Christopher Saunders

Saunders began in Price Waterhouse’s multinational public-company audit practice in Chicago, where he spent six years. He later served as vice president of finance at SupplyPro.⁠[1][2]

He spent 14 years at QualcommQualcommQualcomm is a semiconductor and wireless technology company headquartered in San Diego, California. Founded in 1985 by Irwin Jacobs and six other former Linkabit colleagues, it built its business on CDMA technology and now rests on two pillars: its Snapdragon chip platforms and the licensing of cellular standard-essential patents. It has faced antitrust investigations and litigation in many jurisdictions, and in recent years has expanded into automotive, IoT, PCs and AI data centers.Open the full entry, with finance responsibilities spanning Qualcomm Life, Snaptracs, Qualcomm Labs, FLO TV and Qualcomm Ventures, including developing businesses and investment activities.⁠[2]

As CFO of Capsule Technologies, Saunders helped oversee its carve-out from Qualcomm. On February 11, 2019, Francisco Partners announced the acquisition of Qualcomm Life and its separation and renaming as Capsule Technologies, retaining the Capsule and 2net businesses.⁠[3][4]

SmartDrive Systems appointed Saunders CFO. The company provided fleet video safety and transportation analytics; his background covered financial reporting, planning, management and acquisitions.⁠[2]

During his tenure, an Omnitracs subsidiary acquired SmartDrive on October 1, 2020, for aggregate consideration of $450 million. CrunchbaseCrunchbaseCrunchbase is a private-company data and intelligence platform headquartered in San Francisco. It launched in 2007 as TechCrunch’s startup database, and its own company profile lists Michael Arrington as founder. It passed to AOL with TechCrunch in 2010 and was spun out of AOL/Verizon in 2015 with backing from Emergence Capital, with Jager McConnell as CEO; it has since raised more than $100 million and launched Pro, Enterprise, API and Crunchbase News products. Since 2025 it has focused on using AI to forecast private companies’ funding, growth and exits, delivering its data through MCP, APIs and third-party AI platforms.Open the full entry’s later appointment announcement credited Saunders with a role in the sale.⁠[5][4]

Crunchbase announced Saunders as CFO, responsible for financial strategy, planning and operations. The appointment followed the company’s repositioning around AI-powered predictive intelligence, with a remit to support expansion and financial management.⁠[4]

He earned a BS in accounting from Boston College. Capsule’s official biography states that he has held CPA licenses in Illinois and California.⁠[1]

His career is associated with Crunchbase, SmartDrive Systems, Capsule Technologies, Qualcomm and SupplyPro. His public professional account is chris-saunders-6213bb149 on LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry.⁠[6][4][2]