Expert Panel

Christian is a technologist and experienced venture capitalist. Prior to co-founding 2150, Christian launched White Star Capital, a venture capital fund with over $250m in assets under management and a global presence. Previously, Christian held leadership roles through the scale-up phase of some of the world’s largest technology companies, notably as head of international business development at Facebook and head of new markets at Google. Christian holds a BA in economics from Duke University, an MBA from The Wharton School and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. His personal commitment to sustainability in 2022 is to limit his meat intake to once a week.

Lynn is a technology scouting consultant and the founder of LMM Innovation Group based in Atlanta, Georgia. She leverages a multi-disciplinary engineering background and a team of analysts to build knowledge quickly in emerging markets and to identify technology gaps preventing commercialization. Current LMM Innovation Group research is heavily focused on energy transition technologies and markets with particular interest in carbon capture, hydrogen production, and mobility electrification.

Nigel is the Director of Investments at Acario, the venture capital and open innovation division of The Tokyo Gas Group, Japan’s largest gas company and an integrated electric utility. Prior to Acario, Nigel assisted legacy sector corporations in investing in and incubating next generation energy and smart city technologies at ADL Ventures. He also managed sector specific energy accelerators on behalf of US DOE and helped create multiple spinouts including FieldNav (PG&E), Trellisense (KES) and The EV Button (XL Fleet). Nigel is an angel investor and advisor to companies such as Jetti Resources, Liatris and General Radar. Earlier in his career, Nigel was a co-founder of multiple companies focused on sustainable supply chains and clean energy generation, where he specialized in product development, marketing and operations. Nigel received a BA from Amherst College and studied fuel cells and photovoltaics at the Smith College Picker Engineering Program. He is a member of the inaugural class of Echoing Green Climate Fellows and his work has been featured in publications like Forbes, National Geographic and Wired.

Paul is a Vice President at Activate Capital where he focuses on digital innovations across energy, mobility and logistics. Prior to Activate Paul was an Associate at Element Partners, one of the largest dedicated clean energy technology funds of its kind, where he evaluated new investments and worked closely with a portfolio of companies within energy, transportation, industrial software and other sustainable technology sectors. Paul began his career at Piper Jaffray & Co. where he advised on mergers and acquisitions for diversified industrial, energy and applied technology companies. He is a Seattle native and holds a BA from Duke University.

Greg Fleming is an Investment Director within the Air Liquide corporate venture capital team of ALIAD (Air Liquide Investissements d’Avenir et de Démonstration). Director of Innovation and Academic Partnerships within the Corporate Research Group of Air Liquide. In this role, he has launched both internal and external innovation programs to detect, develop and deploy new technologies for gases and related services. Prior to this assignment, he was Director of Innovation and Academic Partnerships within the Corporate Research Group of Air Liquide. He also served as Associate Director at the Air Liquide research center in Delaware where he was responsible for building and managing a number of technology teams including separations, combustion and hydrogen technologies. Greg started his career at DuPont where he helped develop the MEDAL gas separation membrane technology. He later moved to Air Liquide and served in a number of roles in development of the MEDAL technology, including the role of Director of Research. Greg serves on the Board of two companies within the ALIAD portfolio.

Michelle Robson is a Senior Investment Manager with AP Ventures focused on investment, portfolio management and management of the Fund’s portfolio construction. Michelle is a director on the board of Starfire Energy, HPNow and Immaterial, and an observer on the board of Amogy and Hydrogenious LOHC Technologies. Michelle has extensive experience in portfolio and business development, commercial strategy creation and implementation and new and innovative deep tech and digital technologies. Her international experience spans Europe and Australia. Prior to AP Ventures, Michelle held a number of group and commercial strategy roles within Anglo American including establishing and leading Anglo American’s first digital and innovation function. Before this, Michelle was a Manager with boutique management consulting firm L.E.K. Consulting. Michelle received her first-class honours degree in Industrial Chemistry (Engineering) from the University of New South Wales (Australia). Outside of the office, Michelle enjoys running, yoga and exploring the world and the great outdoors with her young family.

Cory Steffek joined Ara in 2018 as Managing Director, and is a member of the firm’s Investment Committee. He brings 25 years of experience launching new products and investing in the advanced materials and energy space. Cory has dedicated his career to working with talented entrepreneurs and executives who are focused on developing game-changing technologies that advance sustainability and lower carbon footprints. He currently serves on the board of directors for several Ara portfolio companies. Prior to Ara, Cory was the founding Managing Director of Aramco Energy Ventures in North America. At Aramco Ventures, he led investments in companies involved in renewable energy, low carbon chemicals and fuels, advanced materials, and energy efficiency through digital automation and robotics. This included leading the investment and acquisition of Novomer Polyols, the first company to commercially develop a catalyst incorporating carbon dioxide into traditional hydrocarbons, dramatically lowering the carbon footprint for a variety of products. Before joining Aramco Ventures, Cory was Director of Corporate Development and Strategy at First Solar, responsible for strategic investments and acquisitions, with an emphasis on new technologies and products. Preceding First Solar, he led sustainability investments in a broad range of energy technology companies at the Altira Group. In addition, he held several management roles in product development and engineering at PPG Industries, where he oversaw the launch of several new products and was responsible for 18 awarded patents. Cory holds a PhD in materials chemistry from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In his free time, Cory enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters, particularly on family bicycle tours. He also loves going on long hikes with his dog, exploring rarely seen areas of the golf course to find his ball, and the endless pursuit of perfecting the small batch craft gin.

Hendrik joined Astanor Ventures as a Partner in 2020, bringing to the team two decades of business and board management in the energy sector where he has held multiple line management roles. He has extensive investment experience from his time at Engie New Ventures, a corporate venture capital fund that he founded in 2014 to invest globally in cleantech start-ups. Having worked since 2000 on clean energy that has disrupted the traditional energy sector, Hendrik believes that it is now time to enable a new era for the food and agricultural sector, which has an even bigger impact on our climate and local environment than the energy sector.

Fabio Lancellotti is Partner at Aster, a Venture Capital fund based in Paris, with offices in London, San Francisco and Tel Aviv. Fabio focuses on startups aiming at the transformation of large traditional sectors through software, digital and deeptech. Since joining Aster in 2010 he has worked with many entrepreneurs in several geographies and across multiple stages. He is based in Paris but travels frequently in Europe and US. He sits as board member or observer for multiple portfolio companies including, Iceotope, Opendatasoft, Swiftly and DCBrain. Prior to joining Aster he worked at Bain & Company, helping large Corporates create new businesses and deal more efficiently with innovative companies. As well as the professional experience above, Fabio likes mentoring and advising young entrepreneurs and he is an occasional business angel. Fabio has an MSc in Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and an MBA from IESE and London Business School.

Susan Rohac is the Managing Partner of the Climate Tech fund at BDC Capital. In this role, Susan leads a pan-Canadian team of investment professionals and has over $1B of assets under management including a second $500M fund launched in 2022 which focuses on investing in Canada’s most promising cleantech companies. To date, the team has invested in over 65 Canadian cleantech companies across a wide spectrum of sectors including; CCUS, hydrogen, energy storage/battery, mobility, agri/food and advanced materials. Susan was recognized in 2024 by the Clean50 and was a Clean16 Honouree. With 30 years’ experience in the financial services, banking and venture capital sectors, Susan provides support and guidance to a team of dedicated professionals serving the Cleantech sector in Canada. An involved leader, she strives to ensure that BDC provides not only capital but genuine value in terms of insight, counsel and ongoing business guidance. Susan holds honour degrees in both Science and Finance and an executive MBA.

