We are happy to announce that Travis Blake has joined the Kairos team as the Principal for Physical Sciences, reporting to Jim Demetriades, Founder and Managing Partner.

In his new role, Travis will oversee the diverse portfolio of investments across the spectrum of physical science disciplines; each holding the promise of providing fundamental advancements to everyday life. His responsibilities include the end-to-end cycle of technology development and transition–from the identification of cutting-edge, new technologies with high impact potential to working daily with new companies as they transition from a possible incubation to a Series A investment.

“Kairos is defining the future of technology by a novel approach that invests and supports the best ideas from top research Universities and Institutions. As a technologist, how could you not be excited to be even a small part of this grand vision? I’m incredibly grateful to be able to bring any skills that I can to this challenge.”

Prior to joining Kairos, Travis was a Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin after enjoying a 20 year career in the United States Air Force. At Lockheed Martin, he provided management and oversight for internal research and development (R&D) investments and contracted R&D programs. Travis specialized in far-reaching architecture studies, utility and gap assessments, and technology development and demonstrations that created next-generation mission capabilities to support evolving customer needs.

A retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Travis was a Distinguished AFROTC graduate and held leadership positions in space launch, intelligence, R&D, and policy. He authored numerous national intelligence documents and while a DARPA Program Manager, he developed novel space technologies and led large portions of the space security portfolio. He completed his Air Force career at the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President for President Obama, where he developed empowering policies for all-aspects of air, space, and near-space technologies including aviation security, Planetary Defense, and hypersonics.

Travis has a Doctor of Philosophy and Masters in Electrical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology, the graduate school of the Air Force located at Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio. He earned his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering (with Honors) from the Georgia Institute of Technology.