Ralph Derrickson

Healthcare Entrepreneur

I’ve been an entrepreneur most of my professional life. I am drawn to people & organizations who seek to use technology to create new business models and make the world a better place. I am especially interested in healthcare. My experience combines executive leadership & investment management in a wide range of business settings, including start-ups, interim management, venture, and restructuring situations.

I have served as CEO of Valera Health since October 2025. Before that I was interim CEO of Vita Health prior to its acquisition by Valera. I served as President and CEO of Bsquare Corporation (NASDAQ: BSQR) from March of 2019 until its acquisition in December 2023 by Kontron America, Inc. the US subsidiary of Kontron AG. Prior to joining Bsquare, I was president and CEO of Carena, a pioneer in the development of virtual health care delivery until its acquisition by Avizia in 2017. Ralph served as SVP of Corporate Development until Avizia’s acquisition by American Well in July 2018. Prior to Carena, Ralph was managing director of venture investments at Vulcan Capital where he was actively involved in the investment, growth, and operations of the firm’s technology portfolio companies. Ralph has served for 15 years on the board of Perficient (PRFT), an IT services firm with expertise in e-commerce digital transformation. Ralph has senior leadership experience at Metricom, Starwave Corporation (acquired by Walt Disney), and NeXT Computer (acquired by Apple Computer). He began his career as a software engineer at Digital Research and Sun Microsystems.

Ralph serves on the dean’s advisory board of the Golisano College of Computing & Information Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned a BT in Systems Software. He also serves on the advisory board for the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, in the Foster School of Business at UW and the Hyla School board of trustees.