Biography
Chris McGowan is the General Partner of CJM Ventures (“CJMV”), a Chicago growth equity and private equity investment firm.
McGowan’s private equity career began 31 years ago with AEA Investors in New York City, after earning an undergraduate degree in theoretical mathematics from Columbia University’s College of Arts and Sciences, and following two years of mergers and acquisitions training at Morgan Stanley.
After completing an MBA at Harvard Business School, he joined Madison Dearborn Partners (“MDP”) in Chicago, where he co-headed their basic industries practice for the last five years of his 12-year career there. At MDP, he oversaw more than $2 billion of equity investments focused on buyouts and growth equity globally in the industrial, consumer, and energy & power sectors. He continues to serve on the Board of prior MDP portfolio company Boise Cascade (former Chairman of Audit Committee, NYSE: BCC) and formerly served on or advised the boards of Smurfit Westrock (NYSE: SW, f.k.a. Smurfit Kappa Group), BWAY Holdings, FirstWind, US Power Generating, OPENLANE, The Illinois Venture Capital Association, and others.
In 2011, with the help of MDP leadership and mentors, McGowan formed CJMV, an investment firm focused on (i) management buyouts of and (ii) growth equity and venture capital investments in companies located near Chicago and London. CJMV's current portfolio includes OPTO International, an Illinois-based manufacturer of retail shelving and display systems; Cedar Capital, a Chicago-based asset management firm; and Ingenica Solutions, a UK-based health care information technology company. CJMV’s former portfolio companies include Autism Home Support Services (“AHSS”), the largest provider in Illinois of home-based therapy for children on the autism spectrum. He is also a current Board member of Author Capital Partners, Consumer Ventures, Innovare, Leadership Lyceum, MetalSoft, Orchard Investment Partners, Salem Cyber and is a Board observer for Psycle London. He is a former Board member of 8th Light, Just Hot Tubs, Kenna Security (acquired by Cisco), Kinzie Capital, Rise Interactive (acquired by Quad), Simple Mills (recapitalized by Vestar, acquired by Flowers), SonarMed (acquired by Medtronic) and Spikeball.
Since Spring 2012, McGowan has taught at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business (“Booth”), and currently serves there as an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship, and as an Investor in Residence and Faculty Advisor to Booth’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In the Fall of 2025, he begins his 15th year teaching Booth’s Sterling Partners Investment Thesis Challenge (“SPITC”) and his 13th year teaching Booth’s Private Equity / Venture Capital Lab. He is also conducting the 11th year of the Booth Private Equity Case Challenge (f.k.a. Oxford-Chicago Global Private Equity Challenge).
McGowan is an active angel investor and serves as Chairman of the Limited Partner Advisory Committee for Hyde Park Venture Partners Fund I (and a member of their Fund II, Fund III, Fund IV and Opportunity Fund’s Boards), and as Chairman of the Advisory Board for Valley Growth Ventures. He is former member of Hyde Park Angels’ Board of Directors and Portfolio Advisory Board. His angel investments include Aero Design Labs, Agent.ai, AIM Clinics, Alnair Therapeutics, AuditSight, Awakened Foods, BallotReady, Blueprint, Book Main, Branch Messenger, Brilliant, Catalytic, Chowbus, Clearcover, Clostrabio, Clyde, Codeverse, Cohesion, Colony Display, DAOHQ, Dispatch, EVA Automation, ExplORer, Farmers Fridge, FarmLogs, Fillow, Flow Medical, FourKites, Frank, GeoFeedia, Havoc Shield, Hologram, Human Predictions, Kaizen Health, Klover, LandscapeHub, Lightpoint Medical, Live Time, LivNow Relocation, Luxury Garage Sale, Made In Cookware, Main Street Legacy, Market Wagon, Markit, MAX Analytical, MetalSoft Cloud, Nanograph, nOCD, Noirefy, NuCurrent, Occasion, Ocient, Pacha Soap, Packback, Pangea, ParkWhiz/Arrive, PartySlate, Polyphotonix, Pop Wheels, PopularPays, Provi, Resonado, Rheaply, ShipBob, Sifter, Stacked, StreamLink, Stroma Vision, Techstars, Tenacity Cloud, ThinkCerca, TonDone, Torus, TractorZoom, TransparentC, Troveo AI, Truss, TurboAppeal, Vertex, Woodlawn Sheer, YCharts and Zentro.
McGowan married his high school and college sweetheart, Sandy Wang, and they have three children who attended the University of Chicago’s Laboratory Schools (“Lab”), including two who later attended Walter Payton College Prep. At Lab, McGowan served for nine years on its Board of Directors including four years leading Lab’s Development Committee (two as Chair, two as Co-Chair), including oversight for Lab , the School’s $80 million capital campaign. Sandy and Chris are currently in their second year as Co-Chairs of the Columbia College Parents Leadership Council and previously served two years as Chairs of the Yale Parents Leadership Council. Chris also completed his fifth year as President of Friends of Walter Payton College Prep (and former Chair, Annual Fund), and now serves on the Board of the YMCA of Greater New York, and on the SHSAA Board of Trustees for Stuyvesant High School, where he attended with Sandy in New York City.
In 2025, McGowan created and taught Columbia University’s inaugural Lionsbridge Finance Workshop, a 27-hour in-person program for 52 Columbia first- and second-years which introduces undergraduates to the world of finance via crash courses in accounting, financial statement analysis and valuation, and networking visits to some of the world’s leading finance firms in New York City.
Academic Areas
- Entrepreneurship