Helping to Solve the Unsolvable Challenges

Chris Wake, the founder and General Partner of Atypical Ventures, is making a significant impact on the global deep tech sector through his innovative investments and leadership. He’s motivated by literal and figurative moonshots - enabling novel solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems, and helping to launch ventures that create new value for the world.

Growing up, Chris was surrounded by entrepreneurs and says his parents encouraged curiosity and enabled him to experiment - from allowing him to take apart the family’s VCR at an early age to later encouraging him to start his own childhood businesses, from lemonade stand to yard work. Chris was the first person in his family to attend a 4-year college. Directly after graduation, he followed the sage advice of one professor that recommended every great entrepreneur must first get comfortable with selling. Even in this role, he could not help but take a different approach - spending extra hours at work every day, unpaid, to research fast growth tech companies that he could approach as potential customers. This solidified his belief that relationships are paramount to any great success, and that meeting good people can actually be its own reward. 

Chris’ journey in tech is marked by his roles in several influential startups. As the first employee and head of operations at Spire Global, he played a pivotal role in transforming the company from an idea to a leader in satellite-powered data. The initial team went from zero to space in under 12-months with their first three satellites. Chris was able to touch every part of this business, from booking rockets to criss-crossing the globe in search of spots to communicate with space, and from building a talent engine for hiring to closing their first government customer. His tenure highlighted his ability to scale operations rapidly and effectively, a skill he later applied to a number of other ventures as employee, consultant, and advisor. 

In 2019, Chris established Atypical Ventures with a clear mission: to invest in technical experts that can inspire movements. These high EQ engineers are building solutions with the power to create and/or transform entire markets. Chris' unique approach combines capital with deep expertise in company building. The portfolio that Chris has built is truly atypical - diverse in its mix of companies, and yet unified in characteristics of every founder. Every founder could be described as an ‘Engineer [or Scientist] with Empathy’.  

One of Chris' noteworthy investments is Lonestar, the world's first data centre on the moon, which landed on the lunar surface in February 2024 as part of the historic US return to the lunar surface. The company will go to the moon again later this year (2024) with a full demonstration of its data centre capabilities. This groundbreaking project highlights Chris’ passion for plausible science fiction - technologies that push the boundaries of what is currently conceivable but remain firmly within the realm of possibility. And it highlights his ability to see past the splashy headlines toward businesses that serve a real, critical need. Lonestar represents a new frontier in data storage and management, leveraging the unique advantages of a lunar environment to provide unparalleled data security and access. Among their initial customers are State, Federal and National Government entities.  

Lonestar lander on the moon (image supplied)

Lonestar launch (image supplied)

Through his work at Atypical Ventures, Chris is not content to simply write checks. He provides hands-on mentoring to founders, helping them to turn their breakthrough innovations into large, enduring businesses. His emphasis on ‘Engineers with Empathy’ highlights the importance of soft skills in technical founders - traits that enable them to build strong, cohesive teams capable of executing complex visions.

By fostering a supportive environment for high-potential engineers, Chris Wake is investing in companies as well as the future of technological innovation.

Chris is also a big believer in Aotearoa NZ’s tremendous potential as a basecamp for innovation. In the consumer market space, he points out that NZ is a microcosm, similar to the US system, making it a perfect sandbox for testing, saying":

“Space and aerospace is a powerful opportunity for New Zealand, particularly given some of the infrastructure that has been laid and the cluster of aerospace and satellite companies on the ground.”

He also sees NZ as a unique platform for climate tech, an area the country could lead as a natural test case, given the healthy population and affinity to the land.

Chris is part of the Fellow group Piripiri, which had its Welcome Experience in 2018. Learn more about Chris via the Fellow Directory on our website.

Find out more about Atypical Ventures here, or follow their journey here.

A shorter version of this story appeared in the 2023/24 Hillary Institute & EHF Annual Report on page 25.