Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top California based Founder operating in the Manufacturing space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Joseph Zwillinger
Co-Founder and CEO of Allbirds
Joseph Zwillinger is a CEO and Co-Founder of Allbirds. He has long been passionate about making things from renewable resources, which led him to start Allbirds and begin tackling sustainability issues in the footwear industry. Prior to co-founding Allbirds, he spent six years at biotech firm Terravia (formerly Solazyme, Inc.) leading its renewable chemical business, developing and selling high performance algae-based chemicals into various industries such as CPG, personal care, and industrials. Previously, Joey worked in advisory and investment roles at Industry Ventures, Deloitte Consulting and Goldman Sachs. He sits on the Board of education nonprofit Stiles Hall, as well as the Advisory Board of Wharton’s Baker Retail Center. He earned an MBA from Wharton with honors, and a BS in industrial engineering from UC Berkeley
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About Allbirds: Allbirds is an apparel and fashion company that specializes in manufacturing eco-friendly wool shoes.
Tim Brown
Co-Founder of Allbirds
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About Allbirds: Allbirds is an apparel and fashion company that specializes in manufacturing eco-friendly wool shoes.
Michael Leabman
Founder & CTO of Energous Corporation
Mr. Leabman became the Company’s Chief Technology Officer in October 2013. From September 2010 to September 2013, Mr. Leabman served as President of TruePath Wireless, a service provider and equipment provider in the broadband communications industry. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Leabman served as Chief Technology Officer for DataRunway Inc., a wireless communication company providing broadband internet to airlines. Mr. Leabman received both his Bachelor of Science degree and Master of Engineering degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Leabman’s extensive knowledge of the Company, its technology and the consumer and commercial electronics industry position him well for service on our board of directors.
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About Energous Corporation: Energous Corporation is the creator of WattUp, charging technology for electronic devices.
Nathan Resnick
CEO and Founder of Sourcify
Nathan Resnick is the CEO of Sourcify, a platform that makes manufacturing easy. In the past, Nathan has brought dozens of products to market, ran three ecommerce companies (sold one), and been a part of projects on Kickstarter raising over seven figures. He writes for media outlets like Entrepreneur, The Next Web, Business.com, and more. Nathan also used to live in China and speaks Mandarin.
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About Bubble Hotels, Business 2 Community, Entrepreneur Media, HuffPost, Social Media Today, Sourcify: Sourcify is a manufacturing platform that directly connects customers with factories overseas.
Chris Power
Founder & CEO of Hadrian
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About Hadrian: Hadrian manufactures precision components for cutting-edge technology companies.
Lars Brubaker
Co-Founder & CEO of MatterHackers
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About MatterHackers: 3D Printing Software, Hardware, & Supplies
Ilan Moyer
Co-Founder of Shaper
Ilan’s obsession with building unusual digital fabrication tools began with his MIT undergraduate thesis on Rapid Prototyping of Rapid Prototyping Machines in 2008. His creations include a portable 3D printer called Popfab, a collaborative Jacquard loom for weaving friendship bracelets, and several motion stage designs that are now used in consumer 3D printers. Ilan agrees with Malcolm McCullough that the best tools are transparent extensions of the hand.
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About Shaper: Shaper is a human-involved robotics company focused on making precision cutting easy and accessible.
Ross Bundy
Co-Founder, Chief Entrepreneur, Chief Production Office of Cardea Bio
A founding member of Nanomed and the company’s CEO, Ross is a graduate of UCSD with an MBA from SDSU. Ross’s passion is precision execution, and he applies this to driving company direction and operations, developing strategic collaborations and partnerships, and raising capital funding. Ross brings business development, supply chain, finance, and operations expertise from 13 years of experience in industries ranging from consumer goods to defense manufacturing to financial services. At Bumble Bee Foods, Ross created and implemented cross-functional supply chain procedures that reduced processing hours while improving scheduling accuracy and decreasing cost. Prior to Bumble Bee at General Dynamics, Ross identified and negotiated business development projects that gained the company new opportunities in alternative energy, commercial construction, and heavy tool manufacturing. At UBS Financial Services, Ross created financial models to estimate future growth rates. Ross brings a demonstrated track record of successful implementation and a well-rounded background to his role as CEO of Nanomed.
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About Cardea Bio: Cardea is developing a new generation of (bio)technology infrastructure based on proprietary biology-gated transistors.
Kiana Aran
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Cardea Bio
Kiana Aran is a Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Cardea Bio.
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About Cardea Bio: Cardea is developing a new generation of (bio)technology infrastructure based on proprietary biology-gated transistors.
Karan Talati
Co-Founder & CEO of First Resonance
Karan Talati is a co-founder and CEO at First Resonance.
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About First Resonance: First Resonance builds ION, the Factory Operating System that manufacturers trust for speed, collaboration, and visibility.
Erik Palitsch
Co-Founder & CEO of Freeform
Erik Palitsch is a Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Freeform Future.
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About Freeform: Stealth-mode additive manufacturing company.
Thomas Ronacher
Co-Founder & CTO of Freeform
Thomas J. Ronacher is a Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Freeform Future.
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About Freeform: Stealth-mode additive manufacturing company.
Ken Kalopsis
Co-Founder + Vice-Chair of Startech.Com
Ken Kalopsis is co-founder of StarTech.com and as the company’s most senior ambassador, he maintains strong partnerships with key customers. Ken also spearheads StarTech.com’s global customer expansion so you will frequently find him at airports and hotels around the world. As a key member and contributor to the Executive team, Ken provides critical input and direction to StarTech.com. Having been actively involved with all aspects of the company throughout the years, he knows the business inside and out – with a particular focus in sales and operations. As a member of TEC Canada, Ken provides insights into company best practices and continuous improvement. Ken has a longstanding record of community involvement. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Grand Theatre Foundation and the Greater London International Airport. He also served as Executive Director of the Canadian Economic Development Assistance for South Sudan (CEDASS) after serving as a director for the previous five years. Ken earned a degree in History & Political Science from The University of Western Ontario.
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About Startech.Com: StarTech.com operates as a manufacturer of hard-to-find connectivity parts.
Floyd Arnold
Founder of Full Swing Golf
Floyd Arnold is the Founder of Full Swing Golf, Inc. Mr. Arnold is a Pioneer of Indoor Golf. His impact on the golfing industry continue to grow as the full swing golf simulator expends its reach into the mainstream of both entertainment and golf industry applications. In 1986, marked the year he formed full swing golf and his quest began. After exploring various routes to achieve his goal for a realistic system , he invented and patented an ingenious design of tracking the golf ball in fight after impact with the golf club over a defined period of time. This allowed the participants to not only hit a read golf ball indoors but it also allowed the user to see a real-time visual representation of the entire ball flight exactly as it was happening. His invention is located in many of the finest golf facilities and organizations around the world including the PGA of America and the world golf hall of Fame. There are more than 3000 full swing golf simulators in operatinon around the globle that have been experienced by close to one billion user.
