Team
Ryan Freedman
General Partner
Investment Interest Areas
PropTech, ConTech
Journey
Ryan Freedman is a trailblazing real estate entrepreneur and investor with a passion for marrying innovation with efficiency in the Built World. At the helm of Corigin, a real estate investment firm with $600 million AUM, Ryan’s forward-thinking leadership pioneered the co-living space, introducing a community-centric approach to multi-family real estate well ahead of the curve. He also spearheaded the adoption of transformative real estate technologies to elevate operational and investment excellence. In 2008, he co-founded Coral Capital, a forward-thinking commercial finance platform that has facilitated over $1.5 billion in financing to small businesses. His relentless drive for progress and efficiency led him into venture capital and PropTech investment, where his foresight continues to shape the future of real estate. Ryan received his BA in Business and in Real Estate & Urban Land Economics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Board Seats
Zeel, Prevu, Diamond Age, Nectar
Aubrie Pagano
General Partner
Investment Interest Areas
Commerce Enablement, Supply Chain, Consumer, with recent themes in Returns, Liquidation, Personalization, and Mass Market Consumer
Journey
Aubrie brings Commerce experience from both sides of the New York City startup ecosystem as both an operator and investor. Most recently, she built and sold cult-favorite apparel and gifting brand Bow & Drape, acquired by Winn Brands in 2019. Aubrie drove the omni-channel brand to profitability by retailing direct-to-consumer online and in over 350 Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s and Hudson’s Bay stores globally. Toward the end of her Bow & Drape journey, she began angel investing out of XFactor Ventures, an early stage fund of female operators backing startups with at least one female founder. There, she led investments in Commerce brands and platforms including Maude, Ceremonia, Foodology, and August. Prior to startups, she started her career in the internal strategy group at Fidelity Investments, where she became the fastest-promoted Analyst to a post-MBA role. She is a 2008 Harvard graduate. Aubrie lives in Brooklyn with her partner and still creates art (right-left brained) in her spare time.
Board Seats
Pack, Mayple, Optiversal
David Goldberg
General Partner
Investment Interest Areas
Commerce, Consumer, Marketplaces, Digital Health, Web3
Journey
David cofounded Alpaca in 2014 after his own entrepreneurial journey as Founder and CEO of FreshNeck, a subscription-based men’s neckwear exchange service. Focused on Commerce, including Consumer and Marketplaces, David enjoys partnering with startups on high-level strategy and building scalable ‘operating systems’ rooted in structured priorities and OKRs. Drawing on the knowledge that comes with traversing the startup founder path himself, he relies on empathy and personal experience to form deep bonds with founders and add value where it matters most. Before getting the startup bug, David spent three years as an Assistant District Attorney, representing the people of New York, and, following that, three years across Merrill Lynch and Jefferies & Co. He holds a B.A. in Marketing and Sports Management from the University of Miami (where he now teaches “Intro to VC”), an MBA from Fordham University and a JD from Fordham University Law School. David now lives with his family in Miami, where he champions the emerging tech ecosystem.
Board Seats
Ocean Freight Exchange, EarlyDay, MoneyMade, Swoops
Daniel Fetner
General Partner
Investment Interest Areas
PropTech, ConTech
Journey
Daniel is a two-time co-founder turned investor with family roots in real estate. His deep focus on PropTech is driven by his thesis that real estate is both the largest asset class in the world and also its most antiquated industry, a juxtaposition signaling immense white space for opportunity. With real estate builders, developers, owners, and investors in his family, Daniel has seen the pain points and opportunities from numerous major stakeholder perspectives firsthand. This knowledge informs his work as an investor and his previous journeys into entrepreneurship. Daniel spent the early part of his career in Real Estate Private Equity and Investment Banking and then joined J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank, where he built a book of business focused on Silicon Alley entrepreneurs and investors. Daniel then co-founded a Construction Tech company, Soil Connect, which is the leading marketplace for soil and aggregates. Daniel received his BBA from the University of Michigan and received his MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Daniel lives in South Florida with his wife, two children, and dog, Bueller.
