Webinar
America Wins: How Maritime Tech and VC Will Determine our Future
Join Alumni Ventures Senior Associate Drew Wandzilak for a timely and forward-looking discussion on how maritime technology, backed by venture capital, is becoming a critical factor in America’s economic and strategic future.
See video policy below.
As innovation accelerates in areas like autonomous shipping, underwater robotics, and clean propulsion, the maritime sector is emerging as a key frontier for national competitiveness and investor opportunity. In this webinar, we’ll explore how venture-backed startups are driving breakthroughs in maritime tech and why this under-the-radar space deserves serious attention.
Whether you’re an investor, entrepreneur, or policy watcher, you’ll gain insights into how the intersection of deep tech and national interest is shaping the next wave of innovation. Don’t miss this chance to understand how VC is playing a vital role in securing America’s position on the global stage.
Why Attend?
- HomeEmerging Frontier: Learn why maritime tech is becoming a strategic priority for innovation and investment.
- HomeVC in Action: See how venture capital is funding transformative startups in this rapidly evolving sector.
- HomeNational Impact: Understand the broader implications of maritime innovation for America's future.
About your presenter
Drew Wandzilak invests in breakthrough technologies that matter to the real world—systems that generate power, move hardware, secure nations, or decode biology. He focuses on companies operating in high-heat, high-speed, high-stakes environments where technical performance is existential and strategic value is measured in megawatts, meters per second, or mission success. Across aerospace, energy, and defense, Drew backs founders who don’t just pitch vision—they bend atoms, trajectories, and supply chains to make it real.
His investment lens prioritizes platforms over point solutions, scale advantages rooted in physics or manufacturing, and mission alignment with long-term public interest. That includes nuclear reactors that deploy like data centers, orbital vehicles that reshape access to space, hypersonic systems built for rapid iteration, and genetic tools that bring diagnostics to the edge. These aren’t just technical moonshots—they’re foundational bets on how the next century will be powered, protected, and personalized.
Drew led Alumni Ventures’ investment in Impulse Space, which is building the in-space logistics layer for a high-frequency orbital economy. He backed Aalo Atomics, a small modular reactor company designing standardized, factory-built nuclear power for grid-scale deployment. He also invested in Astro Mechanica, which is reinventing hypersonic aerospace testing for the modern battlefield, and Acorn Genetics, which is miniaturizing genomics to enable low-cost, distributed DNA testing anywhere.
These companies reflect Drew’s broader strategy: to invest in enduring platforms that serve strategic industries and unlock decades of downstream innovation. He believes the next great venture outcomes will come not just from apps or algorithms, but from reengineering the physical world—and the infrastructure that underpins it.
LEARN HOW TO INVEST WITH ALUMNI VENTURES: