Katherine Ruf
General Counsel
Katherine joined Fifth Down in 2025. She has over 10 years of experience as a legal advisor to private equity and venture capital firms. Prior to joining Fifth Down, Katherine was the General Counsel at Xontogeny, a life sciences accelerator, where she was also responsible for Perceptive Advisors’ venture fund investment activity and portfolio company support. She began her career as an associate in the private equity group at the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges and went on to be a senior member of the legal team at Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private equity firm. Katherine earned her Juris Doctor from University of Michigan and has a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University.
Senior Advisors and Operating Partners are non-control advisors. These individuals are not employees of Fifth Down Cap LLC (“FDC”) or any of the funds or SPVs managed by FDC or its affiliate, Fifth Down Capital Partners, LLC (together with FDC, “Fifth Down”). Certain of the Senior Advisors and Operating Partners are engaged by FDC to provide consulting services. Consultants may be compensated with fees for such services. Additionally, Senior Advisors and Operating Partners may receive incentive unit grants in FDC and grants of carried interest in funds or vehicles managed by Fifth Down. Further, Senior Advisors and Operating Partners may be investors, directly or indirectly, in FDC, Fifth Down funds or vehicles, and/or existing and prospective portfolio companies and may receive fee breaks in connection with such investments.