Webinar
The Ghost in the Machine
Join Drew Wandzilak, Managing Partner of Alumni Ventures’ U.S. Strategic Tech Fund, for a look at one of the most consequential — and most underfunded — venture opportunities of the decade: capturing the tribal knowledge inside America’s defense industrial base before an entire generation of skilled workers retires, and building the AI-native manufacturers positioned to own what comes next.
In this session, Drew Wandzilak will walk through the thesis behind Alumni Ventures’ investments at the intersection of defense, advanced manufacturing, and AI-enabled knowledge capture. Congress just passed the largest defense budget in American history, but a quarter of the aerospace and defense workforce is at or beyond retirement eligibility — and the tribal knowledge those workers hold has never been written down. Drew will explain why appropriations don’t equal production, why the standard automation playbook falls into what he calls the “half-stack trap,” and why the companies that will define the next decade of defense manufacturing look less like traditional primes or Silicon Valley robotics startups and more like something new: full-stack manufacturers that own the floor, capture the data, and build the compounding data moats that late entrants can’t close.
Whether you’re a current Alumni Ventures investor sharpening your view on U.S. Strategic Tech, or an accredited investor evaluating the space for the first time, this session will give you a grounded, investor-focused thesis on what Drew calls the manufacturing knowledge layer — and where AV is actively deploying capital, including portfolio companies like Senra Systems (wire harnesses) and Dirac (CAD-to-factory translation). Register to hear the thesis directly from Drew and bring your questions to the live Q&A.
Want to access our U.S. Strategic Tech Syndicate startup deals to see, evaluate, and optionally invest? No cost, no commitment.
Why Attend?
- HomeUnderstand why the tribal knowledge inside America's defense industrial base is the real bottleneck to production — and why capturing it before it retires is one of the decade's most durable venture opportunities
- HomeLearn the three-part screen Drew uses to evaluate companies in this space: own the floor (not just the software), ITAR-sticky by necessity, and quality that lives in process rather than inspection
- HomeHear how Alumni Ventures is deploying capital across manufacturers like Senra Systems and Dirac — and where Drew sees the next wave of opportunity forming
Rated a Top 20 VC Firm by both TIME and CB Insights.
Alumni Ventures is America’s largest venture capital firm for individual investors.
About your presenter
Overview:
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.
Funds actively worked on:
Yard Ventures
Green D Ventures
U.S. Strategic Tech Fund
Investment Areas of Focus:
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 IN COMPANIES IN THIS SECTOR WITH ALUMNI VENTURES: