Five Elms Capital

Matt is the co-founder and Managing General Partner of Village Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, where he oversees the firm’s investment strategy in financial services and technology-enabled business services. He is responsible for Village Ventures’ current investments in Bluetarp Financial, Swift Financial, Vico Software, OnDeck Capital and TxVia, Inc.

Harris began his career as a consultant at Bain & Company, Boston. In 1995, he signed on as an associate with Bain Capital. At Bain Capital, Harris’ most notable transactions included the $1.1 billion purchase and subsequent sale of a credit-reporting agency, and the $90 million purchase of a medical products distributor.

Harris left Bain Capital in 1997 to become the founding Managing Director of The Berkshires Capital Investors, a venture capital fund associated with Williams College. Under Harris’ leadership, BCI’s first fund of $5 million invested in 12 companies, with eight successful exits to date. The BCI organization, now a Village Ventures affiliate, has gone on to raise an additional $60 million.

Harris graduated from Williams College and is active in the business community of Williamstown and Berkshire County. He has served as Chair of Mass Competitive Council for Berkshire County, an economic development initiative sponsored by the governor of Massachusetts, and serves as a Board Member of the John Adams Innovation Institute and a member of the Renewable Energy Industry Support Advisory Board.

Harris is a member of the NYC Seed Advisory Board, a Trustee for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, President of the Board of the Williamstown Theatre Festival and a founding Board Member and Treasurer of Camp Starfish, a camp for troubled and disadvantaged youth outside Boston, MA.