# Rich Padula

> Rich Padula is a Series A investor at Mirata Software (Chicago) backing Software and Aerospace. See 2 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [Mirata Software](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mirata-software)
- Location: Chicago, United States
- Total investments: 2
- Last investment: Apr 2021
- Lead investor: 50%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richpadula/

Rich Padula is a Series A investor at Mirata Software in Chicago focused on Software and Aerospace. Rich Padula is the General Partner at R7.Rich brings deep technical and entrepreneurial experience to the team, most notably as the founder of Syclo, a leading provider of enterprise mobile solutions, which he grew to over 200 employees before being acquired by SAP in 2012. After two years as Chief Strategy Officer of SAP’s Mobile Division, heleft to start a private development lab in Chicago where he and his team explore new technologies and take them to market.Rich serves on the faculty at Northwestern University's Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and mentors students at The Garage, NU’s innovation hub. He also serves on the boards of Havensight Consulting Group, Intelligent Flying Machines, Vodori and Xtracomm. He received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University.

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 1 | 50% |
| Aerospace | 1 | 50% |
| Autonomous Vehicles | 1 | 50% |
| Industrial Engineering | 1 | 50% |

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 1 | 50% |
| Series B | 1 | 50% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Xwing | Xwing was founded in 2016 to make air transportation smarter, safer, cleaner, and more accessible for everyone. Our work begins with converting today’s cargo aircraft into fully autonomous airplanes so every person in the world can have greater access to reliable and affordable delivery services no matter where they live. Beyond air cargo, we lookforward to expanding our technology safely, scalably, and sustainably to other areas of commercial aviation. Fast Company recently named us one of the Most Innovative Transportation Companies of 2021 and a 'World Changing Idea' in 2022. We were also featured on TIME Magazine’s 2021 Best Inventions List after completing the world’s first fully autonomous cargo flight and making aviation history. | $40M | Series B | Apr 15, 2021 |  |
| Xwing | Xwing was founded in 2016 to make air transportation smarter, safer, cleaner, and more accessible for everyone. Our work begins with converting today’s cargo aircraft into fully autonomous airplanes so every person in the world can have greater access to reliable and affordable delivery services no matter where they live. Beyond air cargo, we lookforward to expanding our technology safely, scalably, and sustainably to other areas of commercial aviation. Fast Company recently named us one of the Most Innovative Transportation Companies of 2021 and a 'World Changing Idea' in 2022. We were also featured on TIME Magazine’s 2021 Best Inventions List after completing the world’s first fully autonomous cargo flight and making aviation history. | $10M | Series A | May 20, 2020 |  |

2 of 2 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Eniac Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eniac-ventures) — VC Fund, 8 deals together
- [Alven](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alven-capital) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Bossa Invest](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bossanova-investimentos) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [ACME Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/acme-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Array Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/array-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Blackhorn Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blackhorn-ventures) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About Mirata Software

VC Fund



1 contacts available at Mirata Software.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rich Padula | Founder | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/rich-padula |

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Rich Padula invest in?

Rich Padula invests primarily in Software, Aerospace and Autonomous Vehicles startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 2 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 Rich Padula last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Rich Padula closed in Apr 2021. Shizune tracks 2 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. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co