about us

History:

Ruxton Ventures was founded in 2001, as an offshoot of the business and professional career of its Founder and Managing Director Mark Walsh.  Walsh has had a ringside seat in the growth of the internet and new media, beginning with his creating the first consumer focused internet business at GE, and subsequently as a key member of the leadership of AOL, VerticalNet and HBO. He also has been a leader of the application of technology to government, education and policy.  Ruxton has been an investor in many successful businesses since its inception, and has generated significant returns for its investors. 

In late 2021 Jonathan Aberman, a well-known leader of the Greater Washington region’s technology business community, joined Ruxton as a Partner to expand Ruxton’s capacity and growth. He brings to Ruxton his prior experience as a venture investor and venture capital lawyer, as well as strong insight into education and technology trends. Collectively, Walsh and Aberman have structured and executed hundreds of venture capital investments and together have operated a number of media businesses prior to teaming up in Ruxton.

Investment Focus: 

We are looking for investments primarily in Education/upskilling, Media/Marketing/Content Services, Ecommerce, Fintech, Data Sciences and Cybersecurity. We are often the first professional investor in our founder’s companies, and will lead or follow well-structured seed rounds. Our expertise in marketing, business models, team building, technology and political trends helps us serve our founders and make a difference to their subsequent success. For us this is the most important part of any investment decision: will our investment of our time and money make a difference to the founder and will it help the founder make a difference to our society and economy. We are motivated to generate strong returns for our partners (and have generated consistent multiple returns on our investments), and our approach to a founder and difference focused investment strategy has allowed us to align ourselves with many successful founders. We’ve learned that an investor partner who is wiling to work hard, is a tremendous resource for founders and a valuable predictor of future success.

Our Value Add:

Both Walsh and Aberman have an extraordinary level of connections at the highest level of business, finance, government and NGO’s both domestic and international.  Our ability to connect CEO’s with their desired partner, customer, best-hire or outside growth consultant is demonstrable. When we invest, we are all in. 

Preferred Deal Structure:

Ruxton typically engages with a company before its first Series A round, usually investing to own low single digit ownership, either directly or if convertible-debt is retired.  We often asked by the founders to join their board of advisors or their board of directors. We prefer seed investments where our expertise will be used. Generally, our investment size will increase as a company grows. We look to deploy between $100,000 and $500,000 per company over its lifecycle.