Where does Chris Rust work?

Chris Rust is General Partner at Clear Ventures and Board director at Espresa and Board director at Arrcus.

What check size does Chris Rust write?

Chris Rust typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.

What boards does Chris Rust sit on?

Chris Rust holds tracked board seats at Arrcus, Espresa, Tignis.

Where did Chris Rust go to school?

Chris Rust studied at University of Colorado Boulder (Master of Engineering (MEng), Engineering Management); University of Colorado Boulder (Master of Science (MS), Telecommunications Engineering); University of Massachusetts Lowell (Master of Science (MS), Electrical Engineering).

Chris Rust

InvestorFounder

General Partner at Clear Ventures · Board director at Espresa · Board director at Arrcus

Menlo Park, California, United States

Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $2M

About

Christopher Rust pairs engineering leadership—as co‑founder and lead architect of Roadrunner (scaled to 14M subscribers and tied to Charter’s $56.7B acquisition)—with 14–16 years at Sequoia/USVP and first 24 exits >$32B.

Invests in

AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareSaaSSemiconductors

Board director at Espresa

Intro paths

→

In turn, Chris can intro founders to Espresa's investors below.

Espresa's investors · 7

Blumberg CapitalMiami · $500K – $5M checks · since 2025 Clear VenturesPalo Alto · $100K – $5M checks · since 2025 Crosslink CapitalSan Francisco · $1M – $9M checks Gradient VenturesSan Francisco · $100K – $10M checks · since 2025 Moneta VCTel Aviv-Yafo · $500K – $1M checks New Era Capital PartnersTel Aviv · since 2019 Ridge VenturesSan Francisco · $2M – $7M checks

Co-founders at Espresa

Alex ShubatCEO & Co-Founder

Raghavan MenonCTO & Co-Founder

Board director at Arrcus

Intro paths

→

In turn, Chris can intro founders to Arrcus's investors below.

Arrcus's investors · 7

Clear VenturesPalo Alto · $100K – $5M checks · since 2021 General CatalystSan Francisco · $30M checks Hitachi VenturesMunich Lightspeed Venture PartnersMenlo Park · $1.7M – $87M checks · since 2021 NVIDIASanta Clara · since 2026 Prosperity7 VenturesDhahran SoftBank GroupTokyo

Co-founders at Arrcus

Keyur PatelDirector

Derek YeungFounder

Experience

Cynch AIFounding investor, Board Membercurrent2023 — presentSan Francisco Bay Area
GEn1E Lifesciences Inc.Seed investor, Advisorcurrent2021 — presentPalo Alto, California, United States
LiltInvestment Teamcurrent2021 — presentPalo Alto, CA
Avicena TechFounding Investor, Board Membercurrent2019 — presentMountain View, CA
Concentric.AISeed investor, Board Membercurrent2019 — presentSunnyvale, California, United States
Clear VenturesPartnercurrent2016 — presentPalo Alto, California
Atmosic TechnologiesFounding Investor, Advisorcurrent2017 — presentSaratoga, California
ArrcusFounding Investor, Board Membercurrent2016 — presentSilicon Valley, California
OmioSeries A Investor, Advisorcurrent2014 — presentBerlin, Germany
Swift NavigationAdvisor, Series A Investorcurrent2015 — presentSan Francisco, California
EspresaSeed investor, Board Membercurrent2017 — presentPalo Alto, CA
MEXTFounding Investor, Board Member (acquired by AMD)2024 — 2026Palo Alto, CA
Wherobots.AIFounding Investor, Board Member2022 — 2026San Francisco, California, United States
AICRETEFounding investor, Board Member2022 — 2026Richmond, CA
Frore SystemsFounding Investor, Advisor2018 — 2026San Jose, CA
AcanteFounding investor, Board Member (acquired by Concentric.AI)2021 — 2025Palo Alto, CA
TignisSeed investor, Board Member (acquired by Cohu)2019 — 2025Seattle, WA
Robin.ioSeries A Investor, Advisor (acquired by Rakuten)2014 — 2022Milpitas, CA
ReflektionSeries A Investor, Advisor (acquired by SiteCore)2013 — 2021San Mateo, CA
ZertoBoard Observer, Advisor (acquired by HPE)2011 — 2019Herzelia, Israel | USVP
GoProAdvisor, Series A Investor, Board Observer (IPO GPRO)2008 — 2013San Mateo, CA | USVP
U.S. Venture PartnersPartner2004 — 2013Menlo Park, CA
AppthorityInvestment Team & Series A Co-Sponsor (acquired by Symantec)2012San Francisco, California | USVP
AltoBeam Inc.Investment Team & Series B Co-Sponsor2010Beijing, China | USVP
Dune NetworksBoard Member (acquired by Broadcom)2007 — 2010Yakum Industrial Park, Israel | USVP
OptichronInvestment Team & Series D Co-Sponsor (acquired by NetLogic)2009Pasadena, California | USVP
TrusteerInvestment Team & Series A Co-Sponsor (acquired by IBM)2008Nahalat Yitzhak, Tel Aviv District, Israel | USVP
LVL7 SystemsBoard Member (acquired by Broadcom)2005 — 2007Raleigh-Durham, NC | USVP
Commerce5Board Member (acquired by Digital River)2005Mission Viejo, CA | USVP
Mahi NetworksFounding Investor, Board Member (acquired by Meriton)1999 — 2005Petaluma, CA | Sequoia Capital
Afara WebSystemsFounding Investor, Board Member (acquired by Sun Microsystems)2000 — 2002Sunnyvale, CA | Sequoia Capital
Sequoia CapitalPartner1998 — 2002Menlo Park, CA
Turin NetworksFounding Investor, Board Member (merged with Force10 Systems)1999 — 2002Petaluma, CA | Sequoia Capital
TeleraFounding Investor, Board Observer (acquired by Alcatel)1998 — 2002Campbell, CA | Sequoia Capital
MellanoxFounding Investor, Board Observer (IPO MLNX, then acquired by NVidia)1999 — 2002Yokneam, Israel | Sequoia Capital
Nexsi SystemsBoard Member (acquired by Juniper Networks)2000 — 2001San Jose, CA | Sequoia Capital
VxTelBoard Member (acquired by Intel Corporation)1999 — 2001Freemont, CA | Sequoia Capital
SwitchOn NetworksFounding Investor, Board Member (acquired by PMC Sierra)1999 — 2000San Jose, CA | Sequoia Capital
SpringbankFounding Investor (acquired by Cacheflow)2000Menlo Park, CA | Sequoia Capital
AbrizioFounding Investor, Board Observer (acquired by PMC Sierra)1998 — 2000Mountain View, CA | Sequoia Capital

