# Chris Ellis

> Chris Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of Thatch, a San Francisco healthtech-meets-fintech company that lets employers hand workers tax-free dollars to buy and manage their own health benefits through ICHRA. A former cancer researcher who started at MIT and studied at Duke, Ellis lost his father to cancer at age six, an experience that shaped both his skepticism of the healthcare system and his drive to rebuild how it is paid for. Founded in 2021 with Adam Stevenson, Thatch now serves more than 1,000 companies and raised a $40M Series B led by Index Ventures in April 2025, on top of an earlier $38M Series A, with backing from a16z, General Catalyst, and Google Ventures.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Thatch
- **Organizations:** Thatch, Agilent Technologies, SOPHiA GENETICS, MIT, Duke University
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science, Duke University, Master of Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Thatch to more than 1,000 customer companies, Raised roughly $84M in total funding across Series A and Series B rounds, Built a founding team drawn from Stripe, Robinhood, Shopify, and Ramp

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Cancer researcher, beginning at MIT, later helping oncologists match patients to clinical trials
- **Mid career** — Built and led the sales team at SOPHiA GENETICS, selling clinical software to health systems
- **Pre-2021** — Worked at biotech firm Agilent Technologies in market strategy and business development roles
- **2021** — Co-founded Thatch with Adam Stevenson
- **2023** — Launched the Thatch platform in late 2023, onboarding 100+ paying companies within months
- **2024** — Raised $38M Series A at a ~$135M valuation, led by Index Ventures with a16z and General Catalyst
- **2025** — Raised $40M Series B led by Index Ventures (~$400M valuation); hired former UnitedHealthcare CEO Gary Daniels as Chief Growth Officer

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Thatch to more than 1,000 customer companies
- Raised roughly $84M in total funding across Series A and Series B rounds
- Built a founding team drawn from Stripe, Robinhood, Shopify, and Ramp
- Helped popularize ICHRA (Individual Coverage HRA) as a mainstream benefits model for startups and small businesses
- Named speaker at Transform 2025 on the future of employer health benefits

## Latest updates

- **2025-04** — Thatch raised a $40M Series B led by Index Ventures at a reported ~$400M valuation and added former UnitedHealthcare CEO Gary Daniels as Chief Growth Officer.
- **2025** — Thatch expanded its Marketplace, connecting employees to digital health services such as therapy, fertility care, and other benefits using surplus defined-contribution funds.

## Links

- Website: https://thatch.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-ellis-thatch

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/chris-ellis
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14