returns, such as Lightspeed (IPO), Luxury Retreats, Localmind, Poka, Well.ca, Routehappy, Airborne Entertainment, Copernic Technologies, Wanted Technologies, and SIT Inc. His work in the mid-90’s as co-founder and CEO of SIT provided him with the opportunity to play an important part in the initial growth of the Internet. As one of Netscape’s first external partners and integrators, SIT’s security products and dial-up technology eventually grew to become an integral part of Netscape’s deployment. SIT, after the winding-up of its Quebec offices, was sold to Ubizen of Belgium in 1999 for €42 million. Chris is also proud to have been instrumental in the creation of the ENABLIS Entrepreneurial Network, a G8-sponsored venture capital seed fund now operating in 15 countries.
Chris believes that Entrepreneurship is a “state of mind”, and thus part of one’s core. It may be sleeping (waiting to be activated, nurtured, or mentored), but it can’t be taught or infused into a person. Entrepreneurship is not a profession; an entrepreneur has unique character traits that enable him/her to do amazing and impossible things.
Articles by Chris
-
Nasdaq welcomes Sonder and a passionate team of builders and travel experience creators - Now heads down building a great Company
Nasdaq welcomes Sonder and a passionate team of builders and travel experience creators - Now heads down building a great Company
By Chris Arsenault
-
An Exciting Milestone: Inovia Growth Fund II: Meeting the Demand for Value-Added Partnerships
An Exciting Milestone: Inovia Growth Fund II: Meeting the Demand for Value-Added Partnerships
By Chris Arsenault
-
Sonder Scales the Personalized and Instagrammable Era of Hospitality - Raises US$225M for growth
Sonder Scales the Personalized and Instagrammable Era of Hospitality - Raises US$225M for growth
By Chris Arsenault
Contributions
-
How do you balance speed and thoroughness when developing a VC exit strategy?
Building optionality is key to remain in the driver seat and create the opportunity to choose outcomes and take the corporate decisions ahead of time to be well positioned to be acquired, fundraise on your terms or go all out and roll up your sector. Planning takes time, effort and continuity.
Activity
-
Our CEO and co-founder Aidan Gomez sat down with Ben Ellencweig, a McKinsey & Company senior partner and global leader of alliances and acquisitions…
Our CEO and co-founder Aidan Gomez sat down with Ben Ellencweig, a McKinsey & Company senior partner and global leader of alliances and acquisitions…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
A happy and sad day all in one! What an incredible 8-year journey we have had together Henry Shi building Super.com. So proud of you and the company…
A happy and sad day all in one! What an incredible 8-year journey we have had together Henry Shi building Super.com. So proud of you and the company…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
So much to learn from getting the board right. And so important to build Optionality through M&A opportunities 🙌 Inovia Capital #CompanyBuilders…
So much to learn from getting the board right. And so important to build Optionality through M&A opportunities 🙌 Inovia Capital #CompanyBuilders…
Shared by Chris Arsenault
Experience
Education
More activity by Chris
-
🚀 New Episode Alert! Dive into Episode 5 of Inovia Sessions with Patrick Pichette, Inovia Partner, seasoned board member, and former CFO of Google…
🚀 New Episode Alert! Dive into Episode 5 of Inovia Sessions with Patrick Pichette, Inovia Partner, seasoned board member, and former CFO of Google…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
🚨 Big Announcement 🚨 After an incredible 8-year journey filled with growth, challenges, laughter and sweat, today marks my last month as CTO &…
🚨 Big Announcement 🚨 After an incredible 8-year journey filled with growth, challenges, laughter and sweat, today marks my last month as CTO &…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
I'm so excited to welcome Adam Brown, MD MBA officially to the Meroka team as our Chief Medical Officer! Not only does Adam have deep experience…
I'm so excited to welcome Adam Brown, MD MBA officially to the Meroka team as our Chief Medical Officer! Not only does Adam have deep experience…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
Excited to support Michael Gulmann and the Otto team alongside a stellar group of investors and advisors. Otto is poised to transform the unmanaged…
Excited to support Michael Gulmann and the Otto team alongside a stellar group of investors and advisors. Otto is poised to transform the unmanaged…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
I can’t wait to be out in Chicago with all of our amazing Partners and Providers! Connect with me NOW on how you can join us for an incredible Event…
I can’t wait to be out in Chicago with all of our amazing Partners and Providers! Connect with me NOW on how you can join us for an incredible Event…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
Hard to not be proud of a team that's inspiring "Apple-level enthusiasm"! Thank you Nick Abrahams for the best compliment a startup could ask for…
Hard to not be proud of a team that's inspiring "Apple-level enthusiasm"! Thank you Nick Abrahams for the best compliment a startup could ask for…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
It was a big milestone for us at @certn yesterday - our UK-based team at Credence Background Screening officially became Certn UK! Of course, we had…
It was a big milestone for us at @certn yesterday - our UK-based team at Credence Background Screening officially became Certn UK! Of course, we had…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
-
Célébration d'un anniversaire marquant pour notre leader visionnaire. Notre Chef de la direction a débuté sa carrière en tant que commis aux stocks…
Célébration d'un anniversaire marquant pour notre leader visionnaire. Notre Chef de la direction a débuté sa carrière en tant que commis aux stocks…
Liked by Chris Arsenault
Other similar profiles
Explore collaborative articles
We’re unlocking community knowledge in a new way. Experts add insights directly into each article, started with the help of AI.
Explore MoreOthers named Chris Arsenault in Canada
50 others named Chris Arsenault in Canada are on LinkedIn
See others named Chris Arsenault