Ryan Gembala

Ryan Gembala is a Venture Associate with Azure and is currently Vice President, Business Development at Telly, an Azure portfolio company. At Azure, Ryan focused on investments in the consumer internet, e-commerce, mobile, social, and SAAS sectors, working with portfolio companies including Telly, Open Road Media, Get Satisfaction, Education.com, TripIt (acquired by Concur), Switchfly (formerly EzRez) and BlogHer. Prior to Azure, Ryan worked in Business Development for Cooking.com and as the Lead Associate for Hyde Park Angels (HPA), a Chicago-based angel network, while in business school full-time. At HPA, he sourced and drove diligence on investments in the internet, media, and SAAS spaces including HPA’s Series A investment in Retel Technologies (Favo.rs). Ryan began his career as an entrepreneur, co-founding and serving as an executive director of H.E.R.O. for Children, the only U.S. non-profit focused on quality of life care for children affected by HIV/AIDS. Ryan built the organization to $1M in revenue, nearly $2.5M in funds raised, 400 children, 4,000 volunteers, celebrity involvement from Food Network’s Paula Deen and family, NCAA Coaches, and Miss Universe Natalie Glebova, and Morgan Stanley, UPS, and All State as sponsors. For his success with H.E.R.O., Ryan was featured by CNN and Business Week and was the youngest named to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “40 Under 40.” Ryan holds his M.B.A. in Finance and Entrepreneurship from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, during which he won the International Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), and he graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors from the University of Georgia Terry College of Business.