Ms. Rhea Hamilton is a Managing Director for BeyondNetZero, a climate solution fund of the leading growth equity firm, General Atlantic. She has some 20 years of investment experience in private equity and venture capital, focused in the areas of energy, climate and sustainability. Previously Ms. Hamilton was a Managing Director for Climate Investments, where she headed up the venture and growth equity investments globally. She has also held other senior positions including Managing Director for a large European family office, and Investment Director at RobecoSAM Private Equity, a pioneer in sustainability investing. Ms. Hamilton holds a Geological Engineering degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada, and an MBA from IESE in Spain. She is a Fellow with the Energy Institute and holds a diploma from the Institute of Directors.

At BHP, Mary fosters connection between BHP and the global innovation ecosystem to drive mutual impact. Prior to joining BHP, Mary spent 13 years in the US Intelligence Community, building relationships across international, academic, and commercial ecosystems to transform business operations in challenging environments.

Ernst is a Partner of Blue Bear and helps manage the firm’s investment activities. Ernst has participated on the Boards of Directors of over twenty conventional and renewable energy companies, and is currently an observer or director on the boards of Blue Bear portfolio companies Shoreline, Omnidian, Element Analytics, Everactive, and Raptor Maps. Before Blue Bear, Ernst spent nine years at Riverstone, a leading energy specialist private equity firm with over $35 billion in assets under management covering over 120 companies. He is also a Mentor in the Techstars Energy Accelerator. Since 2012 Ernst has been an active independent investor in technology-enabled businesses disrupting traditional industries. Previously, he worked in the Mergers & Acquisitions team at Citigroup covering the oil and gas, renewable energy, and transportation sectors. Ernst graduated with honors from Georgetown University with a degree in Science, Technology & International Affairs. He received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and London Business School through a joint degree program.

Shaun is an Investment Director for the bp Ventures team where he leads investment and portfolio management of early and growth stage technology companies. Specific areas of investment focus include EV charging & convenience, hydrogen, renewables & power. Shaun brings over 20 years’ experience in technology development and commercialization within the energy and industrial biotechnology sectors. Shaun sits on the boards of FreeWire, IoTecha, Satelytics, PartsTech, and Freebee. Prior to joining bp Ventures in 2015, Shaun served as Technology Portfolio Manager for bp’s biofuel business, where he led option development of technology packages for commercial deployment to lignocellulosic ethanol assets, working closely with internal R&D teams, start-up companies, global corporates, and universities on technology identification and access. Prior to joining bp, Shaun held several scientist roles with private and public biotechnology firms in the San Diego area. He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry-Molecular Biology from University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and an MBA from University of California, San Diego (UCSD).

Steve Kloos is a Partner at Burnt Island Ventures, a water specialist venture capital firm. Steve is an experienced investor and company leader with a deep background in water, energy, hydrogen, chemicals & fuels, and climate. He started his career as a membrane chemist at Osmonics and was acquired into GE Water, where he first led Membrane Technology globally before being sent on a 3.5 year global assignment to start GE’s water R&D efforts in Shanghai and in Singapore. After returning to the US in 2009, Steve served in the newly created Advanced Technology Leader role, overseeing longer range innovation efforts including internal programs as well as engaging with start-ups and innovators globally and was a member of GE's venture capital team. Steve joined True North Venture Partners in late 2011, leading new investment sourcing as a Partner, and served in two stints leading True North portfolio companies before joining Burnt Island in late 2023. Steve is the founding board chair of Current Water, a water non-profit based in Chicago, and is a longtime advisor to ImagineH2O. Steve has a PhD in chemistry from North Dakota State University and lives just outside Boulder, Colorado.

Ludwig Goris is Partner at Capricorn since 2023. He started his career in private venture capital +10 years ago at Capricorn Partners as an advisor to the Cleantech Fund, where he was responsible for scouting, analytics and portfolio support. After consecutive analyst and manager roles at the firm, he is now active as Investment Director at Capricorn’s Cleantech investment practice, which today focuses on disruptive enterprises that enable the energy, materials and food transition. He has guided several investments from deal initiation to exit in various deep tech sectors such as semiconductors, energy and chemistry. His interests and expertise cover human/animal health & nutrition, chemicals and composites and processing technologies. In his capacity as active investor and board member, he supports the portfolio companies in business development, corporate finance and market access. Ludwig Goris obtained a Master in Chemistry from Ghent University and a Ph.D. in Physics at Hasselt University. After completion of his doctorate, he started as a post-doctoral scholar at Stanford University’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, a position he held for three years. He earned an Executive Master’s degree in Corporate Finance from Vlerick Business School.

Alfred is an innovator, company builder and investor. He has 10+ years R&D experience; Co-founded Mangrove Lithium, a venture backed start-up and has been with Chrysalix Venture Capital since 2012. He is currently focused on investments that enable circularity, electrification and decarbonization of large industrial sectors.

Arjune has spent his entire career within sustainability investing, with experience across venture capital, growth equity and later stage private equity investment roles – all exclusively investing for environmental impact. He currently sits on the investment team at Circularity Capital, with a mandate to invest £10-20m in growth stage circular economy businesses. Prior to joining Circularity Capital, he spent five years at a venture capital fund in London focused exclusively on sustainability technology. Arjune holds an honours BA and MSc from Johns Hopkins University, and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge; all of his three degrees focused on the intersection of environment, mathematics and policy.

Since January 2016, Richard Youngman has been CEO of San-Francisco based Cleantech Group. This followed seven years of driving the growth of Cleantech Group’s activities outside North America, especially in Europe and Israel, and Asia, based in Cleantech Group’s office in London. Richard has more than 15 years experience researching cleantech innovation, venture capital markets, and start-ups across Europe and globally. He is a regular keynote speaker at major cleantech events and is the driving force behind the annual Global Cleantech 100, a list of the world’s most promising private cleantech companies. Before Cleantech Group, he ran the Research team at Library House, which discovered and collected the information about high-growth companies that underpinned that company’s data, analytical, and event services. This followed nine years building a broad-based finance and research background with leading financial institutions such as ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital and BZW in the City of London.

Felicity O’Kelly is a Principal in the Investment Team where she focuses on deal origination, evaluation, execution and post-investment support of venture capital stage companies. Felicity joined Climate Investment in 2019 and is a Board member at CI portfolio company, Fero Labs, and a Board observer at Boston Metal, Clarke Valve and Econic Technologies. Prior to joining Climate Investment, Felicity co-founded a cleantech start-up focused on urban air pollution. Felicity holds an MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College and in 2023, was named in the Venture Capital category of PEI Group’s Women of Influence list which spotlights women whose achievements, innovation and leadership are reshaping private markets. Felicity is based in London.

Ventures Investor at Closed Loop Partners investing in seed and pre-seed companies focused on accelerating circularity globally. Deep focus in critical minerals, e-waste, and metals processing, supply chain logistics, modularity, and business model transformations keeping materials in circulation for longer. Ex-McKinsey Sustainability and Energy practices. Previous work in renewables generation and cutting-edge technologies supporting circular business models in textiles, building products, consumer goods, and advanced manufacturing. Extensive experience supporting companies ranging from early- and growth-stage start-ups with nearly commercialized solutions to Fortune 50 enterprises with a focus on investment decisions and top-of-house strategy.

Coatue is a technology-focused investment firm managing ~$50B and investing in venture rounds from seed through pre-IPO. More recently, Coatue has raised two funds focused entirely on climate tech and Abhijoy leads the early and growth stage investing efforts for these funds.

Christina O’Conor is a Partner at Congruent Ventures. She has dedicated her 18-year career to either supporting or investing in transformative, sustainable companies across venture capital (Ecosystem Integrity Fund) and listed equities (Wellington Management and the PRI). Christina oversees Congruent’s investments in Dispatch Goods and Planet FWD, and she sits on the board of both companies. Christina graduated with a BS in Economics from Trinity College and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Christina enjoys sailing on the Bay and spending the winter weekends skiing in Tahoe with her husband and children.

