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 United States based Founder operating in the Energy 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.
Chase Lochmiller
CEO & Co-Founder of Crusoe Energy Systems
Chase is an avid tech enthusiast that is passionate about enabling new technologies like AI and blockchain to positively impact people’s lives. Prior to founding Crusoe, Chase was a General Partner at Polychain Capital, a $1Bn fund investing in blockchain technologies, digital assets and energy-intensive computing applications. Chase was previously a quantitative researcher and trader at Jump Trading and GETCO, where he developed and managed a portfolio of algorithmic trading strategies. Chase holds undergraduate degrees in math and physics from MIT and a masters degree in computer science from Stanford, where he specialized in artificial intelligence. As a personal interest, Chase has climbed five of the “seven summits” including Mt. Everest.
Follow Chase Lochmiller:
About Crusoe Energy Systems: Crusoe Energy Systems provides solutions for the energy industry helping them to reduce routine flaring of natural gas.
_______
Cully Cavness
President & Co-Founder of Crusoe Energy Systems
Cully is a third generation oil and gas professional with a passion for innovative environmental solutions. He was formerly vice president responsible for finance and later pipeline development at Highlands Natural Resources, an exploration and production company with operations in Colorado and Montana. Cully was previously an investment banker at Petrie Partners, a boutique firm focused on the energy industry, and before that Cully held various business development roles in the power generation industry. Cully holds an undergraduate degree in geology from Middlebury and an MBA from Oxford and is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow in the subject of energy economics. Cully is an avid endurance athlete, and has completed various long distance events including IronMan Zurich and the Death Race.
Follow Cully Cavness:
About Crusoe Energy Systems: Crusoe Energy Systems provides solutions for the energy industry helping them to reduce routine flaring of natural gas.
Kiran Bhatraju
Founder & CEO of Arcadia
Kiran Bhatraju, is cofounder and CEO of Arcadia Power. Previously, Kiran was a founder of an energy efficiency technology company and worked as a policy aide on Capitol Hill. He is on the board of the Environmental Voter Project and is a published author.
Follow Kiran Bhatraju:
About Arcadia: Arcadia is a technology company empowering energy innovators (Arc) and consumers (Community Solar) to fight the climate crisis
Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr.
Founder & Senior Managing Director of Riverstone Holdings
Prior to founding Riverstone, Mr. Lapeyre was a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs in its Global Energy & Power Group. Mr. Lapeyre joined Goldman Sachs in 1986 and spent his 14-year investment banking career exclusively focused on energy and power, particularly the midstream/pipeline and oil service sectors. Mr. Lapeyre’s responsibilities included client coverage and leading the execution of a wide variety of M&A, IPO, strategic advisory and capital markets financings for clients across all sectors of the industry. Mr. Lapeyre received his B.S. in finance/economics from the University of Kentucky and his M.B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Lapeyre serves on the Boards of Directors of Dynamic Industries, Enduro, Enduro II, EP Energy, Fieldwood, Legend, Meritage II, Quorum Business Solutions, Sage Midstream, Three Rivers II, and Venado. He also serves on the Board of Visitors of the MD Anderson Cancer Center and is a Trustee of The Convent of The Sacred Heart.
Follow Pierre F. Lapeyre, Jr.:
About Riverstone Holdings: River Stone is a private investment firm founded in 2000.
David Leuschen
Founder of Riverstone Holdings
David Leuschen serves as the Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Riverstone Holdings. Before Riverstone, Leuschen was a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and the founder and head of the Goldman Sachs Global Energy and Power Group. Leuschen was named one of the Top 50 Dealmakers by Forbes in 2013. Leuschen also owns Switchback Ranch, a ranching business that has a top commercial beef business and a dude ranching company. Leuschen spends as much time as possible on the ranch, which is nestled between the North Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Montana. Leuschen is heavily involved in philanthropic endeavors. He founded the David M. Leuschen Charitable Foundation in 1998, which supports local ranching communities. Leuschen is also an active alumnus of his alma mater, Dartmouth College. He serves as a member of the executive committee and board of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Foundation. Outside of business, Leuschen is passionate about skiing and sailing. Skiing has been a part of nearly all of his life. As a child, David learned how to ski; this later turned into one of the reasons he wanted to attend Dartmouth. David has continued with this passion as the co-owner of The Red Lodge International Summer Ski Race Camp, which provides skiing instruction ranging from high school to national team level skiers. In more recent years, Leuschen has grown a love for sailing and sailboat racing. David has won races at Block Island Race Week, Key West Race Week, the 2017 Rolex Maxi Worlds, and the Wally Championship, among many others. Much like skiing shaped him, David believes in the importance of sailing for children, as it builds character and community. David is looking to take a more active role in sailing community programs in the future.
Follow David Leuschen:
About Riverstone Holdings: River Stone is a private investment firm founded in 2000.
Shantanu Agarwal
President & Co-Founder of Susteon
Follow Shantanu Agarwal:
About Ank Aha!, Sustaera, Susteon: Susteon to develop a direct air capture (DAC) technology for capturing and converting carbon dioxide directly.
Xuan Yong
CEO / Co-Founder of Workrise
Xuan Yong is a co-founder & CEO at RigUp, a technology company that develops a platform to support the energy workforce.
Follow Xuan Yong:
About Workrise: Workrise is a marketplace for on-demand services and skilled labor in the energy industry.
Michael Witte
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer of Workrise
Michael Witte is a co-founder and COO at RigUp, a technology company that develops a platform to support the energy workforce.Previously, Michael has worked as a petroleum engineering consultant at Pressler Petroleum Consultants.
Follow Michael Witte:
About Workrise: Workrise is a marketplace for on-demand services and skilled labor in the energy industry.
Emily Kirsch
Founder, Managing Partner & CEO of Powerhouse Ventures
Follow Emily Kirsch:
About Powerhouse, Powerhouse Ventures: Powerhouse Ventures backs seed-stage startups building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems.
Jose N. Reyes
CTO & Co-Founder of NuScale Power
Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder at NuScale Power.
Follow Jose N. Reyes:
About NuScale Power, Oregon State University: NuScale Power has developed a small modular reactor (SMR) to supply energy for electrical generation and other heat process applications.
