Chris Redlitz
Chris Redlitz (born April 17, 1956) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. Redlitz is the co-founder and general partner of Silicon Valley venture capital firm Transmedia Capital, which has invested in Snap Inc., Wish, AngelList, Domo, Genius, and more[1]. He is also the co-founder and chairman of The Last Mile, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that teaches web development and other in-demand skills inside prisons to help participants secure employment after their incarceration. He and his wife Beverly Parenti have a foundation that promotes and supports children of incarcerated parents to pursue education and successful pathways, breaking the generational cycle of incarceration.
Early Career[edit]
In 1981, Redlitz launched his first retail business, opening Second Sole sports and fitness franchise in Hermosa Beach, California, and expanded to 4 satellite locations before being acquired in 1988. His operation was among the top grossing Second Sole franchises and he was named franchise of the year in 1986. Redlitz began his career at Reebok International in 1982. While working in sales and marketing, Redlitz was a part of the team that experienced a four year 500% annual growth trajectory and temporarily unseated Nike as the world’s leading footwear company in 1987.
Personal Investments[edit]
Redlitz has actively advised and invested in emerging companies since the 1990's. His first seed investment was in Omniture, a web analytics company acquired by Adobe in 2009. Other personal investments include Snap, Domo, Buddy.com, and companies that have been acquired by GrubHub, Discovery, and Whoop, among others.
Transmedia Capital[edit]
In 2009, Redlitz co-founded KickLabs, the first startup accelerator in San Francisco[2]. Wish and AngelList were among the first companies to join KickLabs, which Forbes ranked as one of the top startup incubators[3]. The premise of KickLabs was to connect emerging technology companies to legacy brands.
Transmedia Capital emerged from the KickLabs accelerator in 2009, led by Redlitz and his business partner Peter Boboff, to fund early and seed-stage US-based technology companies[1]. Transmedia Capital invests in qualifying companies that are: raising less than $2M in current financing; at beta product stage, preparing for public launch; and are raising seed or A-round between $250K- $2M of invested capital[1]. Several of the firm's portfolio companies have had an initial public offering (IPO), such as Facebook, Domo, Snap, Inc., and Wish. Others have been acquired by Visa, AT&T, LinkedIn, Twitter, Grubhub, and more.
Turn 2 U Inc, dba The Last Mile (TLM)[edit]
Turn 2 U Inc, dba The Last Mile (TLM) is a nonprofit that was created to address the societal impact of incarceration and its drain on human and fiscal resources[4]. Redlitz founded TLM with his wife and business partner Beverly Parenti after visiting San Quentin State Prison in October of 2010[5]. TLM began as an entrepreneurship program at San Quentin on December 18, 2010[6] and has hosted Demo Days where incarcerated business students pitched their startup ideas to an audience of Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Department of Corrections officials, and mainstream media reporters[7]. TLM's program has grown to include technology skills such as web development[8] in order to best equip incarcerated individuals with marketable skills in accordance with current job market demands[9]. Through the computer coding curriculum participants learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MongoDB, and other programming tools and languages without access to the internet[10]. TLM currently operates in state correctional facilities across California, Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Michigan, and North Dakota[11].
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Transmedia Capital". transmediacapital.com. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
- ↑ "Cassidy: Kicklabs founders' Last Mile program means business at San Quentin". The Mercury News. 2013-05-31. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ Geron, Tomio. "Top Startup Incubators And Accelerators: Y Combinator Tops With $7.8 Billion In Value". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ "Entrepreneur Chris Redlitz on giving inmates a second chance, inspiration for The Last Mile". Fox News. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
- ↑ "Prison labour is a billion-dollar industry, with uncertain returns for inmates". The Economist. 2017-03-16. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ Giridharadas, Anand (2016-02-15). "Silicon Valley Gives Ex-Convict a Familiar Feeling (Published 2016)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
- ↑ Shih, Gerry (2013-02-24). "Inmates go high-tech as startup mania hits San Quentin". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ "Extended Interview: Chris Redlitz, Co-Founder of The Last Mile, talks about inmate coding program". abc10.com. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ "Bullish: Tech tackles criminal justice reform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ Field, Anne. "The Last Mile: Teaching Incarcerated Individuals How To Code—And Preventing Their Return To Prison". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
- ↑ "The Last Mile – Paving The Road To Success". thelastmile.org. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
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