About us
Ryzing is a new kind of social gaming company. Our mission is to bring the fun and excitement of winning real cash and prizes while playing great social games on Facebook. We're just getting started so keep an eye out for some exciting games and fantastic prizes!
Leadership
Manu Gambhir leads Ryzing in achieving its vision of bringing casual,
social gaming with real prizes to players around the world. A passionate online
gamer and serial entrepreneur, Manu ran Cantor Fitzgerald's online gaming business
in the United Kingdom, a role assumed when Cantor bought his prior online gaming
business. Prior to Cantor, he built and marketed Harrods Online Casino in the UK
market, based on the world-famous brand of London's premier luxury retailer. After
graduating from University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Entrepreneurial Management
from the Wharton School and BSE in Computer Science Engineering from University
of Pennsylvania, Manu built Intermedia Interactive Software - an educational and
entertainment software company.
Dr. Dmitry Cherkassky has worked closely with Manu over the past 20
years and led the architecture of the gaming systems design. He has also led his
own consulting practice since 2002 in which he designed a prototype of an aircraft
health monitoring system for Boeing and augmented a neuroscience research tool involving
3D visualization of MRI data for the Univ. of Penn. Dr. Cherkassky holds a Ph.D.
in and Computer and Information Science, an MA in Mathematics, and BSE in Computer
Science Engineering - all from University of Pennsylvania.
Board
Wayne D. Kimmel is a Managing Partner of SeventySix Capital
that invests primarily in early stage, technology-enabled companies. Since
2000, under Kimmel's direction, SeventySix Capital has invested in several successful
companies such as SeamlessWeb (acquired by ARAMARK), Take Care Health Systems (acquired
by Walgreens), and NutriSystem (NTRI), ranked by Forbes as the best small company
in the United States. Kimmel was named by Philadelphia Magazine as one of "Philly's
People to Watch": "one of 76 fascinating people whose moves, ideas, innovations
and boldness will shape - and change - our lives over the next decade." Kimmel was
selected as one of the Philadelphia region's "40 Under 40" young business leaders
and in 2000 he received PhillyTech Magazine's "30 under 30" award. He also received
the "Distinguished Alumni Award" from The Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware.
Tony Bifano is a Managing Partner of SeventySix Capital.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Tony received his Bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering
from Penn State University. He brings to SeventySix over a decade of hands-on operational
experience in early stage technology companies. Tony began his professional career
as a developer in the Technology practice of Anderson Consulting. He launched his
first internet company in 1996 and was honored by Philly Tech Magazine as "30 under
30" hottest technology executives in the Philadelphia region. Tony has been a featured
speaker at local universities and industry events on how to build high growth technology
companies.
Manu Gambhir leads Ryzing in achieving its vision of bringing casual,
social gaming with real prizes to players around the world. A passionate online
gamer and serial entrepreneur, Manu ran Cantor Fitzgerald's online gaming business
in the United Kingdom, a role assumed when Cantor bought his prior online gaming
business. Prior to Cantor, he built and marketed Harrods Online Casino in the UK
market, based on the world-famous brand of London's premier luxury retailer. After
graduating from University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Entrepreneurial Management
from the Wharton School and BSE in Computer Science Engineering from University
of Pennsylvania, Manu built Intermedia Interactive Software - an educational and
entertainment software company.
Strategic Advisors
Paul Martino is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Bullpen Capital. He serves as an Advisor of 3jam Inc. and Redux, Inc.
Mr. Martino has expertise in both engineering and business leadership. He has over 20 years of technology career and is a serial
entrepreneur. Mr. Martino is an active early stage investor and has been doing angel investing for almost a decade. Some of his
investments include Zynga, PayNearMe?, and Zvents. Mr. Martino co-founded Aggregate Knowledge Inc., in 2005 and served as its Chief
Executive Officer until May 2010. He also served as the Chief Technology Officer at the firm. Mr. Martino co-founded Tribe Networks,
Inc. in 2003 and served as its Chief Technology Officer. He served as Founding Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer
at Ahpah Software in 1997. Mr. Martino has held positions in business development, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions
at Intertrust and SkyPilot?. Mr. Martino has been Executive Chairman of Aggregate Knowledge Inc. since May 2010. He served as a
Director of Zvents, Inc. He is the inventor of several core patents related to social networking. Mr. Martino’s tools for reverse
engineering and obfuscation were first used by the premier security lab, the Princeton Secure Internet Programming Lab (SIP). He is
a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University, holds a M.S. in Computer Science from Princeton University, and a B.S. in Mathematics from Lehigh University.
Gregg Alwine is the CEO of Promotions.com, a leading provider of games-of-chance promotions
for the world’s most sophisticated marketers and their agencies. Delivering international promotions for companies as
significant and diverse as Kraft Foods, McDonald’s, Hasbro, HSBC, and many others, Gregg has overseen the deployment of
sweepstakes, contests and instant-win games responsible for more than 1 billion consumer entries and the distribution of
over $2 billion of real cash and prizes in more than 150 countries.
Mark Kahn is the founder and former President of TRAFFIQ, an end-to-end digital media planning and buying platform.
Mark brings an unparalleled understanding of both the operational and the strategic sides of the Interactive world. Prior to founding
TRAFFIQ, Mark served as Vice President of Business Development and Vice President of Corporate Development at a leading pay-per-click
search network, where he was responsible for growing the company’s core revenue-generating relationships. Mark has also held senior
business development, marketing and corporate development positions at iVillage, B2B Video Network and several of The News Corporation’s
companies including, News America Publishing, News America New Media, Kesmai Corporation, American Sky Broadcasting, Delphi Internet
Services and TV Guide. Mark has also managed over $500 million in M & A transactions. He earned his Bachelors of Arts from Connecticut College.
Lead Investors
SeventySix Capital invests in entrepreneurs who have "re-imagined" how we eat, play,
drive, entertain, date, search, and stay healthy. We partner with market visionaries
to help support big ideas and inspire innovation. With over $5 billion in revenues,
our portfolio companies have supported over 6,000 jobs.
Our approach to investments is different than most venture capital and private equity
firms. Although return is important, Kielvest works closely with the principals
of companies to provide both capital and business guidance without unnecessary pressure
on short-term results. We have found that this approach achieves satisfying results
for all parties involved.
Team