Dylan Clifford is a Senior Analyst at Aero X Ventures, where he operates at the intersection of technical engineering and investment strategy. Leveraging a dual background in Computer Science and Economics, Dylan leads the firm’s data-driven sourcing efforts, having architected proprietary machine learning and NLP-powered applications that automate and strengthen the deal flow pipeline. He applies this deep technical fluency to drive rigorous due diligence and forecast market trajectories, advising the investment team on the technical merit and scalability of emerging startups.

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Prior to joining Aero X, Dylan was an Investment Analyst at Bastille Ventures. There, he focused on startups supporting U.S. national security, gaining deep exposure to the Defense Tech, Deep Tech, and Hardware sectors. In addition to his investment duties, he served as the firm's sole full-stack developer, building and deploying their entire digital platform.

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Dylan began his career at JUMP Investors, a firm known for early bets on Google, Chime, and Lyft. Working directly under the co-founder of Akamai Technologies (S&P 500), he gained foundational experience in venture capital while providing hands-on operational support to portfolio companies. Notably, he engineered an automated data collection pipeline that improved database accuracy by 40% and eliminated nearly 24,000 hours of manual entry annually.

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Dylan holds a B.A. from The University of Chicago, with his degree pursued at the Booth School of Business. During his tenure, he was a First-Generation scholar, a 4-year Varsity Wrestler, and an Academic All-American.

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