# Chris Downer

> Chris Downer is a Series A investor at Brewer Lane Ventures backing Insurance and Finance. See 4 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Brewer Lane Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/brewer-lane-ventures)
- Location: San Francisco, United States
- Total investments: 4
- Last investment: May 2026
- Lead investor: 100%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-downer-2275bb62/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/chriscdowner
- Website: https://x.com/chriscdowner

Chris Downer is a Series A investor at Brewer Lane Ventures in San Francisco focused on Insurance and Finance. Chris is the General Partner at Brewer Lane Ventures. Chris graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College, with a BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a minor in History.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Insurance | 2 | 50% |
| Finance | 1 | 25% |
| InsurTech | 1 | 25% |
| Service Industry | 1 | 25% |
| Financial Services | 1 | 25% |

8 industries tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 2 | 50% |
| Switzerland | 1 | 25% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Novella | Novella is an InsurTech company that develops products for general liability, commercial property, and Lloyd's of London using AI. | $21M | Series A | May 14, 2026 |  |
| Dispatch | Dispatch helps independent financial advisors to build ideal firms through strategic investments and advanced technology. | $18M | Series A | Sep 04, 2025 |  |
| Ennabl | It is a unified platform that applies insight and automation to accelerate the ability of insurance brokers. | $8M | Series A | Jul 25, 2023 |  |
| Stonestep | Stonestep is a Swiss-based insurtech firm that is changing how insurance is delivered in emerging markets. With its ‘Microinsurance as a Service’ platform, Stonestep enables mobile network operators, retailers and other corporations to easily diversify their services and generate additional revenue, by offering risk products designed to address theneeds of first-generation insurance customers at an affordable price. | $4M | Series A |  |  |

4 of 4 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Altai Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/altai-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Arch Capital Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/arch-capital-group) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Avid Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/avid-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Blank Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blank-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [BoxGroup](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/boxgroup) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Crystal Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/crystal-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Brewer Lane Ventures

VC Fund · Boston, United States

Brewer Lane Ventures is an early-stage venture capital fund backing founders transforming the insurance and finance industries. Their investment philosophy is that technology should be used to improve people’s lives, and they partner with founders determined to transform the market for companies and consumers alike. It was founded in 2019 andheadquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

5 contacts available at Brewer Lane Ventures.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Chris Downer | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/chris-downer |
| John Y. Kim | Founder and Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/john-y-kim |
| Martha Notaras | Managing Partner; Managing Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/martha-notaras |
| Rohan Malhotra | General Partner | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rohan-malhotra-5 |
| Stephen Sotiriou | Investor | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stephen-sotiriou |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Chris Downer invest in?

Chris Downer invests primarily in Insurance, Finance and InsurTech startups, most often at Series A stage. Most of the 4 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Chris Downer last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Chris Downer closed in May 2026. Shizune tracks 4 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co