Abe Issa
Chief Executive Officer & Founder of Envirosolar
Abe Issa, founder, and owner of EnviroSolar has been recognized on multiple occasions with Entrepreneur of the Year awards, awards for owning and running the fastest growing companies in their categories, and awards for sustainable development and operation. Born in Beirut in the early 80s, Abe Issa experienced some of the greatest hardships life can impose on even the youngest and most innocent among us. But being raised amid the fires of war and escaping to the United States at a tender age taught Abe Issa that success, and even survival, requires action, initiative, and ingenuity. Abe Issa created EnviroSolar in order to make sustainable smart homes and security solutions affordable for more and more people. This organization has been ranked among the top Texas solar power installers. They offer two free solar panels to new customers just to help more people understand the true value of natural power derived from the Sun: a symbol of truth and generosity that has clearly inspired Abe Issa. These panels come with an unprecedented 20-year warranty, a promise that exceeds the operational lifetime of most solar panels working today. Any company that provides that kind of commitment to quality and customer service, cannot do anything other than win awards for quality, growth, and innovation. But the question that many people have asked is, how has such a young man with such a traumatic upbringing been able to develop such a strong work ethic and a commitment to the people his organizations serve? Despite his origin in war-torn Beirut, Abe Issa was inspired by the athleticism and the dazzling performances of the great basketball hero, Michael Jordan. Abe Issa saw that Jordan was not just an extremely talented athlete, but that he used his virtuosity on the court to add style, flair, and imagination to the game. Abe Issa wanted to deliver value and create a winning business model. But the idea of creating a successful business wasn’t enough. Feeling deep gratitude for the country that made it possible for him and his family to live prosperous lives free from the horrors of war, he wanted to deliver a level of service and quality that would make a real difference. At the age of 27, with the values of honesty and hard work imparted to him by the Texas Christian University, Abe Issa went on to create a real estate investment company and redeveloped over 500 homes in the span of just five years. That’s a track record that even the nation’s greatest developers would be proud of. Today, his successes and penchant for giving back more than he receives continue to fuel not only his own growing reputation, but that of the companies he operates, and the teams he has assembled.
Follow Abe Issa:
About Envirosolar: Envirosolar offers commercial, agricultural, and residential solar solutions.
Gordon Chiu
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Grafoid
Described as an “execution-driven businessman,” Gordon Chiu has combined domestic and international experience in the biomedical, chemical, cosmetic, medical, and technology industries. As President, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Grafoid Inc., Gordon Chiu is engaged in the discovery and research of graphene on behalf of Grafoid, as well as the development of graphene applications with Grafoid’s joint venture application development partners. He is also Focus Graphite Inc.’s Chief Scientist. Gordon Chiu is a former research scientist at Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co., Inc. and has healthcare and marketing experience with strong links to Wall Street and Asia. Gordon Chiu holds a B.Sc. degree summa cum laude in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduated with a M.Sc. degree in chemistry from Seton Hall University with honors, and is globally distinguished by his acceptance as an MD/PhD candidate under the National Institutes of Health’s Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Gordon Chiu jointly combined his cumulative training with a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) degree from the University of Bridgeport.
Follow Gordon Chiu:
About Grafoid, Hemptown Organics: Grafoid invests and develops markets for processes that produce pristine graphene for energy storage and other applications.
Grant Canary
Founder & CEO of DroneSeed
Grant Canary is CEO of DroneSeed, a Techstars Seattle 2016 company which is paid by Timber companies per acre to plant tree seeds, spray to protect them, and monitor growth–by drone swarm. This year DroneSeed received the FAA’s first approval for up to five aircraft to be flown by a single pilot each carrying a 57lb payload. DroneSeed works for 3 of the 5 largest timber companies and recently signed a contract with The Nature Conservancy to restore post wildfire burn sites. They are backed by Social Capital and Spero Ventures. This is Grant’s second venture. His first was acquired. Under the acquirer the team raised $10M and built a 60k square foot factory to produce industrial insect protein from food waste for sustainable salmon feed. The company is still going strong. Grant’s spent his entire carrier working within for-profit companies to benefit the environment including Vestas Wind Energy and the US Green Building Council. Grant loves meeting and championing awesome people working on cool things and sometimes hires them.
Follow Grant Canary:
About DroneSeed: DroneSeed is paid per acre to plant tree seed vessels after a wildfire — using heavy-lift Drone Swarms
John-Paul Clarke
Co-Founder, Chief Innovation Officer, and Member of the Board of Directors of Universal Hydrogen
20 years of highly regarded publishing in the field of operations research and control theory. Professor at Georgia Tech and highly regarded consultant.
Follow John-Paul Clarke:
About Georgia Tech College of Engineering, Universal Hydrogen: Universal Hydrogen is the company fueling carbon-free flight by making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality.
Paul Eremenko
Co-Founder & CEO of Universal Hydrogen
Follow Paul Eremenko:
About United Technologies, Universal Hydrogen: Universal Hydrogen is the company fueling carbon-free flight by making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality.
Jason Chua
Co-Founder, Chief Strategy & Product Officer of Universal Hydrogen
Follow Jason Chua:
About Universal Hydrogen: Universal Hydrogen is the company fueling carbon-free flight by making hydrogen-powered commercial flight a near-term reality.
Brian Herlihy
Founder & CEO of Black Rhino Group
Brian founded Black Rhino in 2012. Mr. Herlihy has over seventeen years of infrastructure development experience and has built valuable relationships across the African continent in telecommunication, chemical processing, energy and infrastructure. He has been involved in over US$7 billion of project finance-related deals in Africa in 2007. He founded SEACOM (www.seacom.mu), a US$600 million submarine fibre-optic network company that was the first cable to connect East and South Africa to Europe and Asia. He holds an MSc (Development Studies) with a concentration in African Economics and a BA (Economics and Philosophy) from the London School of Economics and Boston College, respectively. He served as CEO of SEACOM from 2007 until 2012 and remains as a Director of the Board. Prior to SEACOM, he was the lead developer on a US$5 billion alumina refinery in Guinea (www.guineaalumina.com). He was elected a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011.
Follow Brian Herlihy:
About Black Rhino Group: Black Rhino Group provides energy, infrastructure, and communication developments and investments across the African continent.
Bay McLaughlin
Co-Founder of Brinc
I’ve supported technology startups for the last 13 years. Half of this time was spent at Apple as a founding team member of their global SMB channel and as the founder of their first Entrepreneurship Evangelism channel. To support startups at Apple, I partnered with the world’s best founders, venture capitalists, incubators and accelerators to identify and solve their most pressing strategic issues. My team at Apple grossed more than $350M USD in sales and is still the #1 team globally in Apple SMB’s division. The other half of my career has been spent inside of or founding startups, two of which failed, one of which exited successfully. Currently, I have equity positions in 143 companies across 35 countries, ranging from B2B SaaS platforms to the number one website in surfing and medical and drone technologies that improve lives and our world every day (plus two Unicorns ;-). Most recently, I’ve co-founded Brinc.io, a global venture accelerator platform. We have 9 accelerator programs, offices in 6 countries, and 2 venture capital funds. We are also one of the top 10 largest early-stage venture capital firms globally. I also serve on the Boards of Brinc, Soundbrenner, SilentMode (combined worth more than $100M and growing fast) and the not for profit entrepreneurship society called EYES. I create content from the heart and only want to do one thing well… provide value to everyone that interacts with me and help everyone out just like others have done for me.