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About Full Swing Golf: Full Swing Golf is the Worldwide Leader in Golf Simulation.
James Berdigans
CEO & Founder of Printify
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About Printify: Printify is a marketplace connecting online merchants to major print on demand and dropshipping manufacturers worldwide.
Michael Preysman
Founder and CEO of Everlane
Michael Preysman is the founder and CEO of Everlane. Prior to starting Everlane, he was an investor at Elevation Partners for both their New York and Menlo Park offices investing in media and entertainment companies. Michael enjoys sitting at the intersection of design and technology. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon with degrees in Computer Engineering and Economics.
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About Everlane: Everlane designs, manufactures, and sells clothing items for men and women via online e-commerce website.
Jim Davidson
Co-Founder of Katerra
Jim Davidson is the board member and co-founder of KATERRA. Jim is a managing partner and managing director of Silver Lake, which he co-founded in 1999. Silver Lake is one of the largest and most successful technology investment managers in the world. Jim has been an active advisor to and investor in the technology industries for more than 30 years. Prior to Silver Lake, Jim was a managing director at Hambrecht & Quist, a technology-focused investment bank and venture capital firm. Jim is an active “angel investor” and advisor to several private technology companies.
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About Katerra: Katerra is a developer of a construction technology platform to optimize aspects of building development, design, and construction.
Steven Zhou
Co-Founder and CEO of Moov
Steven Zhou is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder at Moov.
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About Moov: Moov is a software platform for buying and selling preowned manufacturing equipment.
Maxam Yeung
Co-Founder & Managing Director of Moov
Maxam Yeung is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Moov.
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About Moov: Moov is a software platform for buying and selling preowned manufacturing equipment.
Chris Clark
Co-Founder & CTO of Grove Collaborative
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About Grove Collaborative: Grove creates and curates high-performing, planet-first home and personal care products and is the leader in zero-plastic CPG.
Stuart Landesberg
Co-Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative
Stuart Landesberg is the Co-Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative, the leading digital-first brand & ecommerce platform for natural home and personal care. Stu has long been passionate about sustainability. He founded Grove, which has been a Certified B Corp since its founding, after learning that offline distribution meant that just a small percentage of families were choosing healthy, sustainable home care products. Grove now serves hundreds of thousands of households in the U.S. every month and has raised over $100 million in total capital. Stu was previously an investor at TPG Growth, where he was involved in over $400 million in consumer and technology investments. Stu and his wife Caitlin live in San Francisco with their daughter and dog, and spend as much time outside as possible.
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About Grove Collaborative: Grove creates and curates high-performing, planet-first home and personal care products and is the leader in zero-plastic CPG.
Jordan Savage
Co-Founder & VP, Creative of Grove Collaborative
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About Grove Collaborative: Grove creates and curates high-performing, planet-first home and personal care products and is the leader in zero-plastic CPG.
Jordan Kretchmer
Co-Founder and CEO of Rapid Robotics
Jordan Kretchmer is the Founder and CEO of Livefyre. Livefyre brings the social web right to any publisher or brand site to drive real-time conversations and community engagement. The company’s suite of real-time products include LiveComments, LiveBlogs, and social content curation, and Livefyre’s customers include FOX News, CBS, Dow Jones, AOL, TIME Magazine, and thousands of others. Kretchmer founded the San Francisco based startup in December 2009, and has overseen its growth to the 7th largest site network on the web, delivering 1 billion live content streams every month. Before launching Livefyre, Kretchmer was the Vice President of Brand at Current TV where he led brand redevelopment for the media company. Previously, he was the Digital Creative Director at Butler Shine Stern and Partners, and Vice President/Associate Creative Director at Mullen Advertising. Kretchmer lives in San Francisco.
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About Livefyre, Rapid Robotics: Rapid Robotics provides out-of-the-box automation for manufacturers.
Daniel Schwartzkopff
Co-Founder of DataProphet
Serial digital entrepreneur Schwartzkopff is a South African business executive with firm start-up experience and a proven background in the technology and social networking sectors. He was the founder of BetVIP, the world’s first licensed bitcoin-only sportsbook and casino and has been featured in everything from Business Day to the Wall Street Journal. He previously founded FSMS, a VC-funded telecoms startup with more than 400,000 registered users where he first found a passion for using machine learning to discover rich interactions and extract value from massive datasets. Schwartzkopff is a graduate of the University of Cape Town, where he studied Chemical Engineering.
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About DataProphet: DataProphet is a developer of machine learning and AI technology to serve the manufacturing industry.
Raunak Bhinge
CEO, Managing Director & Founder of Infinite Uptime
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About Infinite Uptime: Infinite Uptime is an industrial IoT solution provider for improved quality and productivity in the engineering and processing industries.
Jonathan Waldern
Founder & Chief Scientist of DigiLens
Optimistic technologist Jonathan Waldern received a PhD in Virtual Reality at Loughbrough University of Technology under the United Kingdom’s advanced computing initiative. His first company, Virtuality Inc., became a pioneer in virtual reality training and entertainment. After a successful IPO, Jon came to California and founded DigiLens, the leading waveguide optics platform. A named inventor on over 70 patents, Jon has also received three national small business awards for innovation, manufacturing and management.
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About DigiLens, Metamaterial Inc.: DigiLens is an innovator in holographic waveguide display technology for extended reality (XR).
Anna-Katrina Shedletsky
Founder and CEO of Instrumental
I’m the CEO of Instrumental, a company I founded to solve manufacturing’s biggest problem: the 20 to 35 cents of every dollar spent in manufacturing that is wasted. I have two degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and was an Apple Product Design Engineer for six years. I designed mechanical components for three iPods and led system product design for the Apple Watch Series 1. I spent over 300 days in China finding and fixing issues on one of the most admired manufacturing supply chains in the world. I regularly speak about the future of manufacturing and automation and write technical articles at www.instrumental.com/blog. As an advocate for increased diversity in technology, I founded the Women in STEM Mentorship Program WISMP.org in 2013, which has matched hundreds of women university students studying in STEM fields with practicing industry mentors to support their transitions into fulfilling STEM careers.
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About Instrumental: Ship hardware products on time with high-resolution manufacturing data.
Samuel Weiss
Founder & CTO of Instrumental
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About Instrumental: Ship hardware products on time with high-resolution manufacturing data.
