OUR TEAM

Christopher founded The Chart Group in 1994. With over 25 years’ experience in private equity, corporate finance and capital markets, Chris focuses on identifying and building portfolio companies through his extensive industry relationships and perspective.

Prior to Chart, Chris spent fourteen years in the Corporate Finance and Capital Markets Departments of Lehman Brothers, The Lodestar Group and Dillon Read. Chris earned his B.A. from Middlebury College and his M.B.A. from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. Chris currently serves as a director of SeaMobile, Inc., Miami International Holdings, Brown Brothers Harriman Mutual Funds, Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust PLC, Genesis Today, Inc., and several other Chart investments and affiliates.

Chris has been actively involved channeling the resources of the business community to assist with DoD related initiatives. Over the last several years, he has organized a venture capital team with an affiliate of the US Army to commercialize their technologies and bring better commercial technologies to the warfighter; assumed a prominent leadership role with Wounded Warriors/DSUSA, a foundation dedicated to working with injured soldiers; and served as a member of the Transition Team for the US Army Secretary Dr. Francis Harvey. He has served in senior management positions in numerous New Jersey political campaigns.

Mr. Collier joined Chart in 1995 and serves as the managing partner of Chart Capital Partners. Prior to Chart, Mr. Collier was a Senior Consultant with Deloitte & Touche LLP in New York and a policy analyst in Washington, DC. Mr. Collier is currently a director of Wencoast Restaurants, TracRac, NWGH and formerly of several Chart investments and affiliates. He also serves on the Volunteer Leadership Committee for the Greater NY Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Mr. Collier received a B.A. from Duke University and an M.A., with honors, from The George Washington University.

Mr. Ettlemyer joined Chart in 1997 and has been a partner of the firm since 2003. Prior to Chart, Mr. Ettlemyer was a Research Associate with Salomon Brothers and a Credit Analyst with ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Mr. Ettlemyer is currently a director of Infra-Structures, Inc. and formerly of Madison/Chart Energy SCS.

Mr. Ettlemyer received a B.S., with honors, from Babson College.

Ted joined CVP at its inception in 2006, coming from The Carlyle Group’s US venture capital investment group, which emphasizes multi-stage venture and growth equity investment across many sectors in the US, including defense and homeland security markets. Prior to Carlyle, Ted was a Partner at 4C Ventures (the former Olivetti Ventures arm), an early stage technology venture investment firm focusing on international technology application. Before 4C, Ted worked with Paul Capital Partners, a leader in the secondary private equity industry, where he focused on the acquisition of direct investment portfolios in the US and Europe from corporations and traditional venture investors.

At CVP, Ted focuses on investments in communications, materials science, and power & energy. He represents CVP on the Board of Twisted Pair Solutions, and previously served on the Board of StrionAir, IntegriCo Composites, Znyx Networks, Rely Software, MobileMetrics, and Turing Capital.

Ted earned an MBA degree from Stanford University and BA in Economics from Williams College.

Mr. LaBarbera serves as a Managing Director of Chart Group Advisors. Prior to Chart, from 1996-2002 he was Managing Director, Head of Private Placements & Fundraising at Dresdner Kleinwort Capital, the global private equity business within Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities, LLC. From 1994-1996, he was Managing Director, Head of Private Placements at S.G. Warburg & Co., and from 1984-1994 was Senior Vice President, Co-Head of Private Placements at Dillon, Read & Co. Inc. Prior to Dillon Read, he was a Senior Financial Analyst in the Corporate Treasurer’s Department of Exxon Corporation. Mr. LaBarbera has raised in excess of $10 billion through private placements of senior debt, mezzanine and equity securities, as well as limited partnership interests for private equity funds, and he has advised a wide variety of clients on financing strategies.

Mr. LaBarbera received an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Chemistry from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

Mr. Luehs joined Chart in 1999 and has been a partner with the firm since 2003. Prior to Chart, Mr. Luehs was with Laser Advisors, Inc., a hedge fund manager, and served as Controller of Laser Mortgage Management Inc., a Real Estate Investment Trust trading on the NYSE. Mr. Luehs formerly served as Assistant Treasurer for sixteen mutual funds at Lexington Management Corporation and in a variety of financial positions at Alliance Capital Management. Mr. Luehs began his financial services career with Merrill Lynch.

Mr. Luehs earned his B.S. from Syracuse University and M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Matt joined CVP at its inception, coming from Columbia University Science and Technology Ventures (STV) where he managed a portfolio of spinout companies and the deployment of STV's highly profitable seed fund. During his tenure at Columbia, eleven portfolio companies went public or were acquired by publicly traded companies. Prior to Columbia, Matt led two startup operations, both of which reached revenues in excess of $125MM and were acquired.

In 1998, Matt co-founded Eureka Networks, a communications and application software organization. Earlier in his career, he managed product development, sales and marketing, and new product roll-outs for two Fortune 500 companies, Becton Dickinson and MCI. As a national sales leader at MCI, he rose to become marketing manager, launching MCI's flagship voice and data products for Avantel, the company’s start-up joint venture in Latin America.