Follow Bay McLaughlin:
About Brinc: Brinc is a leader in global venture acceleration, operating 18 multidisciplinary accelerator programs in 7 countries.
Arthur Souritzidis
Co-Founder & CEO of Momentum Solar
Follow Arthur Souritzidis:
About Momentum Solar: Momentum Solar is one of the fastest growing solar companies in the nation.
Chris Hornor
Founder & CEO of Powerhive
Chris is founder and CEO at Powerhive, Inc., a technology venture founded in 2011 that offers access to productive, affordable, and reliable microgrid electricity. Powerhive focuses on financing, monetizing, and managing distributed electricity solutions through its proprietary technology platform and business model. Chris is an entrepreneur and recognized pioneer of consumer renewable energy product and services. During the last 15 years he has delivered renewable energy to more than two million people. As founder and CEO of Better Energy Systems he launched Solio, a portable solar charger that defined a new category of small-scale consumer energy solutions. In 2008 Chris led the expansion of Better Energy Systems into East Africa where he and his team introduced Club Solio, leveraging mobile money to create the first pay-as-you go renewable energy service for remote, off-grid regions. Chris has held senior posts at technology startups in the US, UK, and Japan where he identified and developed new revenue streams through emerging internet applications.
Follow Chris Hornor:
About Powerhive: Powerhive unlocks productive, clean electricity for millions of households and businesses in emerging markets.
Doug Campbell
Founder, CEO of Solid Power
Doug Campbell is the Co-Founder and CEO of Solid Power.
Follow Doug Campbell:
About Solid Power: Solid Power is a developer of solid-state rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and mobile power markets.
Sehee Lee
Co-Founder & Advisor of Solid Power
Sehee Lee is the Co-Founder and Advisor of Solid Power.
Follow Sehee Lee:
About Solid Power: Solid Power is a developer of solid-state rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles and mobile power markets.
KR Sridhar
Principal, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bloom Energy
Prior to founding Bloom Energy, KR Sridhar was Director of the Space Technologies Laboratory (STL) at the University of Arizona where he was also a professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.Under his leadership, STL won several nationally competitive contracts to conduct research and development for Mars exploration and flight experiments to Mars. KR has served as an advisor to NASA and has led major consortia of industry, academia, and national labs. His work for the NASA Mars program to convert Martian atmospheric gases to oxygen for propulsion and life support was recognized by Fortune Magazine, where he was cited as “one of the top five futurists inventing tomorrow, today.” As one of the early pioneers in green tech, KR also serves as a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and as a special advisor to New Enterprise Associates. He has also served on many technical committees, panels and advisory boards and has several publications and patents. KR received his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with Honors from the University of Madras (now called NIT, Trichy), India, as well as his master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering and Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Follow KR Sridhar:
About Bloom Energy, Kleiner Perkins: Bloom Energy offers on-site power generation systems that can use a wide variety of inputs to generate electricity.
Jonathan Budd
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Powur
Jonathan Budd joined Powur, PBC as Founder, CEO in 2014. Jonathan heads up day-to-day operations and strategy that allow Powur’s entrepreneurs to succeed at their finest. From forming key strategic partnerships, attracting the best talent, and innovating how solar is sold… Jonathan has his hands in everything Powur. Prior to Powur, he built one of the largest online training and education companies in direct marketing with more than 100,000 customers. In 2010, he shifted his entrepreneurial pursuits toward projects focused on game-changing global impact. He founded MyStand in 2011, which developed a first-of-its-kind gaming app to engage users in positive global change. He is also Founder and Executive Director of The Global Transformation Council, Inc., a 501c3 organization that’s donated close to $1,000,000 to local and global initiatives for change.
Follow Jonathan Budd:
About AVOS Systems, Powur: Powur, a technology company, enables direct sellers to participate in the residential shift from dirty to clean energy.
George Votroubek
Co-Founder & Principal Scientist of Helion Energy
Votroubek was the Principal Investigator for the program that demonstrated the Fusion Engine technology at 1/3rd scale. George has more than 16 years of lab experience in Fusion. Votroubek received his MS and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington while pursing experimental research in fusion and plasma physics.
Follow George Votroubek:
About Helion Energy: Helion Energy is a fusion power company developing the world’s first fusion generators, enabling a future with unlimited clean energy.
Chris Pihl
Co-Founder & CTO of Helion Energy
Chris Pihl is the Co-Founder and CTO at Helion Energy.
Follow Chris Pihl:
About Helion Energy: Helion Energy is a fusion power company developing the world’s first fusion generators, enabling a future with unlimited clean energy.
David Kirtley
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Helion Energy
David Kirtley is the Founder and CEO of Helion Energy.
Follow David Kirtley:
About Helion Energy: Helion Energy is a fusion power company developing the world’s first fusion generators, enabling a future with unlimited clean energy.
Daniel Farb
CEO and Founder of Flower Turbines
Founder and CEO. Multidisciplinary high achiever who had the vision for most of the technologies and has other skills to bring them to fruition. Has 3 degrees: Literature from Yale, where he set an academic record at Yale for taking twice the ordinary load in one semester and receiving all As in both science and humanities. Medical degree from Boston University. Executive Management from UCLA Anderson School. He ran a medical practice with over 100 contracts and a software company that sold to companies like BristolMyers Squibb. Author of over 100 books and CDs and over 30 patents.
Follow Daniel Farb:
About Flower Turbines, Leviathan Energy: Flower Turbines develops small vertical axis wind turbines that produce low noise and are cost-effective.
Drew FitzGerald
Co-Founder of 501cTHREE
Drew FitzGerald is Co-Founder at 501CTHREE.org
Follow Drew FitzGerald:
About 501cTHREE, Facet Creative, JUST Water: 501cTHREE deploys solutions for energy, food, water, and shelter.
Mark Friedgan
Co-Founder and CIO of Eligo Energy
Mark Friedgan is an early stage investor in startups. His background is in online consumer financial services.
Follow Mark Friedgan:
About Eligo Energy: Eligo Energy helps provide consumers and businesses with low cost energy solutions.