Ron Garret
Founder and CEO of Spark Innovations
Ron Garret, Ph.D. began his career as a researcher at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, where he worked on autonomous spacecraft and mobile robots for planetary exploration. His work laid the foundation for the subsequent Mars rover missions, and he became the most referenced computer science researcher in all of NASA according to CiteSeer. Ron’s entrepreneurial streak was evident as early as junior high school, when he wrote his first business plan for a retail store that would sell nothing but computer software (a radical idea in 1979) and built one of the world’s first computer dating services on an Apple ][+. Ron’s first real startup was a company that built high-speed local area networks in the early nineties. In 2000 he left JPL to work for what was at the time an obscure Silicon Valley startup called Google, where he was the lead engineer on the first release of AdWords, and the author of the Google Translation Console, the interface by which volunteers translate Google’s site content into over 200 different languages including Klingon. After the Google IPO Ron started a new career as a serial entrepreneur and independent angel investor. He co-founded three startups, most notably an on-line marketplace for charter jets called Smart Charter, which was acquired pre-launch by Richard Branson and launched as Virgin Charter. During this time he also produced and directed a full-length documentary film about homelessness. In 2008, together with Brian Singerman (now a partner at Founders Fund) Ron co-founded a small investment fund called XGYC (not to be confused with XG Ventures) which to date has an annualized IRR over 60%.
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About Spark Innovations: Spark innovations is a product design & development industrial design company that offers benefits of intellectual patents and exceptional.
Mark Herrema
Co-Founder & CEO of Newlight Technologies
As CEO and co-founder of Newlight, Mr. Herrema has over a decade of industrial experience in chemical, biological, and process engineering, intellectual property development, polymer functionalization, private equity finance, and strategic business development. Mr. Herrema has invented a range of proprietary carbon capture and conversion systems and materials, receiving numerous associated US and international patents, steering Newlight through multiple private placement offerings, executing a range of strategic partnerships, and leading the engineering, construction, optimization, and expansion of Newlight’s carbon capture platform. Mr. Herrema graduated magna cum laude High Honors from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and Political Theory, with additional work in Physics, Mathematics, and Chemistry.
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About Newlight Technologies: Newlight Technologies is a biotechnology company producing advanced sustainable materials.
Weili Dai
Co-Founder & President of Marvell
Weili Dai is one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the world today. Widely considered a technology visionary, she is the only woman co-founder of a global semiconductor company, and since it began in 1995, she has helped Marvell’s rise to become one of the top semiconductor companies in the world. Dai’s business acumen, strategic thinking, product leadership, endless passion and personal network have contributed greatly to Marvell’s fast rise to success. Her close relationship with her customers and the foundation of the trust shared with them has given her a strong reputation for professionalism and integrity throughout the technology industry.
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About Marvell: Marvell is a technology company that manufactures and offers integrated circuit solutions using communications mixed-signal processing.
Gene Berdichevsky
CEO & Co-Founder of Sila Nanotechnologies
Gene Berdichevsky is the Co-Founder & CEO of Sila Nanotechnologies. Prior to co-founding Sila, Gene was the seventh employee at Tesla Motors where he served as Principal Engineer on the Roadster battery, leading the development of the world’s first, safe, mass-produced, automotive lithium-ion battery system. Gene holds two degrees from Stanford University; an MS in Engineering with a focus on energy and materials, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He has co-authored 42 patents and 4 academic publications. Gene has been named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list, the MIT Technology Review 35 Under 35, and was a recipient of the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans.
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About Sila Nanotechnologies: Sila Nanotechnologies is a provider and manufacturer of higher energy density lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Alex Jacobs
Co-Founder & VP Engineering of Sila Nanotechnologies
Alex Jacobs is a Co-Founder & VP Engineering at Sila Nanotechnologies. Prior to Sila, he designed and developed battery packs at Tesla, including those used in the Roadster and Daimler’s Smart Fortwo electric drive. He later oversaw battery cell build and test at lithium ion materials manufacturer Amprius. Earlier in his career Alex worked in product design at IDEO, where he co-developed two novel medical devices for a Fortune 500 client, both now FDA approved and in production. Alex holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and has co-authored 18 issued or pending US patents.
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About Sila Nanotechnologies: Sila Nanotechnologies is a provider and manufacturer of higher energy density lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles.
Andrew Ng
Founder & CEO of Landing AI
Andrew Ng co-founded Coursera in 2012, served as the company’s Co-CEO until 2014, and is currently the Co-Chair of the Coursera Board. He is the former Chief Scientist at Baidu, a Chinese language search engine, where he was responsible for driving the company’s global AI strategy and infrastructure. Dr. Ng is also an adjunct professor in the computer science department at Stanford University. In 2011, he led the development of Stanford’s Massive Open Online Course platform and taught an online machine learning class that was offered to over 100,000 students – the initiative that led to the co-founding of Coursera. Previously, Dr. Ng was the founding lead of the Google Brain deep learning project. Dr. Ng has authored or co-authored over 100 research papers in machine learning, robotics, and related fields. In 2013 he was named to the Time 100 list of the most influential persons in the world. He holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, and the University of California, Berkeley.
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About AI Fund, Coursera, Deeplearning.ai, Landing AI, Stanford University, Zunavision: Landing AI applies AI and deep learning to help manufacturers solve challenging visual inspection problems and generate business value.
Delian Asparouhov
Co-Founder, President, Chairman of Varda
Delian Asparouhov is the Co-Founder, President, and Chairman at Verda.
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About Founders Fund, Varda: Varda is a space manufacturing startup that focuses on creating products in space for terrestrial applications.
Will Bruey
CEO & Co-Founder of Varda
Will Bruey is the Co-Founder and CEO of Varda.
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About Varda: Varda is a space manufacturing startup that focuses on creating products in space for terrestrial applications.
Keith Kepler
Founder and CTO of Farasis Energy
Dr. Kepler brings over 15 years of Li-ion research and development experience, including Argonne National Laboratory and PolyStor Corporation. He was also a consultant to the U. S. Advanced Battery Consortium and the Department of Energy on electric vehicle battery issues.
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About Farasis Energy: Farasis Energy is a renewable energy company that develops and manufactures lithium ion battery energy storage systems.
Gabe Sibley
Founder & CEO of Verdant Robotics
Gabe Sibley is the Founder & CEO at Verdant Robotics, Inc.
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About University of Colorado Boulder, Verdant Robotics, Zippy.ai: Verdant Robotics manufactures robotics systems; the company’s current platform delivers transformative agricultural services.
John Kibarian
CEO, Director & Co-Founder of PDF Solutions
John Kibarian is the CEO, president, and co-founder of PDF Solutions. Before founding the company in 1991, Dr. Kibarian was a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University’s SEMATECH Center for Rapid Yield Learning. At CMU, John developed algorithms for diagnosing process variations based on electrical test data and for achieving yield maximization based on circuit optimization and statistical simulation of processes and devices. Kibarian holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, all from Carnegie Mellon University.
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About PDF Solutions: PDF Solutions is a provider of yield improvement technologies and services for the IC manufacturing process life cycle.
Ben Chiarelli
Founder and CEO of Cellibre
Ben Chiarelli is the founder and CEO of Cellibre. He is also the founder and managing partner at Divitempus Ventures. Ben earned his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business and his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University.
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About Cellibre: Cellibre turns cells into specialized, sustainable factories for the manufacture of globally significant products at scale.
Fabian Gerlinghaus
Co-Founder & CEO of Cellares
Fabian Gerlinghaus is the CEO and Co-Founder of Cellares.
