Austin McChord

Austin McChord (born October 8, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and computer engineer. He founded Datto, a data backup company, in 2007 and served as its CEO until 2018. By 2015, Datto became Connecticut's first unicorn company with a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The company was sold to Vista Equity Partners in 2017 for approximately $1.5 billion, went public in 2020, and was ultimately acquired by Kaseya in 2022 for $6.2 billion.

Since leaving Datto, McChord has become CEO of Casana, a healthcare technology company developing in-home health monitoring devices, and co-founded Outsiders Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm. He also founded the National Havoc Robot League, a robot combat organization. He developed an interest in technology in third grade, when his school had him use a computer to compensate for his poor handwriting. He soon began learning to program and wrote games to play during class.

Career

Datto

While still attending college in the summer of 2007, the 21-year-old McChord began developing a data recovery and backup device in his father's civil engineering office basement in Wilton, Connecticut. He fashioned his first product using Linksys parts, Lego pieces, hot glue, a soldering iron, and custom software. By 2015, the company had achieved a valuation exceeding $1 billion, making it Connecticut's first unicorn.

In December 2017, Datto was sold to Vista Equity Partners for approximately $1.5 billion and merged with Autotask, with McChord appointed CEO of the combined company. McChord stepped down as CEO in October 2018, with Tim Weller succeeding him, but remained on the board of directors. McChord participated in the opening bell ceremony alongside CEO Tim Weller.

Casana's primary product is the Heart Seat, a smart toilet seat that monitors cardiovascular health metrics including heart rate and blood oxygen saturation without requiring any action from the user. The device received FDA 510(k) clearance in May 2023 for measuring heart rate and oxygen saturation, becoming the first smart toilet seat to receive such approval.

Casana has raised more than $46 million in funding, including a $14 million Series A round led by General Catalyst and Outsiders Fund in 2021, and a $30 million Series B round led by Morningside in 2022.

Outsiders Fund McChord is a co-founder and managing director of Outsiders Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm established in 2020. The firm focuses on identifying opportunities where technology can disrupt traditional, incumbent industries, seeking founders with unconventional backgrounds. The league hosts tournaments featuring robots in 3-pound, 12-pound, and 30-pound weight classes competing in enclosed arenas.

McChord has used NHRL as a vehicle for philanthropy, pledging $1 million in 2022 to STEM charities chosen by championship finalists, with additional $1 million grants to collegiate robotics teams in 2023. McChord occasionally competes in NHRL events with unconventional robots incorporating liquid nitrogen or jet engines. The donation funded the creation of RIT's Global Cybersecurity Institute (GCI), contributed to The SHED (Student Hall for Exploration and Development), and established the Gap Year Entrepreneurship Fellows Program.

McChord also established four endowed awards at RIT, naming them after his grade school teachers from Newtown, Connecticut: the John Vouros Endowed Scholarship, Al Washicko Endowed Professorship, Kevin O'Sullivan Endowed Professorship, and Jennifer Tarabulski Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Cybersecurity.

Honors and awards 2015 – Forbes 30 Under 30 in Enterprise Technology 2015 – Connecticut Magazine 40 Under 40 2016 – Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, New York (Technology) His hobbies include building drones and robots.

In 2024, the McChords established Manresa Island Corporation, a nonprofit organization with plans to transform Manresa Island in Norwalk, the site of a decommissioned power plant, into a publicly accessible park.