Harrold Rust
Founder, President & CEO of Enovix
Mr. Harrold Rust has served as CEO and President of ENOVIX since its founding in late 2006. He has 25 years of leadership experience in technology development and driving operational innovations that enable complex 3d structures to become highly cost effective. Prior to ENOVIX he was Vice President of Operations for FormFactor, a Global Top 10 MEMS based Manufacturer, where under his operations leadership the company experienced a highly successful IPO along with significant capacity, revenue, and gross margin expansion . Following his Stanford graduate degree, he spent 17 years at IBM’s industry leading magnetoresistive recording head group driving high volume manufacturing of the lithographically based heads that were increasing in areal density by over 60% each year. Hard drive storage systems saw a areal density increase of 1000x during this period.
Follow Harrold Rust:
About Enovix: Enovix develops 3D wave array energy storage architecture for Lithium based cells to improve manageability of the stored energy.
Mateo Jaramillo
CEO & Co-Founder of Form Energy
Follow Mateo Jaramillo:
About Form Energy: Form Energy develops and commercializes a low-cost battery system that can store wind and solar energy for a long duration.
Ted Wiley
President, COO, & Co-Founder of Form Energy
Ted Wiley arrived at Aquion Energy as the first employee of the company in 2009 and ran all day-to-day operations for the first two years. He is currently focused on business and market development. Prior to Aquion, he was a senior associate at Hudson Clean Energy Partners where he helped develop the firm’s strategy on bio-fuels while working actively on two solar investments. Before Hudson, Ted deployed to Iraq as an Army platoon leader for the 1st of the 23rd Infantry Battalion leading hundreds of combat missions and helping to organize the country’s first free elections. Ted earned a BS in Physics at Seattle University and attended Harvard Business School where he received an MBA with concentrations in clean technology entrepreneurship.
Follow Ted Wiley:
About Baseload Renewables, Form Energy: Form Energy develops and commercializes a low-cost battery system that can store wind and solar energy for a long duration.
Marco Ferrara
Co-Founder, SVP Analytics & Business Development of Form Energy
Marco Ferrara serves as Co-Founder at Baseload Renewables, Inc. Marco Ferrara serves as Director at Tessolar Inc.
Follow Marco Ferrara:
About Baseload Renewables, Form Energy: Form Energy develops and commercializes a low-cost battery system that can store wind and solar energy for a long duration.
William Woodford
CTO & Co-Founder of Form Energy
William Woodford serves as Co-Founder at Baseload Renewables.
Follow William Woodford:
About Baseload Renewables, Form Energy: Form Energy develops and commercializes a low-cost battery system that can store wind and solar energy for a long duration.
James McGinniss
CEO and Co-Founder of David Energy
James McGinniss is an expert in modern grid design and technologies, ranging from solar + storage to CHP/Cogen. While studying Engineering at the University of Texas-Austin, he researched all aspects of energy markets and next generation grid infrastructure design. In lieu of pursuing his PhD in battery storage science, he helped found David Energy. While at UT, James also founded and led a team of 30+ engineers that competed in the Elon Musk led SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition, where teams were invited to build pods to race on a one-mile test track. They won the SpaceX Innovation Award after two years spent building their prototype, one of three teams to be recognized. James has extensive experience designing and deploying rooftop solar and residential behind the meter storage projects in the Texas market for Alba Energy, a Texas based solar installation company. He holds an M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering from UT Austin and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University with a B.S. in Physics and Math.
Follow James McGinniss:
About David Energy: David Energy is a retail electricity supplier with its own technology system.
George Palikaras
Founder, President/CEO of Metamaterial Inc.
Founder at Metamaterial Technologies
Follow George Palikaras:
About Metamaterial Inc.: Mastering Light using Smart Materials & Photonics. Changing the way we use, interact and benefit from Light.
Joshua Aviv
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of SparkCharge
Joshua is a certified Data Scientist and the Founder and CEO of SparkCharge, a company specializing in the portable charging of electric cars. His experience in entrepreneurship and startups spans over 4 years and he is a dynamic figure in the cleantech community. Joshua is also the most recent winner of the New York Business Plan Competition and won awards in over seven business competitions. Joshua holds B.A. in Economics and Masters in Information Management from Syracuse University.
Follow Joshua Aviv:
About SparkCharge: SparkCharge is an automotive company that manufactures and develops charging stations for electric vehicles.
Mike Segal
Founder & Chairman of LS Power
Mike Segal founded LS Power in 1990 and has more than four decades of experience in the power industry. Under Mr. Segal’s leadership, LS Power has grown to become one of the largest independent power and energy infrastructure developers in the United States, involved in the development of renewable and fossil-fired power plants as well as major transmission projects across the nation. Additionally, the Firm has raised $10 billion in committed equity capital for its power and energy infrastructure-focused private investment partnerships. Since its inception, LS Power has developed, constructed, managed or acquired more than 42,000 MW of power generation and 630 miles of transmission assets throughout the United States. Towards its endeavors, LS Power has raised more than $45 billion in debt and equity financing to support North American infrastructure.. Prior to LS Power, Mr. Segal served as Co-Head of Commercial Union Energy Corporation where led their investments in power generation projects. Before that, Mr. Segal was President of The Energy Systems Company, a private developer of cogeneration projects. He also held various positions, including General Manager of Power Generation and Systems Planning, with LEMCO Engineers, Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to LEMCO, Mr. Segal worked for the Department of Energy in the former Soviet Union. Mr. Segal received an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Kharkov Polytech Institute in the Ukraine. He immigrated to the United States in 1978 and is a United States citizen.
Follow Mike Segal:
About LS Power: LS Power is an employee-owned, independent power company focused on innovation and investment of energy.
Michael Sabel
Co-CEO, Co-Chairman, Founder & Managing Partner of Venture Global LNG
Michael Sabel is a Co-CEO, Co-Chairman and founder of the Company. Mike has over 24 years of experience in capital markets’ transactions including initial public and secondary offerings, public and private M&A transactions, and private equity and venture capital.Michael Sabel Additionally, Mike has experience in the energy, energy technology and financial service sectors in new company formation, technology licensing, and corporate business development. Mike also advised on private equity and M&A transactions for software, technology and real estate companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Mike was previously Executive Vice President of First Sierra Financial, a publicly traded commercial finance company. He was responsible for leading business and e-commerce strategy, public equity market transactions, the company’s active acquisition program, and acted as President of the commercial finance companies acquired in the U.K. Prior to First Sierra, Mike was a Managing Director with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. in the investment banking group, and Vice President, investment banking, with Sandler O’Neil & Partners.