Shounok joined the Constellation Technology Ventures in 2019 as an investment principal and is responsible for originating and structuring new investments as well as supporting the growth of the Constellation Technology Ventures (CTV) portfolio. Prior to joining CTV, Shounok led the Investment Structuring team within Constellation Energy's Distributed Energy business. Shounok has led new product development, financial structuring and asset acquisition efforts for competitive bidding and internal underwriting helping deploy over $1B of capital on Distributed Energy development; opportunities span multiple asset classes including Solar PV, Storage, Fuel Cells & Biomass. In addition, Shounok has had extensive experience in Project Financing and was involved in non-recourse debt offerings on utility scale renewable and gas generation assets totaling over $1.5B. Shounok holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Instrumentation Engineering from BMS College of Engineering, India and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Andrée-Lise is the founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital Management. She boasts 25 years of experience in venture capital, management and engineering. She has set up CCM, an impact investor and the most important cleantech investment platform in Canada. Today, CCM has more than $350M under management across 4 north-American and Chinese funds. In addition to serving on portfolio companies’ boards of directors, she is the Founder and Chairperson of the Board of the Ecofuel Accelerator and the Cofounder of the Ecofuel Fund. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), Transition énergétique Québec(TEQ) and Société Québécoise des infrastructures (SQI). She is also a member of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s New Energy Pioneers’ selection committee and a member of the Cleantech Group’s North-American Advisory Committee. Andrée-Lise cofounded Écotech Québec, a cleantech cluster, SWITCH, the Alliance for a green economy. She is a member of the External Advisory Committee to the Vice-Principal Research and International Relations (VPRIR) at McGill University, is a member of the Private Sector Advisory Board for the Networks of Centres of Excellence of Canada and sits on the Board of the Institut de cardiologie de Montréal. She co-chaired a Task Force under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She has chaired and has been a member of many panels of judges, including the Grand Prix du génie-conseil québécois, the Canadian Consulting Engineers Awards (ACEC) and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Andrée-Lise was recognized as one of Canada’s Clean16, named one of the Top 20 cleantech investors by CleanTechnica and amongst the most influential women in sustainable development and in the cleantech industry by Corporate Knight. She has a Master’s degree in Science from the Université de Montréal and a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering from Université Laval. She also studied atmospheric physics at the Université du Québec à Montréal.

As a pioneer and leading player in impact investing, DBL has helped to reveal the power of venture capital to promote social change and environmental improvement. In this context, Nancy writes and speaks frequently on the field of impact investing, sustainable agriculture and nature-based solutions to climate change. She currently sponsors or sits on the board of directors of several companies, including: Farmer’s Business Network (FBN), Bellwether Coffee, Spatial, Wynd, DroneSeed and, prior to their public offerings, Tesla Motors, SolarCity and Pandora. She also served on SolarCity’s audit and compensation committees as well as the chair of the corporate governance committee, from 2008 through its IPO in 2012 and acquisition by Tesla in December 2016. Prior to founding DBL, Nancy was a Managing Director in Venture Capital at JPMorgan, having started her investment career at Hambrecht & Quist in 1984. Previously, Nancy worked at Intel Corporation, the State of California, Stanford University, and the Sierra Club. Nancy was recognized by Forbes as one of 50 Over 50 in 2023, by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Bay Area’s 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in 2023, and by the Financial Women of San Francisco as the Financial Woman of the Year in 2022. Nancy was previously named to the Forbes 2020 Impact 50 List of the most notable impact investors. She was also a recipient of The Commonwealth Club 2018 Distinguished Citizen Award and the Earth Day Network 2018 Climate Visionary Award. She was featured #17 in the 2014 FORTUNE Inaugural World’s Top 25 Eco-Innovators and appeared on Fast Company’s 2016 List of Most Creative People in Business. Nancy serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Geographic Society. She is a member and former Chapter Chair of the Silicon Valley Women Corporate Directors Foundation. She is a member and former chair of the Advisory Council of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University; an advisor to the UC Davis Center for Energy Efficiency; and co-chairs the Yale School of Management Program on Entrepreneurship. She has been a lecturer in management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Yale School of Management and is a past member of the C3E Ambassador to the U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Program, led by the U.S. Department of Energy. From 2001–2019, she was also a founding officer and director of ABC2, a foundation aimed at accelerating a cure for brain cancer. She was also a founding member of the California Clean Energy Fund from 2005 to 2012. She served as an Advisory Board member of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Cyclotron Road, its Clean Energy Incubator from 2014 to 2019. Nancy received her BA and MA in anthropology from Stanford University, and her MBA from the Yale School of Management.

Earl is a recognized thought leader in the fields of water and environmental services who specializes in growing technology-based organizations. At DCVC, he focuses on investing in solutions that can transform the availability, quality, and affordability of water resources around the world. Earl previously served as CEO of Heartland Water Technology, where he developed innovative solutions for decontaminating and cleansing the world’s most difficult-to-treat industrial wastewaters. He also worked as Global Commercial Leader at GE Water and as a partner at Liberation Capital, a private equity fund focused on project finance for water, renewable energy, and resource recovery. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the US Naval Academy, a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a master’s degree in technology management from the University of Maryland, and an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Earl co-founded and is Chairman Emeritus of the Northeast Water Innovation Network (NEWIN), which brings together stakeholders from industry, finance, academia and government to solve water resource challenges globally. Earl is proud to have served as an officer in the U.S. Navy’s Submarine Force.

Scott Himmelberger is a Director at Decarbonization Partners, a JV between BlackRock and Temasek focused on early growth equity investments into companies driving decarbonization globally. Prior to joining Decarb Partners, Scott was a growth equity investor at Princeville Capital, helping to lead their climate tech fund. He has previously worked at BCG as well as at ARPA-E within the US Department of Energy. Scott holds a BS in Chemical Engineering as well as a MS and PhD in Materials Science from Stanford.

Olivier joined DEMETER early 2014. He is Partner within the Ventures team, and he is involved in the technological files related to the domains of energy, environment, smart-city, green mobility and more recently sustainable winetech. Before joining DEMETER, Olivier worked about 15 years in the energy and environment sectors in France and abroad (USA & Scotland) into functions in connection with Innovation and Business Development, whether as entrepreneur/co-founder of technological start-ups (Alterg, ITI Energy) or within large industrial groups (Atofina Inc. (Total), ENGIE). Olivier holds a PhD in Materials Physical-Chemistry and a MSc from the University of Bordeaux and a post-graduate diploma in physics and physical chemistry of the University of Metz. He is the author of several scientific papers and patents. Olivier is/was DEMETER’s permanent representative to the Boards of Directors of: Deepki, Kemiwatt, eLichens, Sweetch Energy, BeFC, plan A, Géoflex, ZE-Energy, Lixo, Antofénol, Axioma, My Bacchus, APIX Analytics, Nexdot & Ergosup.

Dr. Paul-Josef Patt is CEO of eCAPITAL ENTREPRENEURIAL PARTNERS AG, a German venture capital company driven by entrepreneurs. He started his career as project manager at Roland Berger & Partner, the leading German strategy consultancy. By management buy-in he became the executive partner of a highly expansive retail company with lastly more than 700 branches. After his successful exit he invested as business angel until engaging as thriving Venture Capitalist. He has a very successful track record in financing and developing high-growth companies (12 exits). Past investments include Novaled (sold to Samsung in 2013), sonnen (sold to Shell in 2019), Jedox (sold to Insight Partners in 2021), 1KOMMA5°, Heliatek or Open-Xchange. He serves as a Board member of NRW.BANK, the state bank of North Rhine-Westphalia and Chairman of the board of University Society Muenster e.V. In addition he holds numerous seats in other advisory and supervisory boards (e.g. Heliatek GmbH, Open-Xchange AG, Jedox). He studied business administration in Tübingen, Paris and Münster.

