About RIoT

Tom is Executive Director of RIoT, supporting Internet of Things and disruptive technology industry growth.  Under Tom’s leadership, RIoT has launched the RIoT Accelerator Program, RIoT Studios, which includes the RIoT Underground Podcast, and RIoT’s ED series.  He has grown RIoT from a Research Triangle focused organization to one with international reach.

In his spare time, Tom co-instructs Product Innovation Lab, a Forbes award winning multidisciplinary course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at NC State.  Prior to joining RIoT, Tom held an executive leadership role at the ASSIST Center, a National Science Foundation sponsored effort to create wearable electronics for healthcare monitoring.  Previously, he spent two decades in product development and technology incubation for multinational technology companies.

He’s passionate about creating and fostering collaborations across disciplines, markets and cultures.  He enjoys the outdoors, woodworking, board games, big crowds, craft beer and ideas that are just crazy enough to work.

Rachael supports IoT innovation through helping small businesses, startups, and corporates explore new business opportunities on the bleeding edge of technology. In 2018, she launched RIoT’s premiere innovation program, the RIoT Accelerator Program (RAP), for early stage startups.

Previously, Rachael built and ran a behavioral science-focused startup program with Dan Ariely’s research lab at Duke University, where her work was featured at Google and in Forbes and Inc. Magazine. As a Triangle-native who’s supported startups across local universities, private equity, and nonprofit programs, Rachael is excited to be part of the continued growth of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

When she’s not exploring the intersection of entrepreneurship and different disciplines, Rachael’s creative outlets of choice are dance, writing, and interior design. Rachael is a Durham native and graduate of UNC Chapel Hill.

Lauryn Colatuno is the Director of Marketing and Communications at RIoT. She focuses on brand awareness for RIoT and creating engaging content across multiple channels promoting both RIoT programming and our ecosystem partners and startups.

Prior to joining RIoT, Lauryn owned and operated two small businesses, The Raleigh Night Market LLC and Grazin’ Gals LLC. She was the Senior Community Manager for Yelp in the NC Triangle area and a former TV producer creating long and short form video content. Lauryn’s television production background transitioned her into the ever-changing world of digital marketing and social media. Lauryn is also the cookbook author of Cooking Well: Healthy Italian: Over 100 Easy & Delicious Recipes and The 4-Step Recipe to Create Your First Book.

In her free time she enjoys hiking with her rescue pup, Luna, cooking and working out.

Larry Steffann was one of the founders of RIoT, and much of RIoT’s success can be attributed to his hard work, vision, and dedication to the startup community.

Larry’s accomplishments included a number of startups, from advisor to angel investor to executive/founder. He served in executive roles at two publicly traded companies. More recently, he was GM of the Wireless Research Center and VP of Product Development for Consert. Larry was also heavily involved and admired in the Raleigh Founded (formerly HQ Raleigh) community, a major hub of entrepreneurship in Raleigh and across the state.

One of his proudest professional accolades was co-founding RIoT; RIoT has been a groundbreaking conduit in what Larry commonly referred to as ‘the 4th Industrial Revolution.’

For more about Larry’s legacy, please visit this article from WRAL TechWire, Upon rocks such as Larry Steffann today’s tech Triangle was built.

RIoT has set up a memorial campaign and scholarship fund in Larry’s honor; please consider joining us in honoring Larry and his family by donating to the Larry Steffann Memorial Fund, which funds efforts to grow the very startup community that Larry supported.