Follow Michael Sabel:
About Venture Global LNG: Venture Global LNG is a long-term, low-cost producer of liquefied natural gas pipelines.
Robert Pender
Co-CEO, Co-Chairman ,Founder & Managing Partner of Venture Global LNG
Robert (Bob) Pender is the Co-CEO, Co-Chairman and founder of the Company. Bob previously served as a partner at Hogan Lovells, a global law firm, where he was Co-Leader of its global Energy and Natural Resources team and the Chair and Practice Group Director of its Project & International Finance Group for a decade. Bob is internationally recognized for his high profile transactional work, focusing on energy infrastructure projects and international power, including nuclear, hydro, gas, LNG, wind, coal and biomass. He has worked on more than $25 billion in transactions located throughout North America, Central and South America, and South Asia. Bob represented independent power producers, utility affiliates, lenders, equity investors and nation states, such as the Republic of Ecuador, Republic of Guyana and Peoples Republic of China (through SOEs, Sinosure and China Development Bank). Bob was ranked by Chambers as one of the most experienced and highly recognized attorneys in the global projects industry. Clients described Bob as “offering legal counsel that is ‘second to none’” in Legal 500. Upon joining Venture Global Partners, he also provided pro bono support to the Republic of Haiti, beginning with legal support to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, the U. S. State Department and then serving as a counselor to the Minister Delegate for Energy Security, Republic of Haiti. Prior to law school, Bob worked as a staff assistant on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics and then on the White House Staff. During law school, he continued on the White House Staff as a law clerk in the Office of Counsel to the President
Follow Robert Pender:
About Venture Global LNG: Venture Global LNG is a long-term, low-cost producer of liquefied natural gas pipelines.
Tom Dwelle
Partner & Founder of Flyers Energy
Tom Dwelle: Tom received an Engineering Degree from Denver University. He spent 25 years in the U.S. Air Force as a fighter pilot flying everything from A-1 Skyraiders in Vietnam to F-15 Eagles. He retired as a Lt. Colonel in 1982 and joined NELLA. Tom served as General Manager from 1985-1997, when he turned over the reins to Rick Teske. Tom still maintains a strong flying interest and, with his sons, has raced many times at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada. The family fleet of WWII “warbirds” includes a Hawker Sea Fury and two North American AT-6 trainers.
Follow Tom Dwelle:
About Flyers Energy: Flyers Energy, LLC (formerly NELLA Oil), owns and operates Flyers™ retail convenience stores in California.
Walt Dwelle
Managing General Partner & Founder of Flyers Energy
Graduating from U.C. Berkeley, Walt earned a degree in Business. After spending five years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer in Spain, he worked for Beacon Oil Company for 17 years as a Senior Vice-president of Marketing. Under his direction NELLA was formed in 1979 as a sister company to Beacon and he left Beacon to join NELLA in 1988. Walt, who is the managing General Partner of NELLA, has served on the board of CIOMA, is past president of Tiger MAC, an oil industry financing group and is also Chairman of the Valley Business Bank in Visalia.
Follow Walt Dwelle:
About Flyers Energy: Flyers Energy, LLC (formerly NELLA Oil), owns and operates Flyers™ retail convenience stores in California.
David Dwelle
Partner & Founder of Flyers Energy
David attended Cal Poly (SLO) and immediately started a retail stereo and speaker manufacturing business with his college roommate. Sun Stereo grew to 13 stores and his “DWD” speakers were sold throughout the world. In 1980, David sold his interest to his partner and became General Manager of NELLA until Tom took over the reins in 1985. David still maintains an active interest in NELLA while pursuing several property development projects in the Auburn area. David is passionately interested in renewable energy and energy conservation for a sustainable society. He has positioned NELLA as a leader in the industry in applying Solar PV electricity to cover a substantial portion of the convenience store load electric loads.
Follow David Dwelle:
About Flyers Energy: Flyers Energy, LLC (formerly NELLA Oil), owns and operates Flyers™ retail convenience stores in California.
Steve Dwelle
Partner & Founder of Flyers Energy
Steve received his B.S. Degree from San Francisco State College in 1963, and spent the next 21 years in the U.S. Air Force prior to joining the NELLA team. Steve’s first career highlights include 198 combat missions in Vietnam in the F-100, two years as a solo pilot for the “Thunderbirds” jet aerobatic team, two years in the US Senate as a liaison officer and several years as commanding officer of a Russian type fighter squadron in the Air Forces TOP GUN program called “Red Flag”. Upon retiring in 1984 as a Colonel, Steve began an active role in NELLA. In his spare time, Steve is an excellent golfer.
Follow Steve Dwelle:
About Flyers Energy: Flyers Energy, LLC (formerly NELLA Oil), owns and operates Flyers™ retail convenience stores in California.
Dave Riess
CoFounder & CEO of Wunder Capital
Dave Riess is a co-founder and the CTO of [Wunder](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/wunder), a company that connects accredited investors to a diversified fund of solar projects. He was previously a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Before that, he worked as the VP of engineering at AlphaBoot and as a product manager at Knewton. Riess holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from University of San Diego.
Follow Dave Riess:
About Wunder Capital: Wunder is a technology company that is powering the renewable energy revolution.
Sam Beaudin
Co-Founder & CPO of Wunder Capital
Follow Sam Beaudin:
About Wunder Capital: Wunder is a technology company that is powering the renewable energy revolution.
J. Larry Nichols
Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Devon Energy Corporation
Mr. J. Larry Nichols is Executive Chairman of the Board of Devon Energy Corp. Mr.Nichols served as the Company’s President from 1976 until 2003 and as Chief Executive Officer from 1980 to 2010. He has served on the Board since the Company’s inception and became Board Chair in 2000. At the end of 2012, Mr. Nichols retired as an employee of the Company, but he continues in the role of Executive Chairman of the Board. Prior to founding Devon in 1971, Mr. Nichols served as law clerk to Mr. Chief Justice Earl Warren and Justice Tom Clark of the United States Supreme Court. He also worked in the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel under Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist, who later became the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Nichols received a Bachelor’s degree in Geology from Princeton University in 1964 and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1967. Mr. Nichols has been a director of Baker Hughes Incorporated since 2001 and currently serves as its Lead Director and as a member of its Finance Committee. He has also been a director of Sonic Corp. since 2007 and serves as Chairman of its Nominating and Governance Committee and on its Audit Committee. Mr. Nichols served as a director of BOK Financial Corporation, a financial services company, and Smedvig ASA, an independent energy company. Mr. Nichols is on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the American Petroleum Institute Inc., and the National Association of Manufacturers. He is also a member of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, the National Petroleum Council, the Natural Gas Supply Association, the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico and, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association. Mr. Nichols also served on the Board of Governors of the American Stock Exchange. He has been inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
Follow J. Larry Nichols:
About Devon Energy Corporation: Devon Energy is oil and natural gas exploration and production company.
