# Joshua Ruch > Joshua Ruch is a Series B investor at Afina Energy (New York) backing Software and SaaS. See 16 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026. - Type: Angel Investor - Fund: [Afina Energy](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/afina-energy) - Location: New York, United States - Total investments: 16 - Last investment: Apr 2019 - Lead investor: 31% - Last updated: Aug 2026 - LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/joshua-ruch/54/52/821 Joshua Ruch is a managing partner of Rho Capital Partners, an investment and venture capital management company that he co-founded in 1981. Previously he was an investment banker at Salomon Brothers in New York. He has invested in companies across all sectors in which Rho operates, including information technology, communications, biotechnologyand energy. His current and former board seats include: Ciris Energy, Enerkem, Fractal, GenVec, Human Genome Sciences, Inotek, Verenium, Vidyo and Yantra. Ruch received a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School. ## Investment focus ### Industry | Industry | Investments | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | Software | 3 | 19% | | SaaS | 2 | 13% | | Energy | 2 | 13% | | Energy Efficiency | 2 | 13% | | Information Technology | 2 | 13% | 25 industries tracked in total. ### Stage | Stage | Investments | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | Series B | 3 | 19% | | Series C | 3 | 19% | | Series A | 2 | 13% | | Series D | 2 | 13% | | Series E | 2 | 13% | 7 stages tracked in total. ### Country | Country | Investments | Share | | --- | --- | --- | | United States | 4 | 25% | | Canada | 1 | 6% | | United Kingdom | 1 | 6% | ## Investments | Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Enerkem | Enerkem is a cleantech company transforming waste into transportation biofuels, renewable chemicals, and everyday products. Through the combination of a proprietary thermochemical technology platform and community-based advanced facilities, Enerkem addresses the challenges of oil dependence and waste disposal.Enerkem has validated itsproprietary technology over a period of 10 years using the solid waste from numerous municipalities and other types of feedstock. The company’s process and business model are designed to profitably produce cellulosic ethanol from a large municipal solid waste supply. Enerkem is a private company founded in 2000 by its current senior management. It is majority-owned by institutional, clean-technology and industrial investors, including Rho Ventures, Waste Management, Braemar Energy Ventures, Investissement Québec, Valero, Cycle Capital, The Westly Group, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Fondaction CSN.Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Enerkem has 170 employees in Canada and the United States. | $76.3M | Corporate Round | Apr 17, 2019 | | | CloudPay | CloudPay provides managed global payroll services to multinational organizations through a single, unified SaaS solution. By delivering end-to-end managed payroll services through an innovative platform, CloudPay ensures consistent and compliant payroll around the globe while reducing operating costs and minimizing manual processes. CloudPay’sservices and technology standardize the payroll function across geographies, helping organizations increase efficiency, streamline compliance, and achieve greater visibility into payroll performance and costs. The CloudPay solution is backed by deep industry expertise earned over twenty-plus years delivering services to over 2,500 multinational entities. CloudPay’s solution guarantees accurate payroll processing across 130+ countries in more than twenty-five languages. Positioned as a Leader in NelsonHall’s 2019 Payroll Outsourcing NEAT assessment and as an Achiever in Everest Group’s 2019 Multi-Country Payroll Platform report, CloudPay has won multiple awards for its technology and service, including Global Payroll Transformation Project of the Year Award (2017), Payroll Software Product of the Year (2018) and the prestigious Global Payroll Supplier of the Year (2019). To learn more, visit www.cloudpay.net. | $25M | Series C | May 03, 2018 | | | Vidyo | We’re video-enabling the world. Recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant as a leader and a visionary, Vidyo is used by organizations like Google, CERN, Etsy, Philips, Alibaba, Kaiser, DISA and others. We are tackling a huge challenge: to ensure that the world can take advantage of the endless benefits of video chat by making it better than anyother form of communication, whether you are in the office - or far out in the field under challenging bandwidth and wifi conditions.Vidyo makes it easy to embed the most beautiful, resilient and immersive multiparty video chat into any application, on any connected device. In healthcare, banking, IoT, customer engagement, enterprise collaboration, government, field services and more, video chat is revolutionizing - while simplifying - how we communicate. We envision a future in which hospitals, banks, universities, police stations, data centers, manufacturing facilities and all places in between see elegant video chat as the sustainable and intuitive way for humans to better connect with one another - making us more productive while saving tons of time and resources. From Silicon