Daniel Ratliff – Startup Investor Profile

Daniel Ratliff is a Principal at Fontinalis Partners, a venture capital firm in Detroit, Michigan. He focuses on investments ranging from $100K to $10.0M, with a sweet spot at $3.0M. Ratliff specializes in logistics, robotics, and transportation tech at both seed and Series A stages. His recent investment in Seed Robotics reflects his partnership style with co-investors like Sam Nasrolahi and Faris Lodin. Ratliff’s professional career includes a background in investment banking before joining Fontinalis to conduct research, analyze new opportunities, and support the firm’s operations. He holds a master’s degree in Finance from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Michigan State University.

Location: Detroit, Michigan

Country: United States of America

Investment Regions:

Investment Stages: pre-seed, seed

Website: https://www.fontinalis.com/team/#dan-ratliff

AI Reasoning: I found public information linking Daniel (Dan) Ratliff at Fontinalis to investments including Seed Robotics and others. The most recent verifiable investment activity connected to him is from mid-2025 (Seed Robotics announcement/coverage), which is within 6-12 months prior to the reference date, placing him in the ‘active’ range. Specifically, the startup named Seed Robotics is cited as a recent investment. The timeframe between that investment and the reference date is between six and twelve months, so the appropriate classification is ‘active’.

Low Activity – Only known angel investments more than 12 months ago.

Active – Known angel investments between the last 12 and 6 months.

Very Active – Known angel investments in the last 6 months.