Board Seats
Bonus Homes, Acelab
Ray Updyke
VP Operations & Finance
Journey
Ray leads the operations, finance, and compliance functions for Alpaca. Prior to joining Alpaca, Ray was the CFO and CCO of Ampfield Management, an investment management firm. He previously worked at Jefferies Financial Group, a publicly traded company, where he worked on budgets, projections, and automation projects for the parent company. He began his career in hedge fund accounting & reporting with ALPS Alternative Investment Services in their Boston office. He graduated with high honors from the University of Maine with a BS in Business Administration with a major in Accounting and he also graduated from the University of Connecticut with a MS in Accounting. Ray is a Certified Public Accountant and a CFA® charterholder.
Julie Cerick
Chief of Staff
Journey
Julie’s passion for storytelling as a vehicle for building authentic and engaged communities has played out over the last twelve years in a series of strategy and operations roles, most notably at the intersection of digital media and technology. She is a collaborator and operator at heart, having brought to life numerous business, growth and content strategies for notable startups and their visionary founders. Driven by the desire to work more closely with founders and investors across a multitude of impact-driven industries, Julie moved on to work with earlier stage businesses, which led her to Alpaca VC. She is a founding member of the Chief of Staff Mastermind Network, and a certified Climate Reality Leader with The Climate Reality Project.
Andrew Peng
Senior Associate
Investment Interest Areas
PropTech, ConTech, Climate, Metaverse Infrastructure, Asia
Journey
Andrew is passionate about working with founders to revolutionize outdated industries. At Alpaca, Andrew focuses on PropTech and construction tech, as well as metaverse enabling technologies such as AR/VR, gaming, and AI. He also leads the firm’s Asia strategy to act as the connective tissue between Asian allocators and the US startup ecosystem. Andrew’s enthusiasm for the built environment began in traditional real estate and economic development, where he worked across issues spanning housing and transportation to fiscal policy and broadband infrastructure. Most recently, he worked in acquisitions at a real estate private equity fund, where he helped close over $1B in deals across urban asset classes. Andrew received his MBA from The Wharton School and MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.
Noah Williams
Analyst
Investment Interest Areas
Commerce, Vertical SaaS and Marketplaces
Journey
Noah covers commerce, vertical SaaS and marketplaces. Prior to joining Alpaca VC, he managed the investment process and program at Blue Startups, a venture accelerator based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Much of his early career was spent in and around early-stage startups, often in product and engineering roles. He graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University, where he focused on semiconductor physics and machine learning.
Sophia Delgado
Investor Relations Associate
Journey
Sophia supports the Alpaca VC investment team as an Investor Relations Associate. She brings a diverse background and valuable financial industry experience to the role. Prior to joining the team, Sophia was most recently at Blackstone, where she worked in their Hedge Fund Group to build strategic marketing materials and complete portfolio analysis. Previously, Sophia began her career in finance at Deloitte Consulting specializing in strategy and operations for financial services companies.
A graduate of the University of Miami, Sophia holds a BS in Industrial Engineering with minors in Civil Engineering and Architecture, both of which instilled a strong foundation for problem-solving and creative thinking. In her current role, Sophia channels her previous institutional client expertise and enthusiasm for finding real-world solutions as an engineer to the realm of venture capital, where she continues to focus on tackling new challenges and promoting innovation.
Lorraine Sanders
Head of Content
Journey
Lorraine drives content and communications at Alpaca VC. A longtime journalist and podcast host, she spent nearly 15 years covering startups and small businesses at the forefront of innovation. During that time, she focused primarily on the connections among fashion, tech and sustainability for media outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle, Fast Company, Women’s Wear Daily and many others. Counting more than 400K downloads, her previous podcast, the Spirit of 608, featured weekly interviews with female founders working at the intersection of fashion, entrepreneurship, sustainability and tech. She cut her teeth as a writer creating content for Kayak and, prior to that, Travelocity. She holds double Bachelor of Arts degrees from Brown University (English and Religious Studies) and a Masters in Communications from Stanford University.