Ryan Helon, Managing Director, Nationwide Mutual Capital

Ryan is the Managing Director of Nationwide Mutual Capital, a venture capital and private equity affiliate of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. He developed the plan for and co-founded Nationwide Strategic Investment Fund (the predecessor to Nationwide Mutual Capital), and currently serves on the Boards of Directors of First Choice Solutions, Inc., Skybus Airlines, Allnations, Inc., Cooperative Business International and 3Stone Advisors and is a Board observer of BDNA Corporation. Ryan also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Council on World Affairs.

Previously, Ryan held several roles of increasing responsibility in the Office of Corporate Development at Nationwide, including project leadership and participation in numerous M&A transactions, strategic investments, enterprise strategic and financial projects, and debt capital markets transactions. Prior to joining Nationwide, Ryan was in the Corporate Finance department at B.F. Goodrich Performance Materials, where he participated in many M&A transactions and corporate finance projects.

Ryan has an MBA from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business where he graduated second in his class, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance and economics, summa cum laude, also from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.

Ernie Knight, Director, Nationwide Mutual Capital

Ernie is a Director with Nationwide Mutual Capital, where he focuses on investments in enterprise software and business services. He currently serves on the boards of Xceedium, Metallect and SpineMatrix, in addition to working closely with portfolio companies BDNA Corporation, ISD Corporation, and Lombardi Software.

Prior to joining Nationwide Mutual Capital, Ernie managed the investment process across numerous transactions for Reservoir Venture Partners, a venture capital firm targeting seed and early stage technology companies with an emphasis on information technology and biosciences, and Innovation Works, a seed stage investment organization. Prior to Reservoir, Ernie spent over 9 years in senior technology management operating roles. He has held leadership positions with venture-backed Internet startups (e-Steel and Autodaq Corporation), a high growth public enterprise software company (Interwoven), and a Fortune 1000 corporation (LTV Steel) in marketing, sales, R&D and manufacturing. In addition, Ernie has served with two top consulting firms, Booz Allen & Hamilton and NezTech Corporation.

Ernie received an MBA from the Harvard Business School , where he focused on entrepreneurial finance, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Case Western Reserve University in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, with a minor in economics, where he graduated magna cum laude while earning the Michael L. Wolfe Prize for creativity in engineering.

Dennis Knueven, Director, Nationwide Mutual Capital

Dennis is a Director with Nationwide Mutual Capital, where he focuses on private equity investments that support the business of financial services. He currently serves on the board of ISD Corporation, and is a board observer on Lombardi Software, Metallect, and First Choice Solutions.

During the two years prior to joining Nationwide Mutual Capital, Dennis worked as an independent consultant performing strategy, process, and financing due diligence engagements for large entities like Pharmerica (an AmeriSource Bergen subsidiary) and the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. Prior to consulting, Dennis spent four years with Textron Financial Corporation, Inc. where he worked on new product development that led to $66 million in business from two new sectors - software and energy, teamed with business development to structure $200 million in commitments, and performed six sigma engagements that saved $400,000. Dennis began his career working with Anderson Consulting as a process consultant to the global financial services industry.

Dennis received a Bachelor of Science and an MBA from the The Ohio State University.