This is a continuation of the Litany of Lies series, featuring the fabrications of “visionary, tenacious, hyper intelligent” tech founder, Andrew Ryan Rafols. Or, in the words of former employees and colleagues, “inept, incompetent, sexual pervert, brutal, conman”, Andrew Ryan Rafols.
I’m going to touch mainly on the lies Mr. Ryan has told since Newchip entered Chapter 7 liquidation, but will start with a little history.
Andrew Ryan’s first claim to fame is his involvement in Campus Watch, later Safer Technologies, as a co-founder and driving force behind its success. Campus Watch was developed in response to a tragic murder that occurred on the UT Austin campus. The app allowed the user to contact first responders, 24/7. Check out an interview from the founders, Alfredo del Barrio and Paolo Soriano, given to CBS Austin in 2016.
Andrew constantly references his involvement in social media posts, interviews, and on his personal site. In Andrew’s words:
“The tragic murder of Haruka Weister on the UT Campus marked a turning point in Andrew Ryan Rafols’ life, driving him to harness technology for a cause that extended far beyond conventional business objectives. In response to this heart-wrenching incident, Andrew, in collaboration with Gege Fu, Sunny Das, Paolo Soriano, and Freddy Del Barrio, conceived and developed the Campus Watch app. The rapid development of Campus Watch was a testament to Andrew’s commitment to using technology for social good. The app reflected his deep understanding of the intersection between technology and societal needs. It was not just about employing cutting-edge technology but also about understanding the human elements of fear, safety, and community. Andrew’s role in this venture went beyond the realms of a typical entrepreneur or technologist as it started from his role as a community leader and an advocate for campus safety, using his skills, resources, and network to make a tangible difference in the lives of countless individuals.”
Despite Andrew’s claims, the nature of his involvement is heavily disputed by the other members of Campus Watch. Jesse Nickels, of Hucksters.net, and Emily Shugerman of the Daily Beast, both interviewed individuals involved with Campus Watch since inception. Here’s what they had to say:
“While Ryan lists himself as a co-founder of Safer Technologies on LinkedIn, one of the other initiators told The Daily Beast the team forced him out within weeks of the company’s inception due to his “toxic” leadership style.”
Jesse Nickels at Hucksters.net:
“[Rafols] was never any part of Safer Tech, and in the early days relinquished his role as a “cofounder” at Campus Watch years ago — prior to any investment, or MVP, and holds zero interest or position with either company… Rafols was a co-founder [for about a month] but he did not “exit”… we bought his [Campus Watch] shares out due to internal conflict.”
Andrew still insists on saying he was a co-founder involved until “exit”. And still posts all over media, using emotionally charged language, to paint himself as some hero. He used a tragedy at UT Austin, lying about his involvement with a student response, to launch his career.
Staying on the UT Austin topic, let’s look at what Andrew claims about his educational background.
In almost every interview he gives, Andrew gives some lie about his educational background. He rarely mentions that the only college he graduated from was community college. There is nothing wrong with that, and it’s a cost effective option for a lot of people. He presents himself as being a UT Austin grad (he dropped out), and an engineer. Sometimes he will say he’s an electrical engineer. One such example is an interview he gave to the Unconsumed Podcast, hosted by Lee Corning.
Corning: Obviously, you've got, I assume you went to Red Macomb, so you probably have an MBA or some equivalent
Ryan: I have an MBA in Startup Entrepreneurism, but not a full one. I studied at UT. I'm an engineer. I did do the business foundation program at UT.
Corning: Okay, so that's what I saw.
Andrew studied government at community college, and government and political science at UT Austin. He does not hold an MBA, nor any UT Austin degree. A background in government, having experience in lobbying and knowledge of how the lawmaking process works, makes perfect sense for someone who started a market aggregator in the new and growing field of crowdfunding - he simply has some bizarre compulsion to lie. Currently, on his Linkedin, he lists himself as working towards a postgraduate degree in data science at UT Austin. Not holding a bachelors degree, this is obviously impossible. He appears to be working through a certificate program. Nothing wrong with that - I’m a fan of lifelong learning. Simply another odd lie, likely to cover some feeling of insecurity and inadequacy.
Fast forward to Newchip entering Chapter 7 Liquidation. Andrew continued his series of lies in public media and social media statements, in communications to investors, and in front of the bankruptcy court.
