# Ryan Begin

> Ryan Begin is the co-founder and CEO of Divert, a Concord, Massachusetts impact-technology company that grew from a two-person idea in 2007 into a nationwide network of anaerobic digestion facilities. Divert prevents wasted food across roughly 7,800 retail locations, donates edible surplus, and turns the rest into renewable natural gas. A Maine native and Clarkson-trained electrical engineer, Begin left Raytheon to build the company alongside co-founder Nick Whitman.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Divert, Inc.
- **Organizations:** Divert, Inc., Forbes Technology Council
- **From:** Maine, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S., Electrical Engineering, Clarkson University, M.S., Electrical Engineering, Clarkson University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Divert to 14 facilities and roughly 7,800 customer locations across the U.S., Secured a $1B infrastructure agreement with Enbridge to scale anaerobic digestion, Raised $100M growth equity led by Ara Partners

## Career timeline

- **pre-2007** — Lead engineer at Proton Energy Systems (now Nel Hydrogen); delivered the first zero-carbon PEM electrolyzer for a fuel-cell bus in Barth, Germany, and on-site hydrogen systems in Nikopol, Ukraine.
- **pre-2007** — Senior Systems Engineer and Laboratory Manager at Raytheon.
- **2007** — Co-founded Divert, Inc. with Nick Whitman.
- **2023** — Announced $100M growth-equity investment led by Ara Partners and a $1B infrastructure agreement with Enbridge.
- **2023** — Broke ground on Longview, Washington wasted-food processing facility.
- **2024-2026** — Continued expansion of nationwide anaerobic-digestion network; Divert reports processing 2.3B lbs of wasted food and donating 9.6M meals.

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Divert to 14 facilities and roughly 7,800 customer locations across the U.S.
- Secured a $1B infrastructure agreement with Enbridge to scale anaerobic digestion
- Raised $100M growth equity led by Ara Partners
- Divert has processed 2.3 billion pounds of wasted food and donated 9.6 million meals
- Member, Forbes Technology Council

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Divert last-raised capital around April 2026 per Apollo record; total funding reported at $102.7M.
- **2023-05** — Announced expanded leadership team to accelerate Divert's mission to protect the value of food.

## Links

- Website: https://divertinc.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/divertfounder
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/divertinc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ryan-begin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-08