ZAIN RIZAVI

Zain Rizavi is a Principal at Ridge Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm managing over $1 billion in assets, based in San Francisco, California. Before transitioning to venture capital investing, he worked as a Software Engineer at VMware and earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Promoted to his current leadership role in early 2024, Rizavi directs seed and Series A investments across enterprise software, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence infrastructure, building an active portfolio of more than twenty companies. His notable investment track record includes backing the software delivery unicorn Harness and leading a recent 2025 funding round for the artificial intelligence security company Protect AI. Today, Rizavi consistently leverages his technical engineering background to identify, evaluate, and support high-potential enterprise technology startups operating within complex emerging markets.