Sasha Brown is a Partner at the Ecosystem Integrity Fund. Her responsibilities include investment due diligence, strategy development, process management, deal sourcing, and portfolio company support. She assists with system and sector analysis, firm operations, and financial structuring. Sasha serves as a board director at RedSea, The Eighth Notch, Ambient Photonics, For Days, and Upflex. Prior to joining EIF, Sasha was a Principal at NewWorld Capital Group, where she co-led investments into growth-oriented companies in residential solar, diesel pollution reduction, and power electronics. Her deals included SolarEdge Technologies, which had a successful IPO in 2015, and Astrum Solar, which was sold to Direct Energy. Drawing on her industry background, Sasha has developed specialized expertise with respect to residential solar, the built environment, HVAC, and environmental consulting and engineering. Before joining NewWorld, Sasha worked in J.P. Morgan’s Natural Resources Group, and previously for Environmental Capital Partners, a private equity firm investing in middle market companies in the environmental industry. Prior to Environmental Capital Partners, Sasha worked at Atelier Ten, an environmental design firm providing consulting services to the building industry. At Atelier Ten, she focused on building energy models to optimize the energy cost and consumption patterns of buildings. She also worked on general environmental design consulting, including systems performance analysis, benchmarking, and strategic sustainability planning. Sasha received a BSc in Environmental Engineering from Yale University and holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management. While at Yale, she Co-Chaired the university’s Private Equity Conference and completed a research thesis evaluating sustainability metric systems for the built environment.

Luís Manuel, Executive Director of EDP Innovation since 2008; responsible for EDP Ventures and startup engagement activities, including the Energy Starter and Free Electrons programs (founder of both). Board member or observer of Effizency, Arquiled, Feedzai, Aperio, Principle Power, Gridbeyond and Vyntelligence, among others. EDP Ventures was #8 worlwide investor in clean technology companies between 2018 and 2022 and Luís is a member of the Powerlist 100 of the Global Corporate Venturing organization, which distinguishes the most influential CVC professionals in the World. Previously he worked 2 years at Explorer Investments (private equity) and 6 years at Galp’s Strategy and M&A department. He also worked in Espírito Santo Investment in the Project Finance and Corporate Finance Advisory divisions in Portugal and Brazil. Member of the Cabinet of the Secretary of State of Economic Development and Innovation during the XVI Portuguese Constitutional Government. He is also a member of the board of the Portuguese Electric Vehicles Association (APVE). Luís has a degree in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Partner & Managing Director at EDP Ventures, venture capital arm of EDP Group, since January 2022. Investment Director and Principal @EDP Ventures between 2010-2022. Board member and observer on several portfolio companies. Previously worked 5 years, as Investment Manager, @ M&A/Corporate Development of EDP Group. Also worked previously in management consulting @ Roland Berger and Diamond Cluster in Portugal, Belgium and Brazil. Frederico has a degree in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, MBA from IE Business School in Madrid and an Executive Course in PE/VC from Harvard Business School in Boston.

Gina Domanig is the Managing Partner of Emerald Technology Ventures. In 2000, she founded the business as the first independent cleantech venture capital fund in Europe. Now, Emerald is a globally recognized venture capital firm that manages and advises assets of over €1 billion from its offices in Zurich, Toronto and Singapore. The firm invests in start-ups that tackle big challenges in climate change and sustainability, with four current funds, hundreds of venture transactions and five third-party investment mandates, including loan guarantees to over 100 start-ups. Gina currently serves on the boards of the following portfolio companies: - Actnano Inc, a nano-technology semi-conductor coatings company - GeoDigital International Inc, a geo-spatial intelligence provider for electric utilities - Urgently Inc, a digital platform for roadside assistance In addition to Emerald activities, Gina holds the following positions: - Board member of Die Mobiliar Genossenschaft (one of the largest insurance companies in Switzerland); - Chairman of the Board of BASE (Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy), a Swiss foundation and Specialized Partner of the United Nations Environment (UNEP); - Executive Co-chair Innovation Insights, World Energy Council; - Member of the Global Future Council on the Future of Food and Water Security (World Economic Forum); - Member of the International Advisory Board Danish Innovation Fund; and - Advisory Board member, Prime Impact Fund Gina has over 35 years of international business experience including M&A, strategy development, and venture capital. Prior to starting Emerald, she was senior vice president at Sulzer, a Swiss multinational, responsible for strategic planning and M&A. Gina holds MBA degrees from Thunderbird in Arizona and ESADE in Barcelona and is fluent in English, German and Spanish. She grew up in the USA, is a citizen of both Switzerland and France and lives in Zurich, Switzerland.

Since the 1st of April 2008, Glenn has been working at Eneco. He is an Innovation leader in the strategy team, and he is responsible for setting up startup collaborations across the organization on energy technology and building an ecosystem with partners such as corporates, investors, accelerators, incubators. Before Glenn Bijvoets joined Eneco, he worked at Rabobank, Robeco and the TU Delft, where he was active in the fields of strategy, marketing, innovation, and valorisation. He holds a bachelor’s in economics and studied change management at the University of Groningen. Glenn Bijvoets is involved with technical and social innovation programs for sustainable energy generation.

Kei Morita is the General Manager of ENEOS Americas Inc. ENEOS is the largest energy and materials company in Japan. He joined ENEOS in 2010 and has mainly worked in research and development, as well as business operations in the electricity sector. Currently, he is responsible for startup investments and business development in North America, focusing on climate tech. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.

Matthias is CEO and Managing Partner for EIP’s European operations. He oversees investment activity and EIP’s collaboration with its strategic partners. Matthias believes in the superpower of combining technology, entrepreneurship and capital and he applies this superpower to decarbonize industries. He is an experienced VC investor and board-member and has dedicated his career to supporting the best entrepreneurs in climate-tech. Prior to building EIP’s European operations he was the founder and managing director of Statkraft Ventures, a fund focused on the energy transition (investments include: Tado, Limejump, Skyspecs, Deepki, Zolar). Previously he was a senior investment manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, the leading German early-stage investor, backed by the largest industrial companies and financial investors. Matthias was trained in mechanical engineering and business administrations at Technical University of Braunschweig and University of Rhode Island. Additionally, he earned a Ph.D. from Technical University of Braunschweig with a thesis on private equity financing of SMEs. He lives in Germany with his wife and two sons spends his time between EIPs offices in Cologne, London and Oslo.