At CVP, Matt focuses on early stage investments in communications, software and robotics. He represents CVP on the Board of RemoteReality, StackSafe and PacStar Communications.

Matt earned an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a BA from Boston College. Matt serves on Columbia’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Advisory Board, and as an SBIR reviewer for the National Science Foundation.

Cole joined CVP in 2006 from Darby Overseas Investments, the international private equity arm of Franklin Templeton, where he co-founded the firm’s technology venture capital business. At Darby, Cole specialized in early-stage investments across various technology sectors including IT security, and served on the Board of Directors of several successful start-ups. Prior to Darby, Cole worked in investment banking and equity research at Santander Investments, where he focused on international telecom, media, and technology sectors.

At CVP, Cole focuses on investments in material sciences, sensor technologies, and software. He represents CVP on the Board of FortiusOne, Maxion Technologies, and Innovative Biosensors, and previously served on the Board of Jackbe, Sysgold, Spring Wireless, and CertiSign.

Cole earned a BA from Washington & Lee University, is a CFA charter holder, and a member of the CFA Institute, and the Washington Society of Investment Analysts.

Tim is the Co-founder of CVP, and since August 2004 has served as the President and CEO of InSitech, Inc.

InSitech represents the business interests of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) located at the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal. Tim is a member of CVP’s Investment Committee and provides corporate planning and marketing strategy to portfolio companies. Tim serves on the Board of InSitech, Inc., Remote Reality, the Picatinny Chapter of the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA), New Jersey Network (NJN) and the Morris County Chamber of Commerce.

Tim is also Chairman of the Deployed Childcare Assistance Program (DCAP), a charitable organization that provides daycare assistance to the families of deployed soldiers and is the recipient of the Secretary of the Army Public Service Award, one of the highest civilian honors given.

Tim earned a BA from Montclair State University.

Mr. Whitcomb joined Chart in 2003, where he advises clients on acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and capital-raising. He has extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions and corporate finance in markets around the world. Prior to Chart, Mr. Whitcomb was a Principal of Shattuck Hammond Partners LLC, and before that he directed client coverage of the consumer products sector in Europe at Lehman Brothers and in the United States at NatWest Markets. Earlier in his career he spent a number of years in international finance at predecessor firms of JPMorganChase.

Mr. Whitcomb was educated in England at Rugby School. He received a B.A., with honors in History, from Williams College and an M.B.A. from The Darden School at the University of Virginia.

Mrs. Ryan joined Chart in 2003. Prior to Chart, she was an Associate at Indosuez Capital, the U.S.-based merchant banking division of Crédit Agricole Indosuez.

Mrs. Ryan received a B.S.B.A. from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.

Michael joined in 2006 and has more than 15 years of experience from engineering and product management to venture advisory and venture capital. In 2002, he founded Blue Angel Ventures a Research Triangle Park, NC-based seed funding and venture advisory firm focusing on wireless IT, advanced materials/nanotechnology, and medical devices. He has also served in interim/turnaround management and board positions of several technology start-ups and is a founding board member of Long Island Angel Network. From 1994 to 2002, Michael held engineering, technical sales, and product management roles in fiber optics, smartphones, public safety and next-generation technologies at Nortel Networks, Ericsson, Siemens, and Nextel Communications. He was also a Graduate Research Assistant in Bioengineering at Georgia Tech Research Institute and had also worked as an avionics software developer at Messerchmitt-Boelkow-Blohm/DASA, a defense contractor in Munich, Germany.

Michael utilizes CVP’s network to source technologies that fit the needs of InSitech’s client, the US Army. Michael focuses on investments in communications, sensors, guidance/navigation & control, and power & energy that can also benefit the Army and is a Board Observer in Nextreme Thermal and WiSpry.

Michael earned his M.B.A. from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Management of Technology from Georgia Tech, and B.S.E.E. (magna cum laude and Eta Kappa Nu graduate) from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is also fluent in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and German.

Mr. Mai joined Chart in 2007. Prior to Chart, Mr. Mai was a Manager with American Express. Earlier in his career, he was a consultant with Fort Point Partners, a privately held consulting firm, and Computer Sciences Corp.

Mr. Mai received an M.B.A. from The Darden School at the University of Virginia and a B.S. from Cornell University.

Chris joined CVP at inception in March of 2006, coming from CVP’s partner InSitech where he was responsible for supporting the advanced technology commercialization efforts and researching new technologies and industry sectors.

At CVP, Chris interfaces with new investment opportunities and on portfolio companies. He also performs in-depth industry analysis. Chris’ focus includes biometrics, robotics and geospatial imaging and services media.

Chris earned a BA from Yale University.

Mr. Guilford joined Chart in 2008. Prior to Chart, Mr. Guilford interned with Clear Brook Advisors, a New York based alternative asset advisory firm and Valance Co., a hedge fund in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Mr. Guilford received a B.S. in accounting from Elon University.