Atlas Venture announced today that serial entrepreneur Christopher Lynch has joined its investment team. Lynch, who was previously an entrepreneur-in-residence at Atlas, has a track record of success building and running companies from inception to global market leadership. He will concentrate on investment opportunities in Big Data and next-generation infrastructure innovation.

"Chris is the perfect complement to our team," said Jeff Fagnan of Atlas Venture. "He has been a force in the Boston technology community for years and we are thrilled to have him join us."

Prior to joining Atlas, Chris was CEO of Vertica Systems, where he led the company from late-stage startup to the number one ranked Big Data company in the market and its acquisition by HP in March of 2011. Prior to Vertica, Chris was SVP of Data Solutions at F5 Networks and was responsible for building the company's vision in the data management space -- a role he took on after the acquisition of Acopia Networks where he was President & CEO. Prior to Acopia, Lynch was VP of Sales and Marketing for Cisco's Content Management business post Cisco's $5.7B acquisition of Arrowpoint Communications where he led sales and marketing globally. Chris' track record of success continues back through Lucent which acquired Prominet, Bay Networks, Wellfleet Communications and Digital.

"After working with Atlas over the years and witnessing first-hand the team's entrepreneur-centric approach to investment and company development, it became clear this was a natural fit for me," said Lynch. "I'm looking forward to working with the team to identify, fund, and develop the next-generation of leading tech companies and entrepreneurs and to be part of the firm's momentum."

Chris is an advisor to many Boston-area startups and is a mentor to many of the region's entrepreneurs. He is currently on the Board of Hack/Reduce, a newly formed non-profit community space for developers in Cambridge; Chairman of Hadapt, a developer of Cloud-based adaptive analytical platform; and on the Board of Azuki Systems. Chris has also angel invested in several local companies including: Kinvey, PowerInbox, Mortar Data, and Solano Labs.

"Chris' energy, enthusiasm, and willingness to help people succeed are well known in the Boston tech scene," said Bob Brennan, CEO of Veracode and former CEO of Iron Mountain. "He is a proven entrepreneur and, with Atlas as his platform, he will quickly deepen his impact on the market."