The AI Infrastructure Race: Where the Next Billion-Dollar Startups Will Come From - S3 E8

On this week’s episode of Silicon Valley Impact, we sit down with Benny Liao, Principal at Acorn Pacific Ventures, and Ryan Wang, General Partner at Solaris Venture Partners, for a conversation on AI infrastructure, frontier technology, and the evolving landscape of global venture capital. Benny Liao is a Principal at Acorn Pacific Ventures, a Silicon Valley–based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in AI infrastructure and enterprise software. Before entering venture capital, Benny was the founder and CEO of a fintech startup in Southeast Asia, where he raised more than $10 million in equity and venture debt and led the company through growth and exit. Having experienced the startup journey firsthand, he transitioned into venture capital to work closely with founders building the next generation of technology companies. At Acorn Pacific Ventures, Benny focuses on backing technical founders building AI infrastructure, enterprise software, and data platforms—particularly the foundational tools powering the broader AI ecosystem. Drawing on his experience as both founder and investor, he is passionate about helping entrepreneurs navigate fundraising, avoid common pitfalls, and build companies that solve meaningful problems. Ryan Wang is a technology futurist and venture investor working at the intersection of AI, spatial computing, robotics, and frontier technology. As General Partner at Solaris Venture Partners, Ryan advises global capital and corporate leaders on emerging opportunities across the rapidly evolving AI and robotics sectors. A pioneer in cross-border investment, he co-founded Outpost Capital in 2015—one of the first early-stage funds focused on frontier technologies spanning the U.S. and Asia. Ryan has also built companies at the edge of innovation. He served as COO of MOAC Blockchain, helping scale the protocol into the Top 30 projects on CoinMarketCap, and co-founded Zebra Labs, an innovator in AI-driven music and metaverse intellectual property. Earlier in his career, Ryan worked in investment banking with Citigroup and Société Générale in New York. He has also lectured at USC, the University of Washington, and Nanyang Technological University, and holds a master’s degree from New York University. This and much more on Silicon Valley Impact!   Follow us on and listen to all our episodes on: 🎙️Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/68L4RPfMizjxnKBsmcFb1J 🍎Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/silicon-valley-impact/id1776876823 📺 Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/@siliconvalleyimpact   Silicon Valley Venture, LLC, the parent company of Silicon Valley Impact, is a proud global venture partner to great companies, MoralesHR and STAK Ventures, and 1900 Broadway Tower - Oakland. Check out https://moraleshr.com/ and https://stakspace.com/ to gain access to the worlds largest full stack venture ecosystem. It's over 1.2 million square feet of Live, Work, Play, Go; everything innovators, investors, ecosystem influencers, institutional partners, and global talent needs to gain a global advantage, access, alignment, and accelerate your venture.   Event Partnerships: Join us in Long Beach, April 22-25th for the IIT 2026 Conference. Get your tickets register here: https://www.iit2026.org/registe