Mr. Gene Riechers

Gene has spent his career building entrepreneurial technology companies and creating high paying U.S. jobs. Today, he is a director of Cofense, a fast-growing cybersecurity company. He is also an advisor to venture capital firms, including 1855 Capital. Most recently he was the Vice Chairman and an executive of EverFi, one of the world’s leading online education companies. Gene was a General Partner and co-founder of Valhalla Partners, a leading venture capital firm in the mid-Atlantic region. Prior to co-founding Valhalla Partners in 2002, he was co-founder and Managing Director of FBR Technology Venture Partners. He was named to the first annual AlwaysOn "Venture Capital 100" list in 2010. Gene is also a co-founder of the MindShare program, the leading mentoring organization for technology entrepreneurs in the greater Washington area. Prior to his venture capital life, he joined four early-stage ventures, all of which went public.

Gene has a B.S. degree from Penn State and an MBA from Loyola College. He has served as a guest lecturer at a number of universities, including Harvard Business School, University of Chicago, and Georgetown University. At Penn State, Gene was a leader in building THON, which is now the largest student-run philanthropic event in the world, raising over $10 million each year to fight childhood cancer. He also is on the board of the Tewaaraton Foundation, where he is chairman of the Native American committee, which provides college scholarships for young leaders in the Native American community. He is active in various community and political efforts and is also a high school lacrosse coach.

Gene and his wife have 4 children and 2 grandchildren and live in McLean, VA.