Valley to New York, Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond, Vidyo is one of the most diverse teams in tech, with hundreds of gifted employees living and sharing their experiences all over the world. We are beyond excited about what we’re building, and believe our mission is just getting started. | $15M | Series E | Dec 14, 2015 | | | Vidyo | We’re video-enabling the world. Recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant as a leader and a visionary, Vidyo is used by organizations like Google, CERN, Etsy, Philips, Alibaba, Kaiser, DISA and others. We are tackling a huge challenge: to ensure that the world can take advantage of the endless benefits of video chat by making it better than anyother form of communication, whether you are in the office - or far out in the field under challenging bandwidth and wifi conditions.Vidyo makes it easy to embed the most beautiful, resilient and immersive multiparty video chat into any application, on any connected device. In healthcare, banking, IoT, customer engagement, enterprise collaboration, government, field services and more, video chat is revolutionizing - while simplifying - how we communicate. We envision a future in which hospitals, banks, universities, police stations, data centers, manufacturing facilities and all places in between see elegant video chat as the sustainable and intuitive way for humans to better connect with one another - making us more productive while saving tons of time and resources. From Silicon Valley to New York, Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond, Vidyo is one of the most diverse teams in tech, with hundreds of gifted employees living and sharing their experiences all over the world. We are beyond excited about what we’re building, and believe our mission is just getting started. | $20M | Series E | Jul 11, 2014 | | | SolarBridge Technologies | SolarBridge Technologies, formerly SmartSpark Energy Systems, was founded in 2004 to commercialize power electronics technologies created at the University of Illinois. In early 2009, they launched a new corporate strategy to focus exclusively on the solar industry with microinverter and monitoring solutions. The company has a major research anddevelopment site in Champaign, Illinois and has recently expanded to include a new corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas. Led by industry veterans and academic professionals, their mission is to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for solar installations by dramatically improving reliability, increasing energy production, and simplifying installation. | $42M | Series E | Mar 06, 2014 | | | Enerkem | Enerkem is a cleantech company transforming waste into transportation biofuels, renewable chemicals, and everyday products. Through the combination of a proprietary thermochemical technology platform and community-based advanced facilities, Enerkem addresses the challenges of oil dependence and waste disposal.Enerkem has validated itsproprietary technology over a period of 10 years using the solid waste from numerous municipalities and other types of feedstock. The company’s process and business model are designed to profitably produce cellulosic ethanol from a large municipal solid waste supply. Enerkem is a private company founded in 2000 by its current senior management. It is majority-owned by institutional, clean-technology and industrial investors, including Rho Ventures, Waste Management, Braemar Energy Ventures, Investissement Québec, Valero, Cycle Capital, The Westly Group, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and Fondaction CSN.Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Enerkem has 170 employees in Canada and the United States. | $36.6M | Private Equity | Jun 20, 2013 | | | Vidyo | We’re video-enabling the world. Recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant as a leader and a visionary, Vidyo is used by organizations like Google, CERN, Etsy, Philips, Alibaba, Kaiser, DISA and others. We are tackling a huge challenge: to ensure that the world can take advantage of the endless benefits of video chat by making it better than anyother form of communication, whether you are in the office - or far out in the field under challenging bandwidth and wifi conditions.Vidyo makes it easy to embed the most beautiful, resilient and immersive multiparty video chat into any application, on any connected device. In healthcare, banking, IoT, customer engagement, enterprise collaboration, government, field services and more, video chat is revolutionizing - while simplifying - how we communicate. We envision a future in which hospitals, banks, universities, police stations, data centers, manufacturing facilities and all places in between see elegant video chat as the sustainable and intuitive way for humans to better connect with one another - making us more productive while saving tons of time and resources. From Silicon Valley to New York, Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond, Vidyo is one of the most diverse teams in tech, with hundreds of gifted employees living and sharing their experiences all over the world. We are beyond excited about what we’re building, and believe our mission is just getting started. | $17.1M | Series D | Apr 22, 2013 | | | CloudPay | CloudPay provides managed global payroll services to