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About Cellares: Cellares is a life sciences technology company that develops the Cell Shuttle to automate cell therapy manufacturing.
Wenbin Jiang
Co-Founder and CEO of Cytek Biosciences
Wenbin Jiang is a co-founder of Cytek Biosciences, Inc. and a seasoned entrepreneur and inventor. E2O communications was the first company he cofounded in late 1990s, which was acquired by JDS Uniphase in 2004. He is an inventor of more than 90 US patents and an author of 4 book chapters and more than 50 peer reviewed technical papers.
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About Cytek Biosciences: Cytek Biosciences is a manufacturer and supplier of flow cytometry products and services.
Ming Yan
Co-Founder and CTO of Cytek Biosciences
Ming Yan is a co-founder of Cytek Biosciences, Inc. with over 20 years of R&D experience in leadership and innovation. Prior to Cytek, Ming Yan held research and development positions at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore National Labs and BD Biosciences. He is one of the thought-leaders in flow cytometry instrumentation and standardization. Ming Yan has published several research papers relating to laser spectroscopy and cell analysis in top peer-reviewed journals. He has over a dozen patents and patent pending applications for his innovations.
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About Cytek Biosciences: Cytek Biosciences is a manufacturer and supplier of flow cytometry products and services.
Sophia Wang
Co-Founder & Chief of Staff and Culture of MycoWorks
Sophia Wang leads MycoWorks with expertise in strategic fundraising, communications, and project management. As a former Program Director, she was responsible for materials procurement, resource allocation, and oversight of vendor relations and physical infrastructure. She has produced large-scale arts and science events at San Francisco cultural institutions that include Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the Exploratorium, and California College of the Arts. As a Development Director, she has led successful capital campaigns for New York and Bay Area-based educational initiatives. Sophia earned a Ph.D. in English Literature from U.C. Berkeley and is active in the Bay Area performing arts community as a dancer and choreographer. Her deep interest in mycelium materials and biomimetic design stems from a lifelong immersion in her family’s ongoing professional research in molecular cell biology and mycology.
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About MycoWorks: MycoWorks is a biotech company that delivers commercially viable non-plastic and non-animal materials to the market.
Stephan Wembacher
Co-Founder & Executive Director of Cosmo
Co-founded multiple successful companies in Munich, Hong Kong, and California such as San Francisco and Hong Kong based Cosmo, a global technology manufacturing and supply chain leader and Paris based accessory brand Cote & Ciel. Investing in start-ups in the technology and hardware space and advising and supporting executive teams in current portfolio companies.
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About Cosmo, Weltraum: Comprehensive manufacturing solutions provider, specializing in engineered soft-goods, material innovation, and sustainability.
Andrew Liang
Co-Founder of Built Robotics
Co-Founder at Built Robotics.
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About Built Robotics: Built Robotics transforms heavy equipment into autonomous robots for the $1 trillion earthmoving industry.
Noah Ready-Campbell
Founder, CEO & Engineer of Built Robotics
Noah is the founder and CEO of Built Robotics, a company building automated guidance systems for heavy equipment. He founded the company in 2016, and has raised over $48 million from leading Silicon Valley investors including Founders Fund, NEA and Next47. Previously, Noah founded an ecommerce startup called Twice, which raised $23 million from Andreessen Horowitz before eBay acquired it in 2015. Noah began his career at Google, and he studied business and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, but his first job was working as a carpenter’s helper for his dad, helping to renovate old houses in rural New England.
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About Built Robotics: Built Robotics transforms heavy equipment into autonomous robots for the $1 trillion earthmoving industry.
Ashley Crowder
CEO & Co-Founder of VNTANA
Ashley Crowder is the co-founder and CEO of VNTANA, an industry leading augmented reality platform for creating and distributing premium mixed reality experiences. Prior to co-founding VNTANA she graduated from USC with a bachelors and masters in engineering and gained valuable manufacturing experience at Gulfstream, Northrop Grumman and BP. She leverages her engineering background to guide VNTANA’s overall direction and technology development. Ashley was featured as one of USC’s leading engineering CEOs of 2016. Ashley is a part of the Microsoft Early Developer Program along with the Microsoft Bizspark Plus program. Ashley has been a speaker at SXSW, Digital Summit, Internet Summit, Augmented World Expo, TEDx Venice, the World Economic Forum’s Global Growth Companies & Technology Pioneers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, The Montgomery Summit, Siemer Summit, Digital LA, and others.
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About VNTANA: Democratizing 3D for the world through the only automated 3D Collaboration Platform.
Ben Conway
COO/Co-Founder of VNTANA
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About VNTANA: Democratizing 3D for the world through the only automated 3D Collaboration Platform.
Samir Hanna
Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Oqton
Samir Hanna is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Oqton.
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About Oqton: Oqton is a software company that develops AI-driven software for the manufacturing industry.
Dave Evans
Co-Founder, CEO of Fictiv
Dave Evans co-founded Fictiv and serves as its CEO in pursuit of his mission to democratize manufacturing. Fictiv’s virtual manufacturing platform pairs intelligent workflow and collaboration software with a global network of highly vetted manufacturers. Prior to Fictiv, Dave was the first hire at Ford’s Silicon Valley Lab which is part of Ford’s Global Research and Advanced Engineering Division. While there, Dave was Lead Hardware Engineer on OpenXC, an open source software and hardware platform to extend customer’s vehicles with custom applications and pluggable modules. In this role, he manufactured hardware for 500+ unit production runs including injection molding, PCB fabrication, box design and assembly. He was also responsible for designing, prototyping, and sourcing hardware builds at the Lab. Dave also proudly led the Stanford University Affiliates project for Ford in the mechanical engineering senior design course.
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About Fictiv: Fictiv is a Digital Manufacturing Ecosystem that delivers precision parts on-demand through its digital platform and global partner network.
David Michery
CEO & Founder of Mullen Technologies
David Michery is CEO & Founder at Mullen Technologies. David Michery is a successful businessman and music executive. Born in California, David Michery attended Garfield High School. Michery began his music career as a teenager and went on to produce or executive produced more than a dozen18 award-winning gold and platinum records. In 2012, after 27 years in the music industry, David Michery purchased Mullen Motors from Arthur Allen, a Vietnam veteran and West Point graduate. David Michery’s company was re-named Mullen Technologies in August 2014, and now produces energy-efficient vehicles that are environmentally-friendly and affordable. In April 2018, Mullen Technologies opened its California-based Energy Division facility, which operates as a battery manufacturer division with a, battery pack testing facility and renewable energy research and development center.
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About Mullen Technologies: Mullen Technologies is a car manufacturer and distributor.
Kevin Czinger
Founder and CEO of Divergent 3D
Kevin Czinger serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Miles Electric Vehicles. He has extensive operating experience and a proven track record of performance in start-up and emerging growth companies. Czinger has served as a senior executive with Goldman Sachs, Bertelsmann AG, the Webvan Group and Global Signal. He has also been active at Benchmark Capital and as a senior Managing Director of Fortress Private Equity Funds.
