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Chris Hitchen
General Partner at Possible Ventures
Chris Hitchen is the Managing Partner at Possible Ventures, where he plays a crucial role in supporting early-stage startups focused on addressing significant global challenges such as climate change, sustainable energy, and health equity. He is recognized as an international serial entrepreneur and investor, with a strong background in guiding startups through their growth phases.14
Professional Background
- Role: Founder & General Partner at Possible Ventures.
- Expertise: Hitchen has extensive experience in business building and investment, particularly in frontier technologies that aim to positively impact society and the environment.45
- Passion: He is known for his dedication to helping early-stage businesses navigate their development and scaling processes, making him a valuable asset in the startup ecosystem.34
Investment Focus
Possible Ventures primarily invests in pre-seed and seed rounds, emphasizing interdisciplinary teams that can bring innovative solutions to pressing global issues. Hitchen's leadership is pivotal in identifying and nurturing these opportunities.12
Online Presence
Hitchen is active on LinkedIn under the username hitchen, where he shares insights related to investing and entrepreneurship, reflecting his commitment to fostering impactful ventures.36
Highlights
It was a pleasure to interview Jeremy O'Brien of PsiQuantum at Innovation Bay’s ‘Inspire 24’ event in Sydney today.
Having just secured AUD $940m in funding from the Queensland and federal governments, PsiQuantum is building a fault-tolerant quantum computer using silicon photonics. We spoke about Jeremy’s 25 year journey from academia to becoming a CEO and how he sees the future of quantum computing.
A few key takeaways:
- Australia will benefit from this investment in many ways, from job creation to breakthroughs in drug development, new materials and climate technology, as well as national resilience
- Climate: McKinsey estimates that 7 gigatonnes of carbon can be abated annually by 2035 enabled by quantum computing
- Quantum vs. HPS: the almost $1bn is a significant investment, but relatively small compared to Microsoft and Open AI’s planned $100bn for the ‘Stargate’ supercomputer (which would require 5GW of power to run, likely with nuclear reactors)
- Quantum’s impact on AI is so far limited; applications for the potential of quantum machine learning are being explored, but whether there are useful applications for the fusion of AI and quantum computing remains unclear
- Standing on the shoulders of giants: by leveraging their relationship with @Global Foundries, PsiQuantum is benefiting from some 80+ years and approx. $1trn of R&D into semiconductors
#quantum #quantumcomputing #deeptech #frontiertech #vc Possible Ventures
We love it when scientists from different disciplines band together around a common cause. In the case of Opto Biosystems, that cause is better patient outcomes for people suffering from hard-to-treat diseases including glioblastoma and treatment-resistant epilepsy, or those going through stroke rehabilitation. The team’s minimally invasive, implantable neurotechnology is the culmination of their work in the bioelectronics lab at Cambridge and is a the sort of high-impact technology we love to back.
Possible Ventures is excited to be part of this pre-seed round alongside fellow believers Michael Tolo and Blackbird, Amar Shah and others. Congrats on this important first step Elise Jenkins and Ben Woodington!
#bci #medtech #cambridgeuniversity #bioelectronics #frontiertech #possible #braincomputerinterface