Christopher Hopper
Co-Founder and CEO of Aurora Solar
Christopher Hopper is the Co-Founder and CEO at Aurora Solar.
Follow Christopher Hopper:
About Aurora Solar: Aurora Solar is a SaaS company that uses aerial imagery to assess solar installation projects.
Samuel Adeyemo
Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Aurora Solar
Samuel Adeyemo is the Co-Founder and COO at Aurora Solar.
Follow Samuel Adeyemo:
About Aurora Solar: Aurora Solar is a SaaS company that uses aerial imagery to assess solar installation projects.
Nicholas Negroponte
Chairman & Founder of One Laptop Per Child
Nicholas Negroponte is the chairman of One Laptop per Child, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create and distribute a low cost laptop to millions of children in poor countries around the world, ultimately revolutionizing how these children are educated. A prototype was unveiled by Kofi Annan and Mr. Negroponte at the World Economic Forum in 2005. The project is funded by Google, Red Hat, AMD, Brightstar Corporation, News Corporation and Nortel Networks, among other companies. Mr. Negroponte is currently on leave from MIT, where he was co-founder and director of the MIT Media Laboratory and the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Technology. An Internet pioneer, he is author of the 1995 best seller, Being Digital which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In the private sector, Mr. Negroponte serves on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and Ambient Devices. He has provided start-up funds for Wired magazine, Zagats, Ambient Devices and management’s first venture, thePit.com.
Follow Nicholas Negroponte:
About MIT Media Lab, One Laptop Per Child: ONergy is a Renewable Energy venture passionately committed to sustainability and equity – providing complete energy solutions.
Jack Hidary
Co-Founder & Chairman of Samba Energy
Jack Hidary built his career as an entrepreneur in the finance and technology sectors and is currently focused on clean energy technology and policy. He co-founded Vista Research in 2001 as an independent financial research company serving institutional investors. Jack sold Vista to the Standard & Poor’s division of McGraw-Hill in April of 2005. In 1995, he co-founded and served as President and CEO of EarthWeb/Dice. He raised three private rounds of equity and completed a record breaking IPO. Under his leadership, EarthWeb/Dice earned the prestigious Business Week Info Tech 100 award as the third fastest growing IT Company. Dice.com is currently traded on the NYSE under ticker DHX. Committed to community and philanthropic causes, Jack has received several industry and community awards as well as being recognized as a Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, Davos. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Clinton Global Initiative. Jack has been particularly involved in issues of energy and transportation. He is Chairman and Co-Founder of the Freedom Prize Foundation, which provides monetary prizes to cities, schools and other entities that can most reduce their petroleum use. The Freedom Prizes were mandated by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Title X: 1008). In New York City, he was a leading proponent of switching over the taxi fleet to high mileage hybrids. Jack serves as Chairman of SmartTransportation.org, a non-profit dedicated to promoting clean energy and transportation policy in the US. Jack studied philosophy and neuroscience at Columbia University and was then awarded a Stanley Fellowship in Clinical Neuroscience at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under the fellowship, he conducted research in functional neuroimaging using techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study brain and disease states. Jack serves on several boards including BT Global Services and Trickle Up. A frequent keynote speaker, he has presented at venues including the business schools of Yale and Columbia.
Follow Jack Hidary:
About Freedom Prize Foundation, Samba Energy: Samba Energy designs and develops products and solutions that focus on efficient use of energy and offers Samba Sunspotter.
Tim Reeser
CEO & Co-Founder of Lightning eMotors
Tim Reeser is CEO and Co-Founder of Lightning eMotors. Lightning designs and manufactures zero-emission all-electric powertrains for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including delivery trucks, shuttle buses, passenger vans, chassis-cab models, and transit buses. Lightning Systems investors include BP Ventures, DHI, Aravaipa, and others, and OEM partners include Ford, GM, and Isuzu. Tim has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from CSU, and has been involved with alternative transportation technology since 1990, when he helped design the first dedicated CNG truck for General Motors while at Colorado State University. Prior to co-founding Lightning eMotors, Tim served as Vice President of Colorado State University Ventures, where he spun out clean-tech companies and built the framework to support accelerated growth of spin-outs and spin-ins at CSU. Prior to working at CSU, Tim founded, ran and successfully exited multiple software and IT infrastructure companies. Tim is an award-winning speaker and technical author and speaks regularly at industry conferences and events.
Follow Tim Reeser:
About Lightning eMotors: Lightning eMotors is an automotive research and manufacturing company that develops zero-emission all-electric powertrains.
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.
Follow Mark Herrema:
About Newlight Technologies: Newlight Technologies is a biotechnology company producing advanced sustainable materials.
Matt Taylor
Founder and CTO of Gogoro
Matt Taylor is a co-founder and chief technology officer at Gogoro, where he manages the technical direction of the company’s products. Prior to Gogoro, Matt served as the chief technologist at HTC, managing the software and hardware teams responsible for defining the company’s architectural direction. He joined Microsoft in 1998 to begin development on their early smartphone and wireless Pocket PC efforts. Prior to Microsoft, Matt worked at Motorola in Libertyville, Illinois working on RF, software, logic and baseband designs on a range of analog and digital cellular products.
Follow Matt Taylor:
About Gogoro: Gogoro is an electric scooter maker and a battery swapping system provider.
Bill Gross
Founder and Chairman of Energy Vault
Follow Bill Gross:
About Carbon Capture, Elementary Robotics, Energy Vault, Evolution Robotics, Feedback.com, Heliogen, Idea Market, Idealab, Migo, Inc., Rollo Motion, tvScientific, X1 Discovery: Energy Vault offers a utility-scale, gravity-based storage solution for renewable energy.
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.
Follow Keith Kepler:
About Farasis Energy: Farasis Energy is a renewable energy company that develops and manufactures lithium ion battery energy storage systems.
Alexander Straub
Founder of WINDFINITY
Alexander Straub is the Founder of Windfinity and Straub Ventures, and the Managing Director of Material Machines.
Follow Alexander Straub:
About Material Machines, Straub Ventures, WINDFINITY: Windfinity is an operator of wind turbines that generate and provide clean and economical energy.