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About Divergent 3D: Divergent 3D aims to revolutionize the auto industry through 3D printing.
Jeneva Bell
Founder & President of Ruggable
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About Ruggable: Ruggable leverages its patented technology to design and manufacture machine-washable rugs.
Suhas Ahuja
Co-Founder, COO of SIERA.AI
Suhas is an experienced entrepreneur with multiple successful exits in the high-tech sector. Suhas leads all of Stocked Robotics’ sales and business development operations globally.
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About SIERA.AI: SIERA.AI is a mobility tech company that helps warehouses and factories increase safety and efficiency of their industrial vehicle fleets.
Christophe Schilling
Co-Founder, President & CEO of Genomatica
Christophe co-founded Genomatica and has served as our Chief Executive Officer since May 2009. Christophe holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego where he was a Powell Foundation and Whitaker Foundation Fellow.He received a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Duke University where he was a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellow. Christophe’s awards include the Top 100 Young Innovators from MIT’s Technology Review, R&D100 for the SimPheny part of the company’s technology platform, and the Distinguished Young Alumnus from Duke University’s Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School of Engineering.
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About Genomatica: Genomatica manufactures sustainable chemicals from renewable feedstocks.
Charles Liang
Founder, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Supermicro
Charles Liang founded Supermicro and has served as our President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board since our inception in September 1993. Mr. Liang has been developing server system architectures and technologies for the past two decades. From July 1991 to August 1993, Mr. Liang was President and Chief Design Engineer of Micro Center Computer Inc., a high-end motherboard design and manufacturing company. From January 1988 to April 1991, Mr. Liang was Senior Design Engineer and Project Leader for Chips & Technologies, Inc., a chipset technology company, and Suntek Information International Group, a system and software development company. Mr. Liang has been granted many server technology patents. Mr. Liang holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from National Taiwan University of Science & Technology in Taiwan.
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About Supermicro: Supermicro is a global leader in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology and innovation.
Sara Liu Liang
Co-Founder, Vice President of Operations, Treasurer and Director of Supermicro
Chiu-Chu (Sara) Liu Liang co-founded Supermicro and has served as Vice President of Operations, Treasurer and a member of our board of directors since our inception in September 1993. From 1985 to 1993, Ms. Liang held finance and operational positions for several companies, including Micro Center Computer Inc. Ms. Liang holds a B.S. in Accounting from Providence University in Taiwan. Ms. Liang is married to Mr. Charles Liang.
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About Supermicro: Supermicro is a global leader in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology and innovation.
Wally Liaw
Co-Founder, Vice President of International Sales, Secretary and Director of Supermicro
Yih-Shyan (Wally) Liaw co-founded Supermicro and has served as Vice President of International Sales, Corporate Secretary and a member of our board of directors since our inception in September 1993. From 1988 to 1991, Mr. Liaw was Vice President of Engineering at Great Tek, a computer company. Mr. Liaw holds an M.S. in Computer Engineering from University of Arizona, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Tatung Institute of Technology in Taiwan, and a B.S. degree from Taiwan Provincial College of Marine and Oceanic Technology.
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About Supermicro: Supermicro is a global leader in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology and innovation.
Joseph Heller
CEO and Founder of The/Studio
Joseph Heller is the CEO and founder of The/Studio.
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About The/Studio: The/Studio is an on-demand product creation and manufacturing platform for businesses to easily bring products to market.
Naganand Murty
Founder & CEO of Electric Sheep Robotics
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About Electric Sheep Robotics: Electric Sheep Robotics provides robotics and machinery solutions to industries needing mechanized solutions.
Steven Yu
Founder & CEO of StandDesk
Steven Yu is the founder and lead product developer for StandDesk, Inc., a innovative company poised to change the way people stay healthy, happy, and productive. From a very young age, Steven and his father (mechanical engineer) have designed, maintained, and repaired complicated machinery, like automative engines and transmissions. Although he received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, he later applied his engineering talents during his International Masters Program in Beijing. Steven took on a project to develop the most affordable electric powered actuating system. Armed with his childhood mechanical engineering skills and married with his unique business flare, Steven completed the project in record time and now is poised to provide an affordable sit-to-stand desk solutions to the world.
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About StandDesk: A Wellness Company That Makes Awesome Standing Desks
Daniel Huang
Founder & CEO of Immotor
Daniel is the founder and CEO of Immotor. As a strategic visionary, Daniel has dedicated Immotor’s resources to the research and development of the world’s first intelligent electric personal transport powered by its own engineered “Super Battery”, a revolutionary green power management system. Previously, Daniel was the founder and CEO of mophie, where he led the company to become a pioneer in the market of intelligent smartphone accessories and to be recognized globally as a leader in the smartphone portable power market. The company’s products are sold in over 100 countries and more than 25,000 retail stores. Daniel is the inventor of the mophie juice pack, world’s first iPhone battery case that is now used by more than 15 million customers around the world. In 2012, mophie was ranked #20 on the Inc. 500’s list of America’s fastest growing company in the consumer products and services industry. Daniel was recognized as one of the top 15 East Asian Entrepreneurs in the U.S.. In 2013, Daniel was named the finalist of the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Prior to mophie, Daniel was CEO of GGEC America from 1996 -2006. GGEC is publicly listed on the China stock market and is one of Asia’s leading audio electronic products manufacturers. Daniel is well known and respected by his colleagues and business partners for being able to see the big picture, while nailing the details. Not only is he a strategic thinker, he is also an avid inventor with multiple patents in the field of mobile power, mobile intelligence and consumer products. Daniel holds a Master of Business Administration with Beta Gamma Sigma honors from University of Southern California and a Bachelor Degree in Electric Engineering from Xi’An JiaoTong University, China.
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About Immotor: Immotor develops and sells portable and personal transport systems.
Samuel Jurist
Co-Founder & CEO of SHO Products
Samuel Jurist is the CEO of SHO Products, an international ancillary product distributor for the cannabis industry housing the brands Rosin Tech Products, Dab Nation and Masterminded Distribution.
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About SHO Products: SHO Products is the leading equipment and technology provider in the world for solventless agricultural equipment
Vinit Saxena
Founder,Chairman & CEO of Sepragen
Mr. Saxena is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer. His background includes over 25 years of senior management experience in marketing operations at biotech companies and suppliers such as Bio-Rad Laboratories and Bio-Response (now Baxter Healthcare). Mr. Saxena started the Process Chromatography business for Bio-Rad and is credited with setting up one of the first large scale antibody production facilities in the world. Mr. Saxena has an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. He holds 6 patents.
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About Sepragen: Sepragen provides break-through products and processes to the biotechnology and nutraceutical industries.
Alissa M. Fitzgerald
Founder & CEO of A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates
Alissa M. Fitzgerald is founder and Managing Member, A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates.
