Where does Ram Shanmugam work?

Ram Shanmugam is Investor at Blockchain Founders Fund.

What check size does Ram Shanmugam write?

Ram Shanmugam typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.

Where did Ram Shanmugam go to school?

Ram Shanmugam studied at Anna University, Chennai (BTech); Georgia Institute of Technology (MS, PhD (dropped out after course work)); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Research Affiliate - Computer Science, Center for Policy and Technology).

Ram Shanmugam

Investor

Investor at Blockchain Founders Fund

United States

Writes $100K – $5M checks · typically $1.5M

Find your path to Ram

216 people in our graph share verified history with Ram — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Viviana FagaunlockedRam: together at Unconventional AI (2026)

×5Ram: together at Hewlett Packard Enterprise

×2Ram: together at Unconventional AI

×3Ram: together at Perplexity

About

Ram Shanmugam is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and exited two venture-backed companies and currently serves as an investor and board member at CoreThink AI. His background includes product and technology leadership roles in machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and cloud computing. He has been recognized with the TiE 50 Award and has published research in IEEE journals.

Experience

CoreThink AIInvestor / Board Membercurrent2025 — present
ArmorIQInvestor / Board Membercurrent2025 — present
Unconventional AIInvestorcurrent2026 — present
PerplexityInvestorcurrent2023 — present
KrutrimVP Product / Strategy2024 — 2025India
Sauce LabsFounder and CEO, AutonomIQ (acquired by Sauce Labs)2017 — 2023San Francisco Bay Area
appOrbit (acquired by Cohesity)Founder and CEO, appOrbit (acquired by Cohesity)2015 — 2017San Francisco Bay Area
ActifioVP Cloud Products & Engineering (acquired by Google)2013 — 2015
SunGard Availability ServicesSr Director/GM, Cloud Products and Engineeering2011 — 2013San Francisco Bay Area
Cisco SystemsSr Director, Product Management & Engineering2010 — 2011San Jose, CA
Hewlett Packard EnterpriseIndividual Eng Contributor to Director, Product Management2005 — 2010San Francisco Bay Area

Skills & more

Leadership1Management2Strategy2Start-ups34SaaS34Strategic Partnerships42Cloud Computing69Enterprise Software83Business Strategy7Product Management84Entrepreneurship6Business Development18

+7 more

Management ConsultingProgram ManagementMobile DevicesIntegrationProduct MarketingCross-functional Team LeadershipSoftware as a Service (SaaS)

From Ram's professional profile.

Colleagues at Blockchain Founders Fund

Aly Madhavji

Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund

Arseny Klekovkin

Managing Partner, G1 Ventures at HyperNest

Diana Kam

CEO, Singapore Markets & APAC Region | Head of Exchange at Venturebeam at VentureWave Capital Ltd.

Francesco Galati

Associate at Blockchain Founders Fund

Hope Ditlhakanyane

Investment Principal at Founders Factory Africa

Mansoor Madhavji

Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund

Marc Vanlerberghe

Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Algorand Foundation

Rudy Lim

Venture Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund

Network2

Aly Madhavji

Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund

Francesco Galati

Associate at Blockchain Founders Fund

Investors connected to Ram in public investor directories — a warm-intro map.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Ram Shanmugam?: Ram Shanmugam is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and exited two venture-backed companies and currently serves as an investor and board member at CoreThink AI. His background includes product and technology leadership roles in machine learning, artificial intelligence, deep learning, and cloud computing. He has been recognized with the TiE 50 Award and has published research in IEEE journals.
Where does Ram Shanmugam work?: Ram Shanmugam is Investor at Blockchain Founders Fund.
What check size does Ram Shanmugam write?: Ram Shanmugam typically writes checks of $100K – $5M.
Where did Ram Shanmugam go to school?: Ram Shanmugam studied at Anna University, Chennai (BTech); Georgia Institute of Technology (MS, PhD (dropped out after course work)); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Research Affiliate - Computer Science, Center for Policy and Technology).