Education

University of Colorado BoulderMaster of Engineering (MEng), Engineering Management2000 — 2003
University of Colorado BoulderMaster of Science (MS), Telecommunications Engineering1989 — 1991
University of Massachusetts LowellMaster of Science (MS), Electrical Engineering1987 — 1988
University of Massachusetts LowellBachelor of Science (BS), Electrical Engineering1983 — 1987

Skills & more

Strategy60Leadership37Team Leadership2Enterprise Software74SaaS57Databases4Software as a Service (SaaS)2Artificial Intelligence (AI)1Digital Twins1Industrial Process Control1Board of DirectorsSemiconductor Manufacturing

+12 more

Start-upsCloud ComputingStrategic PartnershipsTelecommunicationsProduct ManagementBusiness DevelopmentMobile DevicesVenture CapitalSemiconductorsNetworkingData CenterProduct Marketing

Engineer-In-Training 1987 — United Latino Students Association

From Chris's professional profile.

Deals · 3

EspresaBoard seat

via Clear Ventures · filed May 2025 · $5M raise

ArrcusBoard seat

via Clear Ventures · filed Oct 2021 · $28.4M raise

TignisBoard seat

via Clear Ventures · filed May 2019 · $4.7M raise

Attribution from SEC filings, press coverage, and firm rosters.

Colleagues at Clear Ventures

Adam

Advisor at Clear Ventures

Ali Khan

Advisor at Clear Ventures

Andrew

Advisor at Clear Ventures

Anthony A.

Fellow at Clear Ventures

Arhaan A.

Deeptech Fellow at Clear Ventures

Aryan Gulati

Fellow at Clear Ventures

Atharva Kulkarni

Fellow at Clear Ventures

Aysha

Advisor at Clear Ventures

Frequently asked questions

Who is Chris Rust?: Christopher Rust pairs engineering leadership—as co‑founder and lead architect of Roadrunner (scaled to 14M subscribers and tied to Charter’s $56.7B acquisition)—with 14–16 years at Sequoia/USVP and first 24 exits >$32B.
Where does Chris Rust work?: Chris Rust is General Partner at Clear Ventures and Board director at Espresa and Board director at Arrcus.
What does Chris Rust invest in?: Chris Rust invests in AI & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Deep Tech, Enterprise Software, SaaS, Semiconductors.
What check size does Chris Rust write?: Chris Rust typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.
What boards does Chris Rust sit on?: Chris Rust holds tracked board seats at Arrcus, Espresa, Tignis.
Where did Chris Rust go to school?: Chris Rust studied at University of Colorado Boulder (Master of Engineering (MEng), Engineering Management); University of Colorado Boulder (Master of Science (MS), Telecommunications Engineering); University of Massachusetts Lowell (Master of Science (MS), Electrical Engineering).