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About A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates, Rigetti Computing: A.M. Fitzgerald & Associates provides MEMS product development and engineering services to companies and research institutions.
Alexandra Rasch Castillo
Founder and CEO of Caban Systems
Alexandra Rasch Castillo is founder and CEO at Caban Systems.
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About Caban Systems: Caban Systems designs a software enabled energy storage solution for telecom infrastructure providers worldwide.
Robert K. Prud’homme
Co-Founder of Vorbeck Materials
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About Vorbeck Materials: Vorbeck Materials is a manufacturer of graphene and graphene enabled products and solutions.
Frank Yang
Chief Executive Officer, Design Director and Founder of simplehuman
In 2000, Frank Yang founded simplehuman with a goal to revitalize the trash can industry. Today, not only is the Los Angeles-based company the leader in stainless-steel step cans, but it also has expanded its vision—to design “tools for efficient living”—to more than 100 patented innovations and other products such as sensor soap pumps, kitchen and bathroom organization, and beauty tools. All simplehuman products embody efficient living design, a principle Yang defines as designing each product so it performs its intended task perfectly. To that end, all products are ergonomic, easy-to-clean, highly functional and durable as well. Under Yang’s design direction, in 2004 BusinessWeek/Industrial Design Society of America named simplehuman as one of the top corporations for Industrial Design Excellence. Yang has also garnered international design awards from organizations including reddot, International Housewares Association and I.D. Magazine. simplehuman products are available at fine specialty retailers in including Bed Bath & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma and Sephora as well as the company’s website simplehuman.com.
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About simplehuman: simplehuman designs and manufactures homeware products.
Yuliya Raquel
CEO & Co-Founder of Tailornova (powered by Mylinego, Inc) of TAILORNOVA
Yuliya Raquel is a celebrity designer and founder of fashion startups such as the COUTURME and Tailornova.
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About COUTURME, TAILORNOVA: TAILORNOVA is a web-based 3D Fashion Design SaaS, enabling automation of apparel design, development, and on-demand manufacturing.
Jiangwei Li
Co-Founder and CTO of XTAL
Jiangwei co-founded XTAL in January 2014 and brings 20 years of experience in commercial EDA software development. Prior to XTAL, Jiangwei spent 2 year in Beijing working on machine learning application for online advertisement. Previous to that, Jiangwei was the Senior Director of Engineering at Brion (acquired by ASML in 2007) responsible for OPC product. Jiangwei was Senior Software Architect at Synopsys (through the acquisition of Avant! in 2002). Jiangwei started out his career as R&D Engineer at TMA (which was acquired by Avant! in 1997) after graduating from Stanford and USTC.
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About XTAL: XTAL Incorporated is founded by industry veterans in Silicon Valley.
Rami Rostami
Founder / CEO of SensoScientific
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About SensoScientific, Technocel, TYLT Ventures, ULTRATOOTH by Biodent: SensoScientific provides calibration services in the Temperature/Humidity Monitoring industry as well as design & manufacture transmitters.
Paul Gargan
Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Prominex
Prior to Prominex, Dr. Gargan operated his own advisory business, The Causeway Advisory Group, providing strategic direction, M&A services, transaction negotiation, fund raising, technology evaluation, due diligence and target identification for diagnostic, medical device and biotech companies. Dr. Gargan previously held a variety of senior leadership positions in business development and strategic planning for 15 years at Gen-Probe (now Hologic) where he spearheaded the formation, acquisition, integration and management of numerous new businesses, strategic alliances and corporate collaborations. During his tenure at Gen-Probe, he negotiated over 120 transactions generating more than $100 million in license fees and royalty income and led to over $2 billion in product sales. Dr. Gargan also led Gen-Probe’s M&A team for 3 years acquiring several key companies and technologies representing cumulative investments of over $250 million. He received his bachelor of science in Chemistry and PhD in Biochemistry from Queen’s University and master of business administration from the University of Notre Dame.
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About Prominex: Prominex is focused on the development and manufacture of molecular diagnostic assays for Point-of-Care (POC) infectious disease testing.
Jonathan Yaney
Founder & CEO of SpinLaunch
Jonathan Yaney is the founder and CEO of SpinLaunch.
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About SpinLaunch: SpinLaunch develops a kinetic launch system for sending satellites to low-Earth orbit.
Kirk Hawkins
Founder & CEO of ICON Aircraft
Kirk Hawkins is the Founder & CEO of ICON Aircraft.
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About ICON Aircraft: ICON Aircraft manufactures consumer-friendly, safe, technologically advanced aircrafts.
Benny Buller
Founder & CEO of Velo3D
Benny Buller started his career in Israel in the Technology unit of the intelligence forces. While there he learned to appreciate the values of imaginative innovation, precise execution, team work, diversity of opinions and that there is no impossible mission to the ones who dare. For his unique contributions, he was awarded by the president, the prestigious national security award. Benny then joined Applied Materials, where he led the work on semiconductor wafer inspection platform and later on electron beam mask writing system, becoming aware to the new growth opportunities in Solar, he decided to leave Applied Materials and join his first start-up, Solyndra. Joining Solyndra as VP of back end technology and engineering in its earliest stage he defined the company’s product by a series of inventions that became the company’s core IP. He hired an excellent team and led it from early concept through product demonstration, manufacturing process development, equipment design and early scale up. However, as the cost model was firming up, he became convinced, four years before the company’s collapse that the company’s cost structure is fundamentally inferior to First Solar, the cost leader of the industry Impressed by First Solar’s cost advantage and its momentum he joined First Solar as director of device physics and built this team. He pushed it from support of incremental improvements to more radical device research and innovation, resulting in crushing of the CdTe cell and module efficiency world records. . After being promoted to VP Module integration, heading all the technology development for the CdTe PV module, he reorganized the development department and realigned its processes, methods and interactions with the manufacturing organization that resulted in doubling the module efficiency improvement rate. Benny graduated from the Jerusalem University in Physics. He is also an Electrical Engineering (communications) graduate from the Technion in Israel. He has more than 70 published patent applications as well as more than 15 granted patents. Benny is married to his lovely wife Ronit and they have four children. His favorite way of spending his free time is by hiking with his family. He can be reached at bb@khoslaventures.com.
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About Velo3D: Velo3D is a digital manufacturing company using a Sapphire 3D production printer and flow print preparation software to print 3D metals.
