Marcus Ryu, Co-Founder and Former CEO of Guidewire Software, Named General Partner at Battery Ventures

Ryu, a veteran entrepreneur and startup advisor, to focus on software and AI

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#industrialtech–Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm, announced that longtime entrepreneur and tech operator Marcus Ryu has been named a general partner.

Ryu co-founded insurance technology leader Guidewire Software in 2001 and served as its CEO through its IPO in 2012 until 2019. Guidewire today has annual revenues of more than $1.2 billion and a market capitalization of nearly $20 billion, as of this month. Since joining Battery in 2022, Ryu has focused on investing in vertical enterprise-application and AI companies, as well as financial and insurance technology.

“Co-founding and leading my company for almost two decades was the defining experience of my career. It is deeply rewarding for me to advise and learn from entrepreneurs in today’s startup environment, which is much more supportive of founders than mine was but is also more competitive on every dimension,” said Ryu. “It is a privilege to join the general partnership at Battery, whose combination of fundamental market analysis and founder-first values makes it the ideal professional home for me in this era.”

Ryu’s investments at Battery include AI-powered, video-security company Coram AI; hyperexponential, a U.K.-based firm providing an AI-powered pricing and underwriting platform for insurers and re-insurers; Descartes Underwriting, a provider of parametric insurance for natural catastrophe and emerging risks; and Fairmatic, a provider of AI-powered insurance for vehicle fleets.

Previously, Ryu served on the boards of technology companies MuleSoft, Opower, Clearwater Analytics, Cornerstone OnDemand and Procore Technologies, as well as serving as Guidewire’s chairman. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University with highest honors and has a B.Phil. in philosophy from New College, Oxford University, which he attended as a Marshall Scholar.

“Very few investors have traversed the entire journey from founder to IPO to public-company CEO, which affords Marcus a unique combination of commercial instincts and founder empathy,” said Battery General Partner Neeraj Agrawal. “Founders gravitate to him because he understands the intellectual and emotional demands of building a start-up into a hugely successful enterprise. Battery was fortunate to be an investor in Guidewire and see Marcus’ skills in action first-hand, and now we’re extremely enthusiastic to promote him to general partner. He is sure to be an inspiring influence on the next generation of entrepreneurs backed by Battery.”

* A full list of Battery’s investments and exits can be found here.

About Battery Ventures

Battery partners with exceptional founders and management teams developing category-defining businesses in markets including software and services, enterprise infrastructure and AI, healthcare IT and industrial technology and life-science tools. Founded in 1983, the firm backs companies at all stages, ranging from seed and early to growth and buyout, and invests globally from offices in Boston, San Francisco, Menlo Park, New York, London, and Tel Aviv. Follow the firm on X @BatteryVentures, visit our website at www.battery.com and find a full list of Battery’s portfolio companies here.

Contacts

Media Contact:
Rebecca Buckman

Marketing Partner

Battery Ventures

becky@battery.com