Overview
Ryan is a macro-driven investor focused on HardTech and DefenseTech, backing frontier builders riding the tailwinds of global geopolitics and industrial transformation. He looks for companies tackling mission-critical challenges in national security, reindustrialization, and energy.
Prior to joining Alumni Ventures, Ryan co-founded and served as Chief Operating Officer of Cityline Technologies (acquired by RentButter), an AI underwriting software in the real estate space. He scaled the business across North America, spearheading all business operations and fundraising.
Ryan holds a MSc with Distinction from the University of Oxford, where his research focused on Saudi Arabian developmental economics, and a BA from Cornell University, where he double majored in Near Eastern Studies and History. He loves learning languages (fluent Arabic, intermediate Italian, and beginner Korean) and is an avid skier and guitar player. He is a Fellow at The Economic Club of New York.
Funds Actively Worked On
- Blue Ivy Ventures
- Nassau Street Ventures
- US Strategic Tech Fund
Investment Area Of Focus
At Alumni Ventures, Ryan leads efforts across advanced manufacturing, supply chain, and maritime technologies. In an era of seismic shifts in global trade, supply-chain realignment, and heightened great-power competition, he sees unprecedented opportunities for startups to modernize logistics, shipbuilding, and infrastructure—key pillars of resilience. As the world’s economic architecture stares down a once-in-a- generation makeover, he believes startups are indeed best positioned to act, react, solve, and ultimately benefit from the disorder.
Ryan led Alumni Ventures’ investment in HavocAI, a leading unmanned surface vessel (USV) manufacturer that is redefining naval warfare and fleet protection; Abyss Defense, a shipbuilding-focused advanced manufacturing startup; and PDW, a category-defining defense drone business.