Wally Hunter, Managing Director; Wally has been investing in Energy Technology for over 20 years. He runs EnerTech's Canadian operations from Toronto. His specific areas of focus include opportunities in Energy Management and Building Automation & Control, Storage, Oil & Gas Technologies (including Digital Oil Fields), Power electronics, Advanced materials, Water treatment Technologies in Energy, Software & Internet of things (IoT). Prior to EnerTech, Wally was a Managing Director with RBC Capital Partners where he was responsible for the bank's Venture Capital fund (Energy Technology and Advanced Technology Fund) which was part of RBC's Investment Banking Division (RBC Capital Markets). He has an extensive background in the Venture Capital business which includes a series of successful IPO’s, M&A and turnaround transactions throughout his 30 year career in the finance business. In addition to Wally’s extensive finance background, he previously produced and hosted the weekly financial television show "Money Week" which featured over 200 guest interviews from Canadian and U.S. money managers over a 14 year period. He was also involved in politics and sat as a local Councillor in the Town of Milton (three terms) and sat on the Board of the Ontario College of Pharmacists (Chair of finance). Wally was past Chairman of the Banff Venture Forum Cleantech Stream and Chairman of the 2014 Canadian Venture Capital Association conference in Ottawa in May of 2014. He sits on the board of the Canadian Venture Capital Association (CVCA), Venture Capital Association of Alberta (VCAA), Sustainable Development Technology Canada Member Council (SDTC) and the Cleantech Group Advisory Board. Wally currently sits on the boards of EnerTech portfolio companies, IP Keys Power Partners, Western Oilfield Equipment Ltd, Vertex, Sofdesk and Powerside. Wally was previously an observer on the Board of Distech Controls (sold to Acuity Brands for $318 Million CDN) and sat on the board of HPC Energy Services (sold to TriWest in 2018). In 2017 Wally was appointed to the NHL Coaches Association Advisory Board. In 2018, Wally was appointed to the Advisory Board at Cornell University/Tech's Program in Infrastructure Policy (CPIP). Wally received a BA from the University of Western Ontario and has completed a number of securities-related courses and programs including the Canadian Securities Institute (CSC program) and Canadian Investment Finance (CIF I, II &III).

Johann Boukhors is Managing Director of Engie New Ventures S.A.S., the Corporate Venture Capital fund of ENGIE. Johann has over 20 years of professional experience, in the energy sector within the ENGIE Group. He’s previously held a number of responsibilities such as Director New Business Development, Supply, Marketing & Sales in Mexico, Branch Director Energy sales in Belgium & Luxemburg, Group Business Development Oversight, Strategic Purchasing Infrastructures, and key Account Management. Johann is French, and graduated as an Engineer (Arts & Métiers ParisTech) and holds as well an Executive MBA (ESCP Europe).

Senior Partner at the Environmental Technologies Fund (ETF Partners) with more than 15 years’ experience in Venture Capital investing in technology companies across Europe at the convergence of digital tech, sustainability and impact. Previously at Goldman Sachs' M&A advisory group notably covering the renewable energy and environmental services sectors. Also worked as a management consultant at ICF International, focusing on the transportation and aerospace sectors across Europe and Asia. MBA from Harvard Business School and MSc in Aerospace Engineering from ISAE.

An experienced energy project finance, private equity, and venture capital professional, with cross-sector expertise in early and late stage hardtech companies, Naynika most recently managed a portfolio of deep tech VC investments at a private family office. Previously, Naynika helped manage a portfolio of clean power and infrastructure investments at US Renewables Group. She is also a proven company builder and was on the founding team of two startups in the energy project development and finance space: SoCore Energy, a solar project developer acquired by Edison International in 2013, and Common Assets, a renewable energy bond platform acquired by SolarCity in 2014. Naynika is currently on the board of Evok portfolio company Summit Nanotech and has actively served on boards of companies in the power generation, advanced materials, telecom, AI hardware, biotech, energy storage and biofuels spaces, helping advance several toward private and public exits. Naynika earned an A.B. in Physics from Princeton University.

Lutz Stoeber is an Investment Director of Evonik Venture Capital. Lutz is based in Parsippany, New Jersey and represents Evonik Venture Capital in North America. Prior to joining the team founding Evonik Venture Capital in 2012, Lutz has been involved in investments in chemical, advanced materials and industrial companies for more than 15 years. Lutz helped to establish Pardus Capital in 2005 and ran their German office. Lutz holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is an inventor of technology relating to advanced materials.

Dirk is a seasoned investor in early stage and growth companies with an industrial DNA and is heading the investment activities of Finindus - an investment company backed by ArcelorMittal and the Flemish Region - since mid-2013. Dirk started his career in marketing at Arbed (now part of ArcelorMittal) in roles related to strategic marketing, feasibility studies, business planning and M&A transactions. Thereafter he joined tKMC - a marketing and business intelligence boutique, serving blue chip clients in telecom, energy, FMCG and industry - as managing partner and shareholder. In 2008, he committed himself to OCAS Ventures to build and manage a portfolio of innovative and material related companies for Finindus. Dirk serves on the boards of Powercell Sweden (publ.), Borit, Sentea, Rein4ced and Guaranteed. He holds a M.Sc. in Applied Economics and an executive MBA from the Vlerick Management School.

Patrick is a Partner at Future Energy Ventures partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs to accelerate our transition towards a decarbonized future. He and his team invest globally in breakthrough climate technology start-ups that can significantly reduce GHG emissions. Patrick has strong track record in the energy industry and an international background in venture capital and strategy consulting. Having lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and North America, Patrick's diverse experiences contribute to his holistic approach in fostering innovation. Prior to his current role at Future Energy Ventures, he was a Partner at innogy Ventures. Patrick boasts over 11 years of strategy consulting expertise, gained during his tenure as a Senior Executive at both Accenture and Deloitte. Patrick holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Aachen (RWTH).

With a background working with and investing behind growth stage companies, Mani is excited to partner with the new generation of businesses working to make a difference in our current climate crisis. Prior to joining Galvanize, Mani spent three years at TPG, most recently within The Rise Fund, TPG’s global impact investing platform, and before that, within TPG Capital’s software investment team. Prior to that, Mani worked at Goldman Sachs on the technology investment banking team in San Francisco. Mani graduated magna cum laude from Middlebury College where he studied Economics and Environmental Studies. In his free time, he loves to cook and spend time outdoors skiing and surfing.

Colin is a Founding Partner of Generation Investment Management, a dedicated sustainable investing firm. He also serves as Vice Chair of Just Climate, a subsidiary business of Generation. He has also worked for Sustainable Asset Management, Total and Arthur D. Little. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Ocean Conservancy.

Martin Kröner is Partner at the GET Fund, the cleantech venture capital specialist based in Munich. Martin was co-founder and CEO of agnion Energy Inc., a supplier of distributed energy plants to convert woody biomass into electrical power and natural gas. Prior to agnion, Martin worked at Linde Engineering, and built up an engineering services company. Martin holds a M.Sc. in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in combustion engineering from the Technical University in Munich. Martin is board member of Electrochaea. He was also responsible for the investments of GET Fund’s predecessor fund MVP in sonnen, Luxexcel, COBI, GreenCom Networks, and Kebony .

Stefon Crawford was named Partner effective February 2023. Stefon started GMV in 2016 as an Investment Analyst and was promoted in 2018 to an Associate. Prior to GMV, Stefon spent 5 years in financial services at Rocket Mortgage. Stefon has earned a Bachelors in Business Administration from Eastern Michigan University as well as Executive Certificates in Negotiation and Venture Capital from HBS, Wharton Business School, and HAAS School of Business, University of Berkeley California.

Dr. Eric Wang is a Managing Partner at GRC SinoGreen Fund, a venture capital fund manager focusses on the green technologies in China. With over 20 years of experience in venture capital investment, investment banking, and equity research. He specializes in identifying technology or value chain discontinuities and cultivates initiatives for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Dr. Wang served as a director on the board of CNano Technology (688116.SS), Rancher Lab (now SUSE), and LedEngin (now Osram), and a board observer of Cepton (NASDAQ: CPTN). He played a key role in the investments of Googol Technology (301510.SZ), Voltronic Power (6409.TT), S2C (now SMIT), and PHABuilder. Dr. Wang holds a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research from Stanford University.

