# Ven Raju

> Ven Raju is the Pittsburgh-based President and CEO of Innovation Works and Managing Director of Riverfront Ventures. His investment career includes Choate Capital and Chestnut Street Ventures, European growth-equity work, and teaching at Drexel and Wharton. He advocates for local startup capital and practical support that helps entrepreneurs turn technical ideas into businesses.

- **Role:** President & Chief Executive Officer at Innovation Works
- **Organizations:** Innovation Works, Riverfront Ventures, Choate Capital, Chestnut Street Ventures, Northwell Ventures, Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Engineering, with honors, George Washington University, MSc; subject not specified in the public biography, University of Oxford, St Hugh’s College, MBA, University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School, Master of Science in Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania - School of Engineering and Applied Science
- **Known for:** Selected as Innovation Works President and CEO after a national search involving more than 130 applicants, as reported in February 2023., Built and scaled Choate’s European growth-equity practice over seven years., Public professional biography credits him with helping companies including Domo, Bloom Energy, Freshly, and Relayr reach strategic or public exits.

## Career timeline

- **Dates not stated** — Began as a strategy consultant advising Fortune 100 clients on mergers and acquisitions.
- **Dates not stated** — Worked at Choate Capital; led its London office and built a European growth-equity practice over seven years.
- **Dates not stated** — Partner at Chestnut Street Ventures.
- **Before 2021** — Managing Director at Northwell Ventures.
- **2021-07** — Joined Innovation Works as Chief Investment Officer and Riverfront Ventures as Managing Director.
- **2022-10** — Succeeded Rich Lunak as President and CEO following a national search.

## Achievements

- Selected as Innovation Works President and CEO after a national search involving more than 130 applicants, as reported in February 2023.
- Built and scaled Choate’s European growth-equity practice over seven years.
- Public professional biography credits him with helping companies including Domo, Bloom Energy, Freshly, and Relayr reach strategic or public exits.
- Named to the Pittsburgh Business Times Pittsburgh Power 100 in 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Listed on CMU’s September 16 AI & Robotics Venture Day keynote panel.
- **2026-09** — Opened Innovation Works’ Venture Expo on September 15, according to Pittsburgh Business Times.
- **2026-03** — Discussed commercial outcomes and returns in the Innovation Works/EY release on Pittsburgh’s 2025 investment activity.
- **2026-02** — Discussed regional startup support and the UpPrize two-track model in a Capital Analytics interview.
- **2026-01** — Interviewed by Unite.AI about AI, robotics, commercialization, and investment fundamentals.

## Links

- Website: https://www.innovationworks.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ven-raju-a8689766

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ven-raju
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-09