Walter Kortschak, Founder

I founded Kortschak Investments in 2010 because I love helping entrepreneurs build enduring businesses. I also spend time as executive chairman of SignalFire, a data-driven venture capital firm.

For over 3 decades, I have been privileged to work with many outstanding entrepreneurs as an advisor, board member and lead investor. In total, 23 of my companies have completed successful IPOs and 29 have been acquired, returning over $7.8 billion of value to investors.

Aside from investing, I have been incredibly fortunate to serve as a trustee at Caltech. The amazing faculty and students inspire me and I am constantly in awe of their creativity and intelligence.

I spent 26 years at Summit Partners, where I served as managing partner responsible for establishing the firm’s West Coast investment presence and growing the firm from $100 million under management to over $20 billion. Before Summit, I worked at Crosspoint Venture Partners as an associate. I earned a BS from Oregon State University and an MS from Caltech, both in engineering, and an MBA from UCLA.

My wife, Marcia and I are active philanthropists having founded the Kortschak Scholars Program for Ph.D. students in computer science at Caltech and the USC Kortschak Center for Learning and Creativity. We also endowed the Division Chair in Film and Television Production at USC Cinematic Arts.