Founder mafias

Massachusetts Institute of Technology mafia1,220

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Elad GilPhDFounded Brain Co. +1 Hemant TanejaM.Eng.Founded Hippocratic AI Nat FriedmanBachelor of ScienceFounded Xamarin Brad FeldS.B.Founded Techstars Matt HuangB.S.Founded Paradigm +1 Delian AsparouhovDropoutFounded Nightingale +1

+ 1,213 more

Georgia Institute of Technology mafia365

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Neil UnderwoodBSFounded Canapi Ventures +2 Lukasz GadowskiExchange SemesterFounded Spreadshirt +2 Bettina HeinMasters of Science in Computer ScienceFounded Juli +2 Eduardo NeeterMBAFounded Atdc +2 Jeff FlowersMS and BSFounded Carbonite +2 Aamir PoonawallaMastersFounded Understudy Labs +1

+ 358 more

Perplexity mafia22

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Pieter AbbeelDirectorFounded Gradescope +1 Taz PatelHead of Advertising and ShoppingFounded Captiv8 Steve JangInvestor & Board MemberFounded Kindred Ventures Andy KonwinskiCo-founderFounded Databricks Nick DavidovInvestor - Series AFounded Cherry Labs Venugopal SathyanarayanaPerplexity AI Business FellowFounded CV Systems

+ 15 more

Blockchain Founders Fund mafia4

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Henry UkohaGlobal ExpertFounded Sikili Bernard LiangLimited PartnerFounded Doorstead Risk-Adjacent Alex BellesiaImmersive Commerce Innovator at BFF AcceleratorFounded Spatial Port

Unconventional AI mafia3

Also came through, then founded or led a company.

Konstantine BuhlerInstigator @ Formation and SeedFounded Listen Labs Naveen RaoFounder & CEOFounded Mosaic ML

Same school

Also attended Georgia Institute of Technology565

Brando De CourtenData Engineer at P101 Ventures Tom DyalCo-Founder at Redpoint Ventures Wouter Van de PutteInvestment Director at Capricorn Venture Partners Will McGinnisEntrepreneur and data science executive working at the intersection of AI/ML, technology, and business strategy Jaya GuptaInvestor at Foundation Capital James WangGeneral Partner at Creative Ventures

+ 559 more

Also attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology2,000

Fred WilsonCo-founder & Partner at Union Square Ventures Elad GilSolo general partner investing through Gil Capital Aileen LeeFounder & Managing Partner of Cowboy Ventures Hemant TanejaCEO & Managing Director of General Catalyst Philippe LaffontFounder & CIO of Coatue Management Nat FriedmanCo-lead of Meta Superintelligence Labs; co-founder of NFDG

+ 1,994 more

Also attended University of California, Berkeley2,000

Byron DeeterPartner at Bessemer Venture Partners Steve WozniakCo-founder of Apple Tony XuCo-founder & CEO of DoorDash Aravind SrinivasCo-founder & CEO of Perplexity AI Ali GhodsiCo-founder & CEO of Databricks Ryan PetersenFounder & CEO of Flexport

+ 1,994 more

Shared employers

Also worked at Unconventional AI9

Viviana FagaGeneral Partner at Felicis Ventures Marcie VuPartner at Greycroft Konstantine BuhlerInvestor at Sequoia Capital Guru ChahalPartner at Lightspeed Venture Partners Calvin ChinManaging Partner at E14 Fund Naveen RaoCraft Advisory Board at Craft Ventures

+ 3 more

Also worked at SunGard Availability Services5

Jonathan MorrisBoard of Directors at Hilbert Group Darren AbrahamsonPartner at Bain Capital Venture Vin LingathotiPartner at Cambridge Innovation Capital Sunil MadhuInvestor at Connectivity Ventures Deepak BathejaOperating Partner at Lee Equity Partners

Also worked at Cisco Systems535

Peter FentonGeneral Partner at Benchmark Cyan BanisterCo-founder & General Partner at Long Journey Ventures AdamAdvisor at Clear Ventures HowardAdvisor at Clear Ventures Wendy XiaoPartner at Northzone Clay RobbinsForward Deployed Partner at Slow Ventures

+ 529 more

Also worked at Hewlett Packard Enterprise460

Ben HorowitzCo-founder & General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz Bill GurleyGeneral Partner Emeritus at Benchmark Steve JurvetsonCo-founder of Future Ventures Ana AndreescuInvestor at Index Ventures Zhenyu TangInvestment Director at Intel Capital AyshaAdvisor at Clear Ventures

+ 454 more