Chris Kelly

Chris Kelly is a senior executive with more than 25 years’ experience in general management, corporate development, finance, and global operations. He has started several companies and has been brought in by the boards of startups to drive growth.

Chris co-founded Xlibris Corporation, the first self-publishing technology company which was sold to Penguin Random House. As CEO he led Ribonomics, a Duke biotechnology company that was sold to MBL International. He co-founded Galaxy Diagnostics, an infectious disease company spun out of the veterinary school at NC State. As CEO, he led Galaxy through two rounds of seed-stage funding and to initial operations and sales.

Mr. Kelly is a veteran of more than 70 strategic transactions and acquisitions across four continents in industries as diverse as drug discovery, digital therapeutics, internet, molecular and POC diagnostics, composite materials, agtech, medical devices, and business services. Early in his career, he held senior finance and operations roles at Alco Standard and Oracle Corporation. Kelly began his career at Deloitte and – amazingly – is a certified public accountant. He has earned degrees from Villanova University and the University of North Carolina.