Rafiq Ahmed

Rafiq Ahmed, Managing Director at Dipalo Ventures is an active investor based in Chicago, Illinois. This profile covers what Rafiq Ahmed backs, at which stage, and how founders can reach out in 2026.

Mr. Rafiq Ahmed is the Founder and serves as Managing Director & Managing Partner at Dipalo Ventures. He is a Co-Founder and serves as Chairman at ServiceChai. He served as Venture Partner at NextGen Venture Partners. He serves as Board Member at Mito Material Solutions. He is an entrepreneur, product innovator, and startup investor with nearly three decades of experience in the United States and Bangladesh. He's passionate about innovation and launching new businesses built around products and services that are first to market. His industry experience spans Consumer Electronics, Financial Services, Education Technology, Healthcare, Digital Publishing and Government. He's worked at startups, management consultancy PwC, integrated digital agency Sapient, in financial services at Fannie Mae and in consumer electronics at Motorola. His work in mobile user experience design at Motorola Mobility included design of the first apps UX framework and a patent for integrating social information into the phonebook app. He co-founded Demibooks and served as its Chief Executive Officer, the first platform for developing interactive book apps on the iPad. Demibooks was acquired by Education Development Corporation (NASDAQ: EDUC) in 2015. He earned a Master of Science in Computer Science from Virginia Tech in 1992, an MBA in Industrial Management from Virginia Tech in 1991, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Wesleyan University in 1988.

Notable investments

QuickllySea MachinesDraftbitHyperloop OneKludioBallotReadyAvail (Business/Productivity Software)ServiceChaiTruss (Media and Information Services (B2B))Zantrik