Threshold Expands to New York, Adds Megan Kelly to the Team

Threshold Ventures
Threshold Ventures
Published in
3 min readOct 28, 2021

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By Emily Melton, Partner

All of us, from our portfolio company founders to the team here at Threshold, have learned new ways of working over the past 18 months, but one thing remains clear: you can’t replace human connections. They are vital to our team and the entrepreneurs we invest in.

We’re in the business of working closely with our founders and have observed that some of the best collaboration happens in person. Historically, our physical footprint has been in the San Francisco Bay Area; however, New York-based companies are a growing force in our portfolio, and over 40% of the founders we’ve backed from our current fund are on the East Coast.

We’re excited to be closer to our portfolio as well as the next generation of great founders, so today, we’re thrilled to announce that our partner Chirag Chotalia is relocating to New York to open a new Threshold office.

Chirag has been with the team since 2016, living in the Bay Area while building a strong East Coast network. He has been active in the New York ecosystem and led Threshold’s investment in BentoBox (recently acquired by Fiserv, Inc.). Prior to joining Threshold, Chirag invested in Casper and PureWow. Relocating Chirag to New York will allow Threshold to further tap burgeoning investment opportunities in early-stage companies. By putting down roots in New York, Threshold will be able to act even more swiftly while sustaining the people-first focus we’re known for.

Welcome Megan Kelly

Megan Kelly joins Threshold as first New York-based principal

Joining Chirag as our first New York-based principal is new hire Megan Kelly, who comes to us from First Round Capital. In addition to her most recent role as an investor at First Round, Megan cut her teeth in the startup world at Arianna Huffington’s Thrive Global and held both investing and operating roles at JP Morgan. Together, Chirag and Megan — along with the entire Threshold team — will support existing founders and invest in the next wave of compelling businesses. We’re ecstatic to have Megan on board.

Threshold is very involved in the rapidly growing healthcare and wellness community in New York. We’re proud to be early and active investors in local companies such as Calibrate, Clearing, Imagen, Tia, and more. Our New York team will also be on the lookout for founders innovating in proptech and vertical SaaS markets — two areas where Chirag has been actively making investments in companies, including AutoLeap, Avenue8, Divvy, and Loftium.

Investment Activity in New York is Up

Today, New York-based investors are funding US-based companies at nearly the same rate as Bay Area investors. Companies such as Flatiron, Peloton, Oscar, Datadog, and Compass are paving the way for the next generation of startups in New York.

Our NY presence is just getting started. Over time, we aim to build a deeper position in the ecosystem, partnering with angels and seed funds to back tomorrow’s great founders.

We’re excited to see our team and portfolio grow in New York!

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