For the past decade, Jamie has been the lead sustainability advisor to Tridel, Toronto’s leading condominium developer, and has contributed to the company’s transition to becoming a green building leader with over 12 million square feet in development or under construction in LEED projects. For six years, Jamie was a Partner in the Windmill Development Group, when they successfully developed LEED- Platinum certified mixed-used buildings in Calgary, Ottawa and at Dockside Green in Victoria. Jamie also manages 350 Capital, a small venture fund that invests in green building technologies, and he has served on the board of cleantech start-ups and the Canada Green Building Council (2008-2011). In 2011, working with the cleantech practice at the MaRS Discovery District and Tridel, Jamie founded Tower Labs @MaRS, a non-profit green building technology accelerator, to manage pilot and demonstration projects of new approaches to improve the environmental performance of large buildings in Toronto.

Robert Liu is the CEO of Huaneng Invesco WLR (“HIW”), a joint venture investment fund company between Huaneng Capital (financial services arm of Huaneng Power, leading power generation company in China), and Invesco, a US asset management company. Robert has 25 years of experience in investment and investment banking. Leveraging the strengths of HIW’s shareholders, he and his team in HIW have focused on the renewable energy / cleantech space, including wind and solar power, energy storage, sustainable transport, and energy efficiency, with investment targets in China, US and other countries. Prior to his current role, he had worked with Temasek’s infrastructure investment arm, and prior to that he held senior investment banking positions with JP Morgan and ICBC where he helped leading Chinese companies in power, toll roads, telecom and banking in their IPO’s and M&A activities. Robert holds an MBA degree from University of Utah.

As a head of Hyundai CRADLE Berlin, Dr. Sukhwan Yun spearheads Hyundai Motor’s open innovation initiatives across Europe. He earned B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. His doctoral research focused on polymer electrolyte membranes for energy conversion in fuel cell and battery applications. In 2014. He started his career at Hyundai as a Senior Research Engineer in Hydrogen Fuel Cell R&D Center, and was in charge of developing fuel cell electric vehicles (Tucson ix35 and NEXO), then contribute to sourcing and executing high-potential investments at Corporate Venture Capital Team of Hyundai Motor Company. He focused on automotive and ancillary industries, especially including energy fields.

Mr. Diaz leads Iberdrola´s venture capital program – Iberdrola Ventures -PERSEO, that invests in the most promising smart energy start-ups worldwide, and he also leads the Technology Prospective Analysis unit in charge of assessing the potential of key technologies for the future of the energy sector. He joined Iberdrola in 2008 and since then he has contributed to the launch and management of the Iberdrola´s venture program, leading a team of investment professionals. Currently, he is member of the Board in Wallbox Chargers (NYSE:WBX) and Atten2 advanced monitoring technologies and Board Observer in Balantia and Innowatts. On the technology prospects area, since 2016, Mr. Diaz leads a team of analysts that build the company´s internal models for cost and competitiveness of key technologies for decarbonization of electricity (wind, solar, storage) and electrification of demand (electric vehicles, electrification of heat, batteries,…). Prior to joining Iberdrola, he developed his career in several roles related to engineering, technology development, innovation and entrepreneurship both in the Telco (Telefonica from Aug 2007 to Aug 2008 and Eir, from Aug 2005 to Aug 2007) and Energy sectors (Iberdrola Engineering from Mar 2004 to Aug 2005).

Kei Honda is the General Manager of Business Development at Idemitsu Americas Holdings. With his 20 years of extensive experiences in energy industry, he leads open innovation and corporate venturing activities for Idemitsu Group focusing on investment and business engagement with startups, investors, and corporates in the United States. The key focus areas are energy transition, circular economy, and carbon offset solutions. He holds a Bachelor’s in Social Relations from Rikkyo University and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.

Matias is the Head of Portfolio Management of InnoEnergy, responsible for managing the portfolio of equity stakes in startups. He has been with InnoEnergy since February 2015. Prior to that, he was Investment Director at CX Capital, managing a portfolio of over 200M€ of private equity positions. Before that he had an extensive career in banking, holding positions at Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers in London and New York. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, the CFA certification and an Engineering degree from UPC (Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya).

Ivo is Investment Director and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors at Inven Capital, a VC fund backed by CEZ Group, the largest utility in Central and Eastern Europe, and the European Investment Bank. Inven investment focus is in the smart energy, looking for innovative and fast growing European and Israeli startups, with scalable business models proven by sales. Ivo represents the fund on the boards of several portfolio companies. Prior to joining Inven in 2014, Ivo gained over 15 years of experience in corporate finance and banking, working in various management positions at international banks and investment companies. Ivo holds a master’s degree in accounting, corporate financial management and business law from the University of Economics in Prague.

Ali is a Managing Director at Kerogen Capital, a private equity fund manager specializing in international energy with over $2 billion of assets under management. Based in San Francisco, Ali focuses on energy transition, conventional & renewables energy, climate tech and industrial software & digital transformation solutions, and serves on the boards of a few private high-growth companies. Ali has over 20 years of experience across multiple geographies. He previously worked in the investment team of Kenda Capital, manager of Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1, an energy venture capital firm investing in step-change energy technologies. Prior to Kenda, Ali worked as an Engagement Manager for the global energy and chemicals practice of Arthur D. Little focusing on business strategy and operation optimization projects in the U.S., Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. He also worked at Grant Prideco and Schlumberger in market analysis, technical sales, and engineering optimization roles based in the U.S., Oman, and Malaysia. Ali holds an MBA focusing on strategy and finance from Yale University and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

Ben is an Investment Director at Kiko Ventures and sits on the boards of C-Capture, Mixergy and on the investment committee of Kale United. He represents Kiko on the Energy Transitions Commission and Cleantech for Europe. Prior to joining Kiko Ventures, Ben worked in the Carbon Trust where he helped shape multi £bn innovation budgets, corporate R&D partnerships and development bank finance structures. He has also been a scientific researcher at the European Commission and started his career at Google, screening for renewable venture investments. Ben is a British national, based in Stockholm and has previously worked in Germany, Italy and Spain. He has an undergraduate in Physics and a Masters in Environmental Technologies, from Imperial College where he was an NERC scholar.

Bastien Gambini has more than 19 years of experience investing across Europe and North America in both venture and private equity. Former Managing Director for Europe at Equinor Ventures, he previously led the Spanish team at Demeter Partners as Partner and worked for Société Générale and Caisse des Dépôts. He has led deals in the renewable, power grid, waste management, artificial intelligence and energy industries. Bastien has been a board member to more than 12 companies. Bastien holds two post graduate degrees in Finance from Paris University Panthéon-Assas and an MBA from INSEAD.

Oliver is an investor as Lightrock. He has spent the majority of his career at bp, both in the London energy trading business and in bp's electrification, mobility and low carbon unit where he worked, and led, initiatives contributing to bp’s energy transition strategy and investments. Oliver holds a degree in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham and is an ICAS qualified Chartered Accountant. In his free time, Oli enjoys spending time with family and friends, you might also find him learning to kitesurf or refreshing his Spanish.

Ryosuke “Ricky” Saki is senior vice president of new business development at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA), where he focuses on decarbonization of the energy sector, leads climate tech investment initiative and develops business with startups. ​ Since joining MHI in 2006, Ricky has held a number of roles across the company and one of its group companies, Mitsubishi Power, including as a project engineer and as a leader on the oil and gas business development team. He graduated from Kyoto University with a degree in environmental engineering technology and from Rice Business with an MBA.

Ken MacKinnon and John Bennett co-founded MKB in late 2007 along with Patrick Bennett. As MKB’s CEO, Ken is responsible for MKB’s overall strategic direction and performance. He also oversees fundraising activities and deal execution and is directly involved in the management of portfolio investments. Formerly a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch & Co., Ken led the Merill’s successful technology investment banking practice in Canada for several years. Prior to co-founding MKB, he was a Managing Partner with Miralta Capital, a private equity management firm. Ken began his career in investment banking with McLeod, Young, Weir & Company Ltd. and also served as CFO of a publicly traded merchant bank. Ken is a Dobson Fellow at the Dobson Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at McGill University and is an Institute of Corporate Directors certified director. Ken has a B.A. from McGill and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business.