Porter Harris
Founder + Vision, Direction, Values & Technology of Power Global
Follow Porter Harris:
About 174 Power Global, Power Global: Enabling efficient, reliable, cost competitive, and industry leading electrification for global markets
Vic Shao
Founder and CEO of Amply Power
Vic is Chief Executive Officer of Green Charge Networks. Vic is the visionary and driving force behind the company’s overall direction and product strategy. He leads the development of its core technology and system infrastructure. Since 2009, Vic has been collaborating with the U.S. Department of Energy and Fortune 500 companies on a ROI-driven energy storage appliance for the private sector, complementary to solar PV. With more than 15 years experience in software development and complex system implementation, Vic is passionate in applying software to improve power efficiency. He started his high tech career with Oracle Corporation, eventually leading engineering and product teams in Oracle’s middleware division. Prior to co-founding Green Charge Networks, Vic held engineering and management positions at several cloud computing software companies. He holds more than 12 published / granted patents in cloud computing and power efficiency. Vic holds a Master of Business Administration degree from UC Berkeley and an engineering degree from the University of Virginia, magna cum laude.
Follow Vic Shao:
About Amply Power, Music Intelligence Solutions: Amply Power provides commercial fleet operations a charging-as-a-service approach to help fleets transaction to electric vehicles.
Rob Kelly
Founder and VP Business Development of Amply Power
Robert Kelly is the vice president of business development at AMPLY Power.
Follow Rob Kelly:
About Amply Power: Amply Power provides commercial fleet operations a charging-as-a-service approach to help fleets transaction to electric vehicles.
Jonathan Ferrucci
Co-Founder & Owner of Asomeo
Follow Jonathan Ferrucci:
About Asomeo, Epyon: Asomeo is the US-Based Energy Company Specializing in Oil Exploration.
Aram Shumavon
Co-Founder & CEO of Kevala
Follow Aram Shumavon:
About Kevala: Kevala provides data-driven insights for an evolving energy market by combining proprietary analytics with advanced grid mapping.
Jagdeep Singh
Founder & CEO of QuantumScape
Follow Jagdeep Singh:
About QuantumScape: QuantumScape is a renewable energy company that develops solid-state battery technology to increase the range of electric cars.
Kevin Flick
Founder of Canacol Energy
Follow Kevin Flick:
About Canacol Energy: Canacol Energy Ltd. is a Canadian-based international junior energy company.
Santanov Chaudhuri
Co Founder and Executive Chairman of HST
An avid solar enthusiast, Santanov Chaudhuri is a co-founder of HST Solar. Santanov brings specific experience as a former solar power developer himself. He founded one of the first solar power developers active in one of South Asia’s solar power tariff schemes and led the process of trying to procure the right tracking and racking systems to boost IRRs. He founded HST Solar in the hopes of creating a technology company that could solve the need in the market that he had faced personally. He has executed over $100m in renewable energy transactions and investments globally, including in the US, Europe and Brazil. Previously he served as a banker at Goldman Sachs, where he worked on several pioneering clean energy transactions among other deals. He brings experience as a Venture Capitalist at Trivella Investimentos S.A., and as an energy hedge fund investor at Davidson Kempner Capital, a $12B hedge fund. He also brings experience working for NASA from his time at the GOODS project. Chaudhuri holds a BS from Yale University and a MBA from the Harvard Business School.
Follow Santanov Chaudhuri:
About HST: We drive the world forward towards its clean energy future.
Yet-Ming Chiang
Co-Founder of A123 Systems
Yet-Ming Chiang is a co-founder of Desktop Metal. As one of the top battery experts in the world, as well as a leading materials scientist, Prof. Chiang has been integral in Desktop Metal’s development of an office-friendly metal 3D printing system, as well as building out the company’s materials science team. Prof. Chiang is also the Kyocera Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT, where his research focuses on the design, synthesis, and characterization of advanced inorganic materials and related devices. Prof. Chiang earned his SB in Materials Science and Engineering and his ScD in Ceramics, both at MIT. He has published approximately 200 scholarly articles and a widely-used textbook on ceramic materials, and holds about 20 issued patents and 30 pending patent applications (excluding substantially identical foreign filings).
Follow Yet-Ming Chiang:
About 24M Technologies, A123 Systems, Baseload Renewables, Desktop Metal, Form Energy: A123 Systems is a manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries and battery systems for the transportation, electric grid, and commercial markets.
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.
Follow Sophia Wang:
About MycoWorks: MycoWorks is a biotech company that delivers commercially viable non-plastic and non-animal materials to the market.
Lyndon Rive
Co-Founder & CEO of SolarCity
Lyndon Rive is the co-founder and CEO of SolarCity. He co-founded SolarCity in July 2006 with the goal of significantly reducing the cost of solar power and building a trusted national brand adopted by millions of homes. In its first full year of operation, SolarCity became the largest residential solar power provider in California, and by early 2008, SolarCity was a full-service solar power company—providing design, financing, installation, monitoring and services. Lyndon has grown SolarCity has grown to over 300 employees , serving more than 300 communities in three states in its first two years of existence. Prior to SolarCity, Lyndon founded Everdream, an industry leader in software and services for large-scale distributed computer management. Lyndon negotiated the company’s partnership with Dell Computer, which acquired Everdream in 2007. A lifelong entrepreneur, Lyndon founded his first company at the age of 17 in South Africa, and in his spare time has been a member of the U.S. National Underwater Hockey Team.
Follow Lyndon Rive:
About SolarCity: SolarCity provides solar energy services to homeowners, businesses, government, and non-profit organizations.
Christopher A Wright
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Resources
Chris Wright serves as CEO of Liberty Oilfield Services. Additionally, Chris founded and serves as Executive Chairman of Liberty Resources, a Bakken-focused E&P company and Liberty Midstream Solutions. He has had a lifelong passion for energy and its role in human life. He has spoken on energy to the UK House of Lords, the States Attorneys General, Federal and State Judges, debated the merits of the shale revolution on TV and given over 100 talks. Chris completed an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at MIT and graduate work in Electrical Engineering at both UC Berkeley and MIT. Chris founded Pinnacle Technologies and from 1992 – 2006 years served as CEO. Pinnacle created the hydraulic fracture mapping industry by developing and commercializing tiltmeter and microseismic fracture mapping. Pinnacle’s innovations in fracturing practices helped launch commercial shale gas production in the late 1990’s. Chris was Chairman of Stroud Energy, an early shale gas producer, prior to its sale to Range Resources in 2006. Chris is a director of TAS (industrial energy technology company), Kerogen Exploration, Liberty Oilfield Services, and Liberty Resources. Chris has consulted and taught courses on all six inhabited continents and authored / co-authored over 60 technical papers and articles. He has received numerous industry awards and several U.S. patents. Chris also worked on fusion energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy. Chris grew up in Colorado and is a passionate skier, cyclist, climber, and outdoor enthusiast. He serves on the board of numerous non-profits including PERC, ACE Colorado, ACE Montana, Colorado Academy, PRI, and the YCCF.