Neeraj Bhardwaj
President and Founder of Loto Labs
Neeraj Bhardwaj is the CEO and co-founder of Loto Labs. Loto Labs was created with the simple goal of creating the best vaporizer possible. We formed our company in Redwood City, CA, where all of us met through our love of recreational ice hockey. From there, we discovered that none of us were happy with the vaporizers we used. We soon realized that all four of us had lots of experience in different fields that when put together would create an ideal company to make the best possible product out there. He received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Penn State University and and MBA from Santa Clara University. Neeraj has worked in sales and business development for 10 years in ultrasonics and medical worldwide. Wanting a change in life, he decided to attend Santa Clara University and get on the startup track. After graduate school, he and some of his cohort decided to start a bank to bank instant payment platform. Searching for investment, they latched on to the concept of crowdfunding. After working with his legal team, he worked to change the current crowdfunding laws and pass reforms. During that time he came up with the idea for the Evoke Vaporizer, and started Loto Labs (www.lotolabs.com). He and his team raised over $225,000 crowdfunding via Indiegogo (igg.me/at/evoke). Now Neeraj and his team are working diligently to get their product, the Evoke, up and running. He is married to a marketing manager at Ebay Inc. His parents started and run a high tech manufacturing company in State College, PA where Neeraj was born.
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About Loto Labs: The makers of the world’s first induction vaporizer
Felix Ejeckam
Co-Founder and CEO of Akash Systems
Felix Ejeckam, Ph.D. co-founded Akash Systems in January 2016. Felix is a seasoned entrepreneur, electrical engineer, and venture capitalist. Prior to Akash, Felix invented GaN-on-Diamond technology in 2003 at Group4 Labs, Inc. He was Co-founder/CEO of Group4 Labs until 2013 when he sold the business to a De Beers business unit (Element Six Technologies). Prior to Group4, Felix was co-founder/CEO of venture-backed Nova Crystals, Inc., a developer and maker of next-generation semiconductor lasers and detectors for Telecom/Datacom markets. Felix began his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, Inc. in 1997. He has published over 100 journal and conference papers, holding many patents. Felix holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University with a minor in Materials Science & Engineering.
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About Akash Systems: Akash Systems is focused on developing and supplying the next generation of communications gear for space satellites.
Vivek Joshi
Co-Founder & CEO of Entytle
Vivek is founder and CEO of LumaSense Technologies, a sensor & instrumentation company focused on the energy, cleantech and industrial markets. Vivek brings significant leadership experience to LumaSense Technologies. He is an executive with experience in various industries, spanning private equity, high technology, diversified industrial manufacturing and healthcare. Most recently, Vivek was an Operating Partner at Shah Capital Partners and Senior Vice President of Marketing for Sun Services, a $3.6 billion division of Sun Microsystems. He also served at Webvan as Vice-President of Program Operations, at GE Transportation as General Manager, Off Highway/Transit Systems, GE Corporate as Manager of Corporate Initiatives; Management Consulting with Booz Allen & Hamilton and operational experiences with Johnson & Johnson. Vivek has an M.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia , Charlottesville and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from IIT, Mumbai.
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About Entytle: Entytle uses AI and ML to empower manufacturers to unlock installed base value.
Erik Kiser
Founder and CEO of Orderful
Solving the integration problem for enterprises.
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About Orderful: API for EDI powering supply chains
Cory Ondrejka
Co-Founder & CEO of Mori
Cory Ondrejka is the CEO and co-founder of mori, inc. (formerly Overlook Research), a stealth, venture-funded startup in Los Gatos, CA. Prior to mori, Ondrejka led the Mobile Product group at Facebook and was responsible for Facebook’s mobile turnaround and delivering Facebook to over a billion mobile customers worldwide. Ondrejka also led Facebook’s multi-billion dollar acquisition and integration of Oculus VR. Before Facebook, Ondrejka was the co-founder of Walletin, a startup focused on high-performance javascript and Web rendering acquired by Facebook in 2010. He was the Chief Technology Officer of Linden Lab, where he co-created the award-winning virtual world Second Life. He has served as Executive Vice President for Global Digital Marketing at EMI Music, and has been a visiting professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California where he gave classes on online communities. Ondrejka began his career in game development startups, shipping arcade and console video game titles. He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in Weapons and Systems Engineering from the United States Naval Academy and was an officer in the US Navy. Ondrejka also advises several early-state technology companies.
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About Mori: Mori is a branded food company with quality products.
Glen McLaughlin
President, Founder,CTO of Zonare Medical Systems
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About Zonare Medical Systems: Zonare Medical Systems develops compact ultrasound systems that are used for diagnostic imaging activities in clinical applications.
Chris Stephenson
Co-Founder and CEO of Madre Mezcal
Chris Stephenson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Madre Mezcal. He is also the President and COO of Viggle Inc. where he manages the overall business, marketing, product and P&L for the popular loyalty program for television. He joined Viggle Inc. in 2011 with seasoned experience developing internationally-recognized advertising, marketing, and entertainment campaigns. Most recently, Chris lead marketing for Interscope Records, home of multi-platinum recording artists such as Lady Gaga, Eminem, and U2. Previously, Chris led global entertainment marketing at Microsoft. He led marketing and sales for House of Blues and also ran multiple award-winning international advertising campaigns and sponsor-driven programs, including the European Music Awards, for MTV and VH1.
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About Madre Mezcal, SFX Entertainment: Madre Mezcal is a distillery company that specializes in manufacturing and selling alcoholic beverages.
Christian Georg Strobl
CEO and Founder of Atlantis
Christian Georg Strobl is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Atlantis. He is responsible for creating, communicating and implementing the overall vision and strategy for the company. Prior to Atlantis, Christian build a successful marketplace for software services and worked in the Private Equity industry. He is as a regular contributor to industry publications about digital transformation, network effects and artificial intelligence Outside of work, Christian enjoys exercising and spending time with his family
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About Atlantis: Atlantis is a software startup that develops productivity software for machine workers and process engineers.
Faraj Aalaei
Co-Founder of Centillium Communications
Faraj Aalaei is the Founding General Partner of Candou Ventures & he attended Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2016.
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About Candou Ventures, Centillium Communications: Centillium Communications designs, develops and supplies integrated programmable SoC solutions that enable high-speed broadband access.
Jesse Genet
Co-Founder and CEO of Lumi
Jesse Genet is the CEO and co-founder of Lumi.com — a modern packaging partner for e-commerce brands.
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About Lumi: Lumi is a packaging supply chain platform for online brands.
Stephan Ango
Co-Founder, Chief Product Officer of Lumi
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About Lumi, Slash Packaging: Lumi is a packaging supply chain platform for online brands.
Richard Wang
CEO/Co-Founder of Cuberg
CEO and Co-Founder at Cuberg
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About Cuberg: Cuberg is a company delivering lithium metal cells produced on existing lithium-ion manufacturing lines for electromobility solutions.