Jesse Teichman joined the firm as Partner in 2022. Jesse has worked to enable energy innovation for over 20 years, both as an investor and in senior commercial roles with start-ups and global companies, including GE and Chevron. With Chevron Technology Ventures, he was a founding member of Chevron’s climate-tech focused Future Energy Funds – $100 million Fund I and $300 million Fund II – and led over a dozen investments during his tenure. Jesse’s community engagement centers around inclusive access to youth soccer and mentorship of clean energy leaders and early career professionals. He earned a U.S. Soccer Federation National- C coaching license and is a past board member of Westbury Soccer Club in Houston. Jesse holds a B.S. in Marine Engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. He served 11 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, completing his service at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Gert Wrigge is a Partner with Next47’s investment team and based in Munich. His investment focus is in areas such as energy, IoT, e-mobility and smart cities. Before joining Next47, Gert was VP at Asia Climate Partners in Hong Kong, investing in environmental industry sectors in Emerging Market Asia. Previously, he was with RobecoSAM Private Equity, a sustainability investment specialist in Zurich, Switzerland.

Chris is the founding general partner of Pangaea Ventures and has helped entrepreneurs change the world for over 25 years. Chris is based in Phoenix and sits on the boards of several portfolio companies. Prior to starting Pangaea in 2000, Chris was a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, specializing in environmental and corporate law. Chris has been on the board of the Canadian Venture Capital Association and several non-profit organizations. Chris has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Toronto and a B.Comm from the University of Calgary.

Maria came to Piva Capital from Schlumberger Business Consulting (later acquired by Accenture Strategy Energy). There she helped clients address complex problems in the energy industry while working on projects in the Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream sectors. At the energy storage provider, Stem Inc. Maria was part of the Business Development team, she focused on expanding into international markets and new product offerings. Maria is passionate about technology and diversity in the energy space. She firmly believes in the value of investing as a driver to help address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Jake is an Investor at Porsche Ventures in search of early-stage technology across critical industries, science and beyond. He partners with visionary entrepreneurs who challenge limits to bring about innovation, address intricate problems, and foster a sustainable future. Prior to his leap into strategic venture, Jake was at Fontinalis Partners investing in early-stage startups boldly reshaping the future of mobility. He remains active throughout the venture ecosystem, including serving as a Principal Venture Partner at GoingVC Partners. Areas of interest include manufacturing and engineering, the energy transition, future compute, and frontier technologies that reimagine consumer, supply chain and mobility industries.

Gabriel Kra co-founded Prelude Ventures in 2013, after almost 25 years as an investor, entrepreneur, scientist, and activist. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s investments in advanced energy, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, advanced materials and manufacturing, and advanced computing. Gabriel serves on the Board of Directors for Renew Financial, Ripple Foods, Sense Labs, Natron Energy, ClearMetal, Raxium, and Form Energy, and is active with Metalenz, Zymergen, Planet, QuantumScape, Catalog, and Spark Thermionics. Gabriel also serves on the Board of Directors of Activation Energy and The CREO Syndicate, and on advisory boards for Cyclotron Road, Prime Coalition, and Carbon180.

Eric is a Managing Partner based in San Francisco, CA. Eric has spent his career at the crossroads of technology and global markets and has developed over a decade of ESG investment experience. Eric began his career in management consulting at Deloitte and helped to grow the Central and Eastern European strategy and operations practice, living in Ljubljana and working out of the Prague office. After graduate school, Eric worked in the corporate venture group at NextSet Ventures and later was a founding team member and Managing Director at Cartica Capital, a global ESG investment fund. Eric was also a Principal at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in their Washington, DC office focused on digital strategy for global clients. Eric has deep operating experience with portfolio companies including as CEO of a global satellite equipment manufacturer and as President and COO of a technology startup in the 4th party logistics (4PL) field. Eric lives with his wife and two children in San Francisco, CA and is an avid sailor, skier, and private pilot. Eric is also a member of the Provost Advisory Committee for the University of Michigan. Eric holds a B.S.E. in Aerospace Engineering and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Michigan, and an M.B.A. from INSEAD.

Michael brings 20 years of industrial experience among which 15 years in start-up ecosystem, notably acting as Chief Technology Officer and Global Head of Business Development. His field of expertise covers a large spectrum of technology areas and business segments such as polymers, additives, chemicals, compounding, (bio)feedstocks, (renewable) energy, automotive, semicon and E&E. He studied polymer chemistry at University of Liège with complementary business education from Solvay Brussels School of Executive Management.

Grant Allen is a founder and General Partner of SE Ventures, a $1.1 billion venture capital fund created in partnership with Schneider Electric. Focused on emerging technologies and their role in the digital transformation and decarbonization of legacy industries and the built environment, Grant has led investments in Banyan Infrastructure, Fabric8 Labs, Higharc, Kojo, Patch, Plotlogic, Poka, Scandit, Titan AES, and WattBuy. Previously, Grant was the global head of venture capital at ABB and led 19 investments including Northvolt, Enbala, FreeWire, Atom Power, Natron Energy and MineSense, delivering in excess of 30% IRR during his tenure as CEO of ABB Technology Ventures. He is a three-time member of the Global Corporate Venturing Power List, recognizing the Top 100 corporate VCs in the world, and an active angel investor, personally investing in 40+ startups, often at the seed stage, including Carta, Cohesity, Coinbase, Dexterity, DocSend, EquityZen, FiscalNote, LivingSocial, Wagestream, Wise, VoiceOps, Woebot Health and Zume. Grant holds a BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering and an MBA from The Wharton School. Grant lives in Los Altos, California with his wife and three children.

Markus Hökfelt is the Investment Director at SEB Greentech VC, where he leads investments in companies with a strong potential for financial returns and a positive impact on Climate. With a robust background in both engineering and economics, Markus has a wealth of experience in the venture capital and green technology sectors. Prior to his role at SEB Greentech VC, Markus was the Fund Manager and CEO of Almi Invest’s GreenTech fund, where he successfully managed investments in cutting-edge environmental technology companies. Markus is also the co-founder of Unimi Solutions, a company specializing in innovative solutions for sustainable urban development. His extensive experience includes various leadership positions in the energy industry, where he has consistently driven innovation and growth. Additionally, Markus has served on the Board of Directors for several organizations, further showcasing his expertise in strategic and operative leadership.

Wouter Jonk is co-founder and Managing Partner of SET Ventures. He co-founded SET in 2007 and helped to build it to Europe’s leading Energy VC, investing from its 4th Fund currently. Wouter’s previous experience includes M&A and venturing, both at independent VCs as well as in corporate and advisory roles. These include Philips Electronics CVC, both in Silicon Valley and Europe, where investments were directed towards the digital transition of some of Philips’ core industries. Earlier, M&A at Philips and Corporate Finance at Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance. Wouter started his career in Venture Capital three decades ago where he held positions at two Dutch VC’s. Wouter holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering & Management from the Technical University Twente, the Netherlands.

Jermaine Saaltink is an Investment Director at Shell Ventures (SV). Shell Ventures targets investing in startups and scaleups in the carbon mitigation, renewable energy, and mobility domain. It makes minority investments that help to develop new technologies or disruptive business models in areas of strategic interest to Shell’s businesses. Jermaine is Amsterdam based and responsible for identifying, structuring, and managing investments in various trailblazing companies in the power and mobility sectors. Currently, Jermaine serves on the Board of various companies including Instafreight, SolarNow, Soly and Kraftblock and is an investor and/or Board Observer in a couple more. Jermaine has been with Shell for over 15 years and has held various positions in The Netherlands and abroad. He holds a Master’s degree in finance (VU Amsterdam), a Master’s degree in International Law (University of Groningen) and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations (University of Groningen). Additionally, he has attended various executive courses, including M&A at INSEAD and is a Registered Controller in The Netherlands.