Andrew at various points, including in February 2023, a month and a half prior to bankruptcy, told investors that the value of Newchip’s warrant portfolio was “$1 billion+”.
An assertion that I didn’t fully buy at the time, and now anyone can see was a flat out lie. Sputnik ATX, an investor in Newchip, provided a valuation report as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. That report valued the portfolio at $489 million. An auction would fetch substantially less. In a piece published to LinkedIn and Medium in March 2024, Andrew says the portfolio is worth $760 million.
Another lie Andrew told to investors, with the intent of igniting outrage and rallying support for a legal fund he was raising, is that the court unjustly, and without evidence, forced Astralabs into a Chapter 7 liquidation. Andrew emailed investors on March 11, 2023, decrying the court’s decision, and telling investors they would need to contribute money to a future legal fund “in order to save the company”.
Turns out, this was another brazen lie. Anyone who happened to look at the actual court documents would see several reasons why Astralabs was put into Chapter 7. These include omitting the $489 million dollar warrant portfolio from the financial disclosures and schedules filed as part of the original bankruptcy petition, not having cash to pay employees, and continuing to try and fundraise without court approval.
As he often does, Andrew attempts to present himself as a victim, or attempts to shift the blame for wrongdoing or failure. In recent media pieces, he discusses Newchip’s business model, and the reasons the company failed. In an article published May 14, 2023 ,around the time the bankruptcy court forced Astralabs into Chapter 7 liquidation, Andrew attempts to present Newchip accelerator as a loss leader, never meant to be profitable.
This is a total rationalization, and stands in stark contrast to how he described the business model to WeFunder investors.
Check out the snips below from Andrew's article, and from a Wefunder campaign:
Andrew Ryan article:
"The vision was to build an ecosystem of startups comingled into our interrelated software platforms that we ran as a Venture Studio from the top where we invested in, mentored, and acquired startups from our accelerator programs.
Newchip Accelerator, though the loss leader in this portfolio, was designed to be that incubator and accelerator to drive longterm partnership"
"Newchip's business model was never to be hyper profitable. It has consistently lost money every year, don't believe me, you can check our SEC filings here just search ASTRALABS.
As we go into detail below, you'll see the revenue model was based on a hybrid of venture capital longterm potential returns from our warrants, and investments into other product verticals for LTV, not cash revenue from our accelerator tuition."
Wefunder Campaigns:
"The warrants present a strong opportunity for additional value, but the focus of the business is our operating lines of revenue.
We have no intention of acting as an investment company."
"Even though we may not operate like other accelerators with direct investment as our primary focus"
Finally, Andrew has recently started a YouTube channel, featuring testimonials from companies that went through Newchip Accelerator. The only reason for this channel is to try and boost his personal image. Laughably, in several of the video descriptions, there is a blurb encouraging companies to apply to join the now bankrupt accelerator,“Don’t wait until next year if you’re thinking about taking your company to the next level. Raising money takes more than a few days; it’s a journey. Let us help you!"
Several of the videos flat out lie, and others are very misleading. In one video for Flower Turbines, the video is presented with the caption "Newchip's Accelerator's Andrew Ryan: Key in Flower Turbines' $11M Triumph". Flower Turbines participated in Newchip's Demo Day in 2022. They had already raised $10.25 million via StartEngine equity crowd funding at that point. Newchip then invested an additional $250k. He is posting promotional videos filmed as part of the accelerator, and lying to and/or misleading the public. You'll also notice that the title most videos leads with an emphasis on Andrew Ryan and Newchip, rather than on the company itself.
One more example is for Med-X. Andrew shared a video titled “Med X's $10M Funding Feat: A Tribute to Andrew Ryan's Newchip Accelerator Influence”.
Aside from being overly self aggrandizing, the title suggests Newchip was the reason behind $10M in funding. The only problem is Med-X already raised $10M prior to joining Newchip. It does appear that they raised an additional $1.5M in the years after Newchip (2021).
Mr. Ryan lies in such a comprehensive fashion that it is sometimes difficult to keep up with, but as long as people look beyond the facade he presents, there is ample evidence to show what a fraud Andrew Ryan is.
I’ll close with a quote from former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis:
"Sunlight is a powerful disinfectant."