Starting Line, one of Chicago's top up-and-coming VC firms, has added tech veteran Scott Holloway as its next general partner.
Holloway now joins Starting Line full time as a GP after joining the firm a year and a half ago as a venture partner.
His journey to venture capital comes after helping lead several big-name tech startups. He was the 10th employee at Instacart and launched the startup's first office outside of Silicon Valley. He then moved to Flexport, where he managed the logistics startup's 200-person Chicago and Dallas offices. He then joined Chicago startup Foxtrot in 2020 as its SVP of growth and product before leaving the fast-growing company last month to go full-time at Starting Line.
Starting Line founder Ezra Galston said Holloway is "hands down the leading operator and growth executive in the city of Chicago."
Galston, a former investor at Chicago Ventures, launched Starting Line's debut $17 million fund in 2019 and followed with a $30 million fund in 2021.
Starting Line has quickly established itself among the top early stage venture funds in Chicago, with early bets in startups like Made In Cookware, an Austin pots and pans company, and Protégé, an ambitious new Chicago startup that connects up-and-coming talent with celebrities, coaches and other top experts who can provide feedback and mentorship.
Starting Line also led Cameo's seed round and was one of the celebrity shoutout app's first outside investors. Last year Cameo raised $100 million at a valuation of more than $1 billion.
Holloway adds to Starting Line's full-time staff, which includes GP Haley Kwait Zollo, an early Trunk Club employee, and venture partner Ade Olonoh, the founder of Formstack and Formspring.