Dan is the head of the national Climate Technology and Sustainability practice. He and his team manage hundreds of client relationships in low carbon energy, food, agriculture and transportation technologies. He is experienced in many aspects of early stage, growth, middle market, corporate and project financing.  Prior to joining SVB in 2007, Dan was focused on corporate and asset finance at commercial banks and non-bank finance companies. He has experience in structured debt, large ticket leasing, partnering, syndications and public accounting.

With over 25 years of working experience in the investment space, Peter is a veteran technology and impact investor with experience investing in both private and public companies across Asia, U.S. and Europe. As an early investor in the impact sector (water, energy and agriculture), Peter has led more than 20 deals in this area since 2003. Prior to entering the private equity sector, he was a highly ranked equity analyst at Morgan Stanley. Peter advises and sits on numerous boards in the water, technology, and agriculture/aquaculture sectors.

Hee is a leader at SK Group with a strong entrepreneurial focus, having led global projects since joining in 2008. In 2017, he founded SK's venture arm to invest in clean tech, climate tech, property tech and support sustainability/circularity initiatives. As head of SK Discovery's CVC, he invests $1M to $50M in startups across sectors and he collaborates with SK affiliates to drive digital transformation and business growth. He also helps startups leverage SK’s international network for expansion and exit opportunities.

Arindam has led business and technology innovation for SLB (formerly Schlumberger) in a global career spanning 28 years, with a solid track record in strategic leadership and strong, tactical execution. Past senior leadership impact include roles as Product Line President for Land Drilling Rigs, Region President for Mexico & Central America, global Corporate Vice-President for Strategy, Marketing & Technology and key leadership roles across Latin America. In his current role as the Managing Director of SLB Ventures, Arindam leads the incubation and development of new business ventures for the SLB New Energy (SNE) group and heads the Corporate Venture Capital investment portfolio for SLB. He presently sits on the board of EnerVenue, Energy Source Minerals and Celluforce. Arindam is passionate about constantly challenging the status quo in the energy industry. Recent areas of business impact include digital transformation of the oil and gas business, and technology and business disruption in the energy transition space. Arindam has a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India, and a Masters degree in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, UK.

Venture capital investor and fund manager based in Australia with international track record. Domain expert in energy transition and clean technology with a deep technical background in advanced materials and semiconductor device fabrication.

Kurt has spent the last 25+ years focused on tackling the world’s biggest climate and sustainability challenges. He joined Stafford Capital Partners to launch their Global Private Equity and Venture Capital program, focused on investments in sustainable companies. Before Stafford, Kurt managed a platform of global sustainable private equity and venture capital funds at Macquarie. Previously, Kurt helped launch the first clean energy incubator in the U.S, focused on creating and growing innovative climate companies, and was an active board member of an alliance to extend this work across the country. In addition, he has had consulting engagements with various start-ups and DOE labs, as well as operational experience in the energy sector. Kurt has had numerous international speaking engagements on topics including: Sustainable PE and VC investing, aligning PE portfolios with the PRI Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), commercializing technologies, and launching climate start-up companies.

Astorre Modena is the Founder and General Partner of Terra Venture Partners, leading early-stage Cleantech VC in Israel. Before founding Terra, Astorre was a Principal at Israel Seed Partners, a leading seed-stage venture capital in Israel with more than $260 million under management. Until recently, Astorre was an active key investor in the establishment of Cellint, a new cellular startup that is growing rapidly. Prior to Israel Seed, Astorre was with McKinsey & Co., based in Paris, where he consulted to leading Italian, French and Israeli manufacturing and financial corporations. Astorre holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Outstanding Students Program (Amirim) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from Imperial College in London.

Erik is a venture investor, company operator, and serial entrepreneur with a history of successfully inventing, scaling, and commercializing new technologies in energy, materials, and chemicals. Erik has spent over two decades in industry, where he has served as a: partner, founder, board director, CEO, President, COO, and CCO. Erik has executed numerous technology licenses and commercial partnerships, and worked with and for multibillion dollar operating companies and technology licensors. Erik has served as an Operating Partner at True North Venture Partners for the last several years with a focus on executive and advisory roles to TNVP’s portfolio companies in the licensing, chemicals process technology, hydrogen production, and derivatives spaces. He also sits as an Independent Board Director and Chair for several venture backed companies. Erik recently started an executive role at Koloma leading their commercial efforts. He holds a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Rice University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ms. Qi Lu is a Partner at Tsing Capital, one of the first venture capital firm dedicated to sustainability related investing. Qi heads several functions at Tsing Capital including portfolio management, research, and ESG, and is actively advising early to growth stage companies with sustainability missions on their business development, cross-border and fundraising strategies. Ms. Qi Lu has over 15 years’ experience working in energy, environment and sustainable development sectors. Her focus areas include renewable energy, electric vehicle, energy efficiency, power storage, etc. Prior to joining Tsing Capital, she worked for Carbon Trust and Azure International, two leading environmental and low carbon consulting firms, where she worked with Chinese national and local governments to give recommendations on sustainability-related policy making. She also advised many western Cleantech companies on their China-entry strategies. Qi also worked at Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Beijing and New York offices as a research assistant intern on power storage and U.S.’s voluntary carbon markets. Qi holds an M.S. Operations Research from Columbia University and a B.Eng. Industrial Engineering from Tsinghua University. She and Tsing Capital have been pioneers of impact investing in China, and the founding members of China Alliance of Social Value Investment (CASVI), and China Impact Investing Network (CIIN).

Since 2013, Peter Auner has been a partner of VNT Management Ltd., a venture capital company which focuses on clean technology. VNT was founded in 2002, and are among the first venture capital companies in Europe to focus on renewable and distributed power generation and energy-saving technology. Geographical investment focus is Northern and Central Europe, with a main focus being on the Nordics and German-speaking Europe. Before getting into venture capital Peter has worked for 23 years in the electrical industry, and has spent much time internationally, in countries such as the US, China, Japan, and Switzerland. For many years he was VP of a Global Business Unit at Schaltbau Group, and as head of R&D at Yamaichi Electronics. Peter began his career as a mechanical engineer as a Partner at an engineering firm for electromechanical components. Customers included the Bosch and Lapp cable Group.

Chris Kane joined W. L. Gore and Associates in 2013. During the early part of his career with Gore his focus was on new product and new materials development. Today he is focused on advanced materials innovation scouting. In this role, he searches for unique advanced material technologies from startups, research groups, and other external groups to bring to Gore. These technology scouting efforts are focused on creating business opportunities for Gore by providing new and unique technology options for Gore's business units. Sustainability and clean technology are a significant area of focus for him in these efforts. Additionally, Chris joined the Greentown Labs Advisory Board in July 2019 as part of Gore’s sponsorship of Greentown Labs, North America’s largest cleantech incubator. Chris has a background in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as well as an MBA from the University of Delaware.

Craig Douglas is a Founding Partner at World Fund. Previously Craig worked at SET Ventures, one of Europe’s longest running climate funds, and has 10 years of experience in Venture investing in the climate space. Craig’s specialist areas of expertise are in: new energy business models; built environment; energy distribution and storage; Transportation. Craig is pioneer in ESG and Impact in the venture community having created an industry leading ESG framework in 2012 and co-designing how to link impact to fund performance and compensation in 2018 now used in 30+ funds. Craig actively advises funds on implementing their own ESG and impact activities.