Follow Christopher A Wright:
About Liberty Resources: Liberty Resources is a Denver-based oil and gas company.
Diego Netto
Co-Founder and Head of Engineering of Booster
Diego Netto is a Co-Founder and Head of Engineering @ Booster Fuels.
Follow Diego Netto:
About Booster: Booster is energy delivered, integrated logistics, and society’s solution for decarbonizing last-mile delivery.
Tyler Raugh
Co-Founder & President of Booster
Follow Tyler Raugh:
About Booster: Booster is energy delivered, integrated logistics, and society’s solution for decarbonizing last-mile delivery.
Jacqueline Novogratz
Founder & CEO of Acumen
Follow Jacqueline Novogratz:
About Acumen: Acumen is a non-profit venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty.
Vivian Qu
CEO & Founder of ViaeX
Vivian Qu is a dedicated professional operating within the material science and biotech venture space in Silicon Valley. She is the CPO at ORA Nano Mask, and she founded ViaeX Technologies, Inc. in 2016 to contribute to the advancement of our society through sustainable technological developments. For her work across her career, Vivian Qu has earned recognition as the recipient of the Dow Chemical SISCA Award, the Clinton Global Initiative Award, and the Fung Fellowship. Additionally, she received the NSF Innovation Corp Grant and the Big Ideas Berkeley – Energy and Alternative Resources Prize. Vivian was also recognized in the Pulse by Business Insider for her work as a graduate from the University of California, Berkeley.
Follow Vivian Qu:
About Tidal Vision, ViaeX: ViaeX creates biological nanofiltration systems for water and air which are 400% more efficient than current solutions.
David J. Prend
Co-Founder and General Partner of RockPort Capital
David is Managing General Partner and co-founder of RockPort Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in the areas of energy, mobility, and sustainability. Prior to founding RockPort in 1998, David was a Managing Director at Salomon Brothers, where he headed the Global Energy Investment Banking Group. He also worked at Shearson Lehman, Amoco and Bechtel. David received a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Follow David J. Prend:
About RockPort Capital: RockPort Capital Partners is a leading venture capital firm that invests in the areas of energy, mobility, and sustainability.
Sujeet Kumar
CEO, Co-Founder of Zenlabs Energy
Dr. Sujeet Kumar is the founder and CEO of Zenlabs Energy, a company developing high-energy fast-charging lithium-ion batteries for Electric and Aerial Vehicles. Before Zenlabs, Dr. Kumar served as CTO of Envia Systems where he developed high-capacity manganese-based cathode and won several DoE awards. Dr. Kumar worked as a senior scientist for Greatbatch, leading the development of cathode materials for implantable medical batteries. Dr. Kumar started his career at Nanogram Corp as its first employee where he led several energy storage projects. Dr. Kumar has won the R & D 100 award for developing high energy lithium-ion batteries and is the inventor of over 60 patents. Dr. Kumar has a Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Rochester and a B.Tech from IIT, Varanasi.
Follow Sujeet Kumar:
About Envia Systems, Greatbatch, Zenlabs Energy: Zenlabs Energy has developed high energy density lithium ion batteries for ground and aerial electric vehicles.
Ricardo Angel
Founder ,CEO & Managing Partner of Piva Capital
Ricardo Angel is the CEO and managing partner at Piva. Prior to that, he served as a managing director at Energy Ventures where he leads origination for the business unit and for Energy Technology Ventures, a joint venture formed by GE, NRG Energy, and ConocoPhillips focused on investing in emerging energy technology companies. GE Energy Ventures and Energy Technology Ventures seek investment opportunities across the energy value chain, including renewables, power infrastructure and oil & gas technologies. Mr. Angel joined GE from ChevronTexaco Technology Ventures’ Venture Capital group. Previous experience includes investment banking at Goldman Sachs and consulting at CNA Corporation. Mr. Angel holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School and Bachelors as well as Masters and Doctorate degrees in Engineering from the University of Illinois. He is based in San Francisco.
Follow Ricardo Angel:
About Piva Capital: Piva is a venture capital firm that primarily invests in disruptive energy and industrial startups.
Jacob DeWitte
CEO & Founder of Oklo
Follow Jacob DeWitte:
About Oklo: Making reactors people want.
David Moxam
Founder & Managing Partner of MalibuIQ
David Moxam (Mox) is a founder of Malibu IQ and acts in the role of Managing Partner. He chairs the Ideation Council with representative executives from HRL, GM, Boeing, and the owner investors of Malibu IQ, to set strategy and approve the formation of new companies (NewCos). Mox also works with the Malibu IQ Investment Team making contributions in NewCo value proposition and creation of the path to commercialization for NewCos. Primarily focused on commercializing invention assets originating at HRL, as a technically strong investment group, Malibu IQ also looks for opportunities that have the potential to leverage or align its core assets; and has the ability to invest in seed and series A level ventures. Additionally, the Team has resources and relevant subject matter expertise in a number of emerging disciplines to provide a fair bit of initial commercial guidance in addition to capital. Mox is a successful entrepreneur with extensive experience in bringing advanced technologies to market. His expertise includes working in a senior executive capacity with a Global 500 leader; and in founding a pioneering technology start-up through sale to a prestigious private equity group. Through invitation, he has served on the Board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for 2 terms and is a vocal champion of new innovation models for accelerating advanced technology insertion into design and production. Operating globally, he has received the prestigious UK Queen’s Award for Enterprise and was recognized as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Technology in the US. While with EDS in 1998 he received their Pinnacle Award for Leadership, for work in founding the global financial markets group and IT developments with the NASD, Electronic Broking Services and the NYMEX. Mox was the founder of Authentix, Inc. a molecular engineering firm operating in the authentication & security industry; a founder and Director for Compassites Software Solutions in India; and he enjoys putting sweat equity into standing up NewCos. Two recent NewCos (independent of Malibu IQ) are; Decisio Health (predictive algorithms for healthcare), and Tenaxis ArterX (a next generation surgical sealant). Mr. Moxam holds graduate diplomas in Physics and Business Administration from Laurentian University in Canada; and has participated in