RHYS L WILLIAMS

Rhys L. Williams is chairman and CEO of Prototype House (www.prototypehouse.com), a venture focused on digitally transforming the product development process for entrepreneurs across the globe. From 2016 to 2021, he served as Managing Director of the highly successful FAU Tech Runway technology incubator/accelerator program & TRIN investor network. Mr. Williams has more than two decades of experience in the early-stage life sciences realm, having co-founded three biotech spin-outs from three of Florida’s institutions of higher learning. He is also an active member of the Florida angel investor community, having co-founded the New World Angels in 2003, Florida’s most established and successful structured angel investor group (immediate past president; current chairman), with several successful exits across the domains of therapeutics, medical devices, and healthcare IT. Additional work experience includes CapSoft (president, e-commerce venture), SI Ventures (institutional venture capital firm affiliated with Gartner), Ixion Biotechnology (VP-finance/associate general counsel), Smith Barney, TranZitions (operations director/corporate counsel, HR venture), and American Express. 

Mr. Williams is a U.S. Army veteran, having served as commander of a Special Forces Combat Diver Detachment (“Green Beret”). Recognized as one of 50 Power Leaders in Technology by the South Florida Business Journal, Mr. Williams has also testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Technology and Global Competitiveness. Mr. Williams received his undergraduate degree in Government from Harvard College magna cum laude and was also awarded a Certificate in Latin American and Iberian Studies. Subsequently, he earned both a law degree (JD) and an MBA with honors from the University of Florida, where he was class president and inducted into the Florida Blue Key leadership honor society. 

From 2018 to 2021 he served as an appointed director on the Harvard Alumni Association board of directors and continues to serve as president of the Harvard Club of the Palm Beaches, and is active with the Harvard College Fund and as an alumni interviewer. Other board service includes Optipulse, the Lemann Program on Creativity and Entrepreneurship advisory board, the Florida Venture Forum, the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium, and the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention. Former board service includes the Angel Resource Institute, Aplicor Inc., and as a gubernatorial appointee to the Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research. He is also a graduate and active member of Leadership Florida. Mr. Williams is admitted to the bar in both Florida and New York, and he speaks fluent Spanish and proficient Portuguese. A fifth-generation South Floridian, Mr. Williams, his wife of 30 years (Dr. Lorna Williams), and their two children reside in Palm Beach County, Florida.