Jim Matheson

Jim Matheson

Jim Matheson is a general partner at Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, MA. He joined Flagship in 2000 and focuses on new ventures in the IT and special technology (e.g. nano-technology, specialty materials, and energy) arenas. He brings to this task 20 years of technology and leadership experience across a variety of organizations and roles designing, engineering and deploying sophisticated technology platforms. Jim formerly served as a Navy fighter pilot including duties flying combat missions from aircraft carriers, and as a TOPGUN Instructor. He also gained broad experience in emerging weapons system design, testing and procurement, and was deeply involved in many of the military’s IT modernization initiatives.   

Jim earned an MBA from The Harvard Business School, and a Bachelor of Science (with honors) from the United States Naval Academy, and he continues to serve as a Commander in the US Naval Reserves. He serves on the boards of Flagship portfolio companies Avidimer Therapeutics, e-Dialog, Genstruct, Mascoma Energy Corporation, Novomer, Tira Wireless and vmSight, and is Chairman of the Board of Ze-gen. He was previously a director of Yantra (acquired by Sterling Commerce / SBC) and Flamenco Networks (acquired by SOA Software). Jim is on the Board of New York-based hedge fund Black Horse Capital, Common Impact (a non-profit providing IT services to other non-profits), and the Center for Women & Enterprise, and is actively involved in numerous entrepreneurial and venture capital organizations including the New England Clean Energy Council, the MIT Enterprise Forum, The Deshpande Center, and The Service Academy Business Network.

Recent posts

Water Mission to Israel (Day 4): Bringing It All Back Home
Wednesday, December 19th, marked the last day the full delegation was together in Israel. Several members headed for the airport to catch late-night flights after the final dinner, while a number... Read more »
Water Mission to Israel (Day 3): Startup Day in Startup Nation
Tuesday, December 18th, was the midpoint of the Mission agenda and the centerpiece event of the trip. The Massachusetts Delegation hosted the W.E.T. Revolution at Tel Aviv University in the lovely... Read more »
Water Mission to Israel (Day 2): Water Management Solutions at Scale
Monday in Israel started out quickly with the Massachusetts Water Delegation taking part in a global water market networking event with the CleanIsrael Meetup Group. CleanIsrael is a pan-Israel cleantech business... Read more »
Water Mission to Israel (Day 1): The Past and Present of the Israeli Water Story
I did say it was going to be a packed schedule, so here I am sitting down at 1am in Tel Aviv sharing the highlights of Day 1 of the... Read more »
Water Mission to Israel: Heading Over
It always plays out this way—a kernel of an idea starts the ball rolling, followed by months of increasingly refined planning, a flurry of activity in the endgame, and then it’s... Read more »
A Visit to the Capitol Markets (Part 4—Final Installment)
April 2—(I am back aboard Delta Airlines, this time in Seat 7B, slowly moving up in life…much smoother, too).
As expected, the two-day junket went quickly. Today was mainly a series... Read more »
A Visit to the Capitol Markets (Part 3)
~5pm, April 1—Outside the Library of Congress (it’s raining lightly, and hordes of students are milling about).
A full day of running around Capitol Hill began yesterday with the New England... Read more »
A Visit to the Capitol Markets (Part 2)
Spring has sprung in DC—the Cherry Blossoms are out, and the buses full of students are everywhere.
First stop for the day was Congressman Barney Frank’s office to discuss an initiative... Read more »
A Visit to the Capitol Markets
As I sit here in seat 8B on the 6:40am Delta Shuttle to DC, I am hoping the extraordinarily bumpy ride is not a harbinger of the prospects we face over... Read more »
Man on a Cleantech Mission: A VC Visits the U.K. (Final Day)
Manchester & Newcastle: Thursday, June 12
Final day on the trip for me—the remainder of the group will spend the final day in Newcastle tomorrow, which I am sorry to miss... Read more »
Man on a Cleantech Mission: A VC Visits the U.K. (Days Three and Four)
London, Cambridge, and Manchester: Tuesday and Wednesday, June 10-11 *
I am a day behind, so two days in one entry. We spent Tuesday morning at Imperial College London, then took... Read more »
Man on a Cleantech Mission: A VC Visits the U.K. (Day Two)
London: Monday, June 9th *
Day 1 started strong and stayed that way. A set of briefings and discussions at the U.K. Trade & Investment offices, a startup company pitch, coffee... Read more »
Man on a Cleantech Mission: A VC Visits the U.K. (Day One)
London: Sunday June 8, Noon *
We knew we had arrived when we came out of the underground station at Westminster and looked up at “Big Ben” and Parliament. We really... Read more »

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