Julie Corbett
CEO & Founder of Ecologic Brands
Julie is the mastermind behind Ecologic’s new bottle – a testament to her insatiable curiosity and ability to “think outside the bottle”. She approaches challenges with fierce optimism and tenacity and isn’t afraid to turn the packaging industry upside down. Julie’s passion is bolstered by her 16 years of marketing and investment experience. Prior to founding Ecologic, she was a Vice President at Jurika, Mills & Keifer, where she helped launch the Counterpoint Mutual and Counterpoint Select funds. Julie was also a Partner at Jurika & Voyles, Inc., where she led the firm’s institutional service and marketing efforts that contributed to asset growth of more than $5 billion before it was sold in 1997. Previously, Julie worked for RBC Dominion Securities and the Royal Bank of Canada as well as BBDO Worldwide in Prague, Czech Republic. Julie holds a B.A. in Economics from McGill University in Canada and was once a professional gymnast-in-training (a helpful background in an entrepreneurial world that often requires one to jump through hoops). Julie is devoted to her two active girls, serving as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Oakland Lake School for 3 years and as Girl Scout Leader for her daughters’ troops. When not hunched over new bottle prototypes, she is an avid skier and an ardent friend of the earth.
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About Ecologic Brands, Jabil: Ecologic Brands is a provider of sustainable packaging specializing in the paper bottle and paper-based packaging solutions.
Chris Prucha
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Origin
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About Origin: Origin is an additive manufacturing platform designed for mass production
Joel Ong
Founder & CTO of Origin
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About Origin: Origin is an additive manufacturing platform designed for mass production
Kamran Siminou
Executive Chairman & Founder of NeurOptics
Kamran Siminou experience spans 20 years in Research and Development, Marketing and Business Development for leading healthcare companies such as General Electric and Baxter International. Kamran is named as an Inventor in over 20 patents as it relates to infrared pupillometry and its application in neurocritical care and ophthalmology. Kamran holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Central Florida, an MBA from University of California-Irvine, and the Stanford Executive Program (SEP) from Stanford University.
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About NeurOptics: NeurOptics manufactures devices that gather and process information from the human eye to support medical decision-making and researches.
Aylon Steinhart
Founder & CEO of Eclipse Foods
Aylon is an expert in the alternative protein industry and has spoken regularly on food innovation at conferences and top schools such as Harvard, MIT, Yale, Berkeley, and Stanford. In his work at the Good Food Institute, Aylon advised dozens of startups, investors, and strategic partners on the protein alternative space. Aylon has co-founded two startups and has worked with companies such as Kraft Heinz, Nestle, and Kellogg’s.
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About Eclipse Foods: Eclipse Foods is a plant-based dairy products that are indistinguishable from animal dairy products.
Bernardo Herzer
Founder & CEO of LEHR
Captain Bernardo Herzer, the Founder and CEO of LEHR Incorporated is committed to the application of environmentally friendly technology and finding green energy solutions for retail and commercial products. Captain Herzer developed, commercialized and patented the use of an eco friendly, 16.4 ounce propane canister to fuel small engines like the ones that power hand held lawn and garden tools. This “twist ‘n go” fueling system is at the heart of the LEHR Eco Series and is truly a clean air innovation in a sector that is long overdue for a clean air solution. Bernardo Jorge Herzer has spent a large portion of his life at sea. As a licensed ship’s captain, he developed a passion and a deeply felt connection to the ocean, logging over 40,000 nautical miles across the globe including trips to Australia, the Red Sea, the North Sea, the Caribbean, the waters of Central and South America and the North Sea. While doing environmental research for Her Majesties Royal Fisheries, Captain Herzer was shocked and heartsick at how much damage had been done to the underwater terrain of the North Sea by the not so eco friendly commercial fishing industry. He noticed that among other things, the residue spillage from the use of gasoline on the vessels had contributed to the degradation of the area. Humbled by the impending birth of his first child, Captain Herzer returned to Los Angeles, inspired to do something to benefit the environment on a global scale. At sea, he had become highly skilled at solving engineering problems where creativity is often heightened by the need for an eco friendly solution using the limited resources available. Having already used propane to power small engines on several other ships in his years at sea he used these skills to research how to run a smaller generators on clean burning propane, thus lessening the impact of gasoline on the environment. With that knowledge, determination and a lot of hard work, a plan emerged and two and a half years later a patent was awarded for the technology to use propane to run small engines like the ones that power a gasoline string trimmers. When you enter Captain Herzer’s office, there are posters, prototypes, models and renderings of different applications using twist ‘n go fueling including lawn and garden tools like a grass trimmer, and an eco blower. The company, however, like its founder, is already thinking about where the next breakthrough will come from. “We practice a green strategy and propane is an eco friendly green gas which is good. ” says Captain Herzer. “But we won’t stop there. LEHR will continue to develop ideas and solutions that allow us to replace old technology with greener, cleaner products whose use reduces or eliminates the deterioration of our planet for future generations.” In addition to his stewardship of LEHR, Captain Bernardo Jorge Herzer is an Editor-at-Large of Ocean Realm Journal. He lives and works in Southern California, enjoys spending time with his family and of course, his first love – the sea.
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About LEHR, World LPG Association: A cleaner planet through environmentally friendly technology.
Jon Sobel
CEO & Co-Founder of Sight Machine
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About Sight Machine, University of Michigan: Sight Machine provides analytics platform that helps address critical challenges in quality and productivity throughout the enterprise.
Jonas Schneider
Founder of Daedalus
Jonas leads Founder of Daedalus. developing methods to apply machine learning and AI to robots. He also helped build the infrastructure to scale OpenAI’s distributed ML systems to thousands of machines.
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About Daedalus: Daedalus is a technology company that develops and reconfigurable production capacity for the automated production of small series.
Arthur Zafiropoulo
Founder, Chairman, President and CEO of Ultratech
Arthur W. Zafiropoulo is Board of Trustees at Northeastern University.
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About Ultratech: Ultratech develops, manufactures, and markets photolithography and laser thermal processing equipment.
Terry Sherry
Founder of Pedego Electric Bikes
Terry has warm childhood memories of fixing up old bikes with his dad. He remembers going to swap meets to search for broken down, neglected bikes to bring back to life. He learned to strip them down to the bare frame and completely rebuild them from scratch to be as good as new. Between Don’s innovative vision and Terry’s technical expertise, Pedego Electric Bikes was born. The colorful, fun bikes were instant crowd pleasers, and Pedego’s world class customer service earned them a special place in the hearts of customers everywhere. Today, Pedego is a market leader and one of the most recognized electric bike brands in the world. They are constantly adding more stores, more products, and most importantly, more delighted customers!
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About Pedego Electric Bikes: Pedego Electric Bikes is a manufacturer of electric bikes with a built-in electric hub motor to provide additional assistance.
Tyler Collins
Co-Founder and Advisor of Rad Power Bikes
Ty Collins is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Rad Power Bikes.
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About Rad Power Bikes: North America’s largest electric bike company. We are making transportation energy efficient, enjoyable, and accessible to all.
Yahya Aqel
Co-Founder and CEO of Aumet
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About Aumet: Sell medical products from manufacturers to healthcare providers by automating finding distributors and product registration.
Anthony Zografos
Founder & CEO of Akorn Technology
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About Akorn Technology: Akorn uses upcycled, non-GMO corn by-products to manufacture edible coatings that makes the shelf life of fresh produce last.
