Biography

Rayyan is an entrepreneur, investor and advisor focused on industrial scientific technologies, the low-carbon economy and societal progress. The companies he’s invested in, sourced and advised have grown to over $8B in private market value.

He is the co-founder and General Partner of 8090 Industries, the leading partner and investor for industrial breakthrough technologies focused on decarbonization and national security. Rayyan has led investments in groundbreaking companies that are leading the next industrial revolution from pioneering a new nuclear energy renaissance with the ability to recycle spent fuel, unlocking terrawatts of geothermal energy beneath our feet, to using microbes to decarbonize heavy industry, building gas stations in space and providing internet to the 4 billion people who live without it. Some of these investments include EquipmentShare, Astranis, Cemvita, Circ, Oklo, Infinium, OrbitFab, Quaise, Addionics, Living Carbon, Liberation Labs, and more.

Rayyan is also the co-founder of Gold Hydrogen, a leading Texas energy company which produces abundant clean hydrogen from microbes and old oil wells for less than $1/kg. Rayyan was recognized by Business Insider’s SEED 100, as one of the top 100 early-stage investors of 2023, alongside Peter Thiel and Vinod Khosla, one of the most important VCs in Texas, and amongst the world’s most powerful venture capitalists focused on addressing climate change by Fortune Magazine. As a frequent speaker on venture capital and climate technologies, Rayyan has spoken at NYU, Stanford, the University of Texas at Austin and the United Nations and his work has been featured on Fortune, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Wired, Yahoo Finance and more.

Influenced by his family upbringing in Bangladesh, he personally witnessed the ramifications of energy insecurity and climate change at a young age and its impact on communities around the world. Determined to make a serious dent on the issue, Rayyan has supported a cadre of climate technology solutions, drafted policy recommendations to President Joe Biden’s climate transition team and founded the decarbonization focused newsletter Decarbon Weekly, which counts leading climate scientists, members of state and local governments, founders, investors and foundations amongst its thousands of subscribers.

Rayyan previously spent time helping source technology investments for multiple family offices globally and worked as a VC at leading East Coast VC firm, Romulus Capital. Rayyan is a former Forbes 30U30 Fellow, served as a United Nations Youth Delegate and is a recipient of the Outstanding Youth Delegate Award.

Outside of 8090, Rayyan serves as an advisor to the Earth BioGenome Project, supports bold individuals with novel pioneering ideas as well as frontline efforts in archaeology and global human rights. In his free time, Rayyan enjoys spending time with family, being out in the great outdoors, exploring museums, reading history, and mapping out the surface of Mars and hunting for new exoplanets as a NASA citizen scientist.

Rayyan lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife, son and daughter.