multinational organizations through a single, unified SaaS solution. By delivering end-to-end managed payroll services through an innovative platform, CloudPay ensures consistent and compliant payroll around the globe while reducing operating costs and minimizing manual processes. CloudPay’sservices and technology standardize the payroll function across geographies, helping organizations increase efficiency, streamline compliance, and achieve greater visibility into payroll performance and costs. The CloudPay solution is backed by deep industry expertise earned over twenty-plus years delivering services to over 2,500 multinational entities. CloudPay’s solution guarantees accurate payroll processing across 130+ countries in more than twenty-five languages. Positioned as a Leader in NelsonHall’s 2019 Payroll Outsourcing NEAT assessment and as an Achiever in Everest Group’s 2019 Multi-Country Payroll Platform report, CloudPay has won multiple awards for its technology and service, including Global Payroll Transformation Project of the Year Award (2017), Payroll Software Product of the Year (2018) and the prestigious Global Payroll Supplier of the Year (2019). To learn more, visit www.cloudpay.net. | $16M | Series B | Dec 05, 2012 | | | SolarBridge Technologies | SolarBridge Technologies, formerly SmartSpark Energy Systems, was founded in 2004 to commercialize power electronics technologies created at the University of Illinois. In early 2009, they launched a new corporate strategy to focus exclusively on the solar industry with microinverter and monitoring solutions. The company has a major research anddevelopment site in Champaign, Illinois and has recently expanded to include a new corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas. Led by industry veterans and academic professionals, their mission is to reduce the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) for solar installations by dramatically improving reliability, increasing energy production, and simplifying installation. | $25M | Series D | May 30, 2012 | | | Vidyo | We’re video-enabling the world. Recognized in the Gartner Magic Quadrant as a leader and a visionary, Vidyo is used by organizations like Google, CERN, Etsy, Philips, Alibaba, Kaiser, DISA and others. We are tackling a huge challenge: to ensure that the world can take advantage of the endless benefits of video chat by making it better than anyother form of communication, whether you are in the office - or far out in the field under challenging bandwidth and wifi conditions.Vidyo makes it easy to embed the most beautiful, resilient and immersive multiparty video chat into any application, on any connected device. In healthcare, banking, IoT, customer engagement, enterprise collaboration, government, field services and more, video chat is revolutionizing - while simplifying - how we communicate. We envision a future in which hospitals, banks, universities, police stations, data centers, manufacturing facilities and all places in between see elegant video chat as the sustainable and intuitive way for humans to better connect with one another - making us more productive while saving tons of time and resources. From Silicon Valley to New York, Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond, Vidyo is one of the most diverse teams in tech, with hundreds of gifted employees living and sharing their experiences all over the world. We are beyond excited about what we’re building, and believe our mission is just getting started. | $24.5M | Series D | Dec 01, 2011 | | 10 of 16 investments shown. ## Co-investors - [Menlo Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/menlo-ventures) — VC Fund, 5 deals together - [Sevin Rosen Funds](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sevin-rosen-funds) — VC Fund, 5 deals together - [Battery Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/battery-ventures) — VC Fund, 3 deals together - [Braemar Energy Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/braemar-energy-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together - [Cycle Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cycle-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together - [Juniper Networks](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/juniper-networks) — VC Fund, 2 deals together ## About Afina Energy VC Fund 1 contacts available at Afina Energy. | Name | Title | Profile | | --- | --- | --- | | Joshua Ruch | Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/joshua-ruch | ## Similar investors ### Similar stage - [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund - [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund - [FJ Labs](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/fj-labs) — VC Fund ## FAQ ### What does Joshua Ruch invest in? Joshua Ruch invests primarily in Software, SaaS and Energy startups, most often at Series B and Series C stage. Most of the 16 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio. ### When did Joshua Ruch last invest? The most recent investment recorded for Joshua Ruch closed in Apr 2019. Shizune tracks 16 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly. ### Is Shizune's investor data accurate? Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page. # About Shizune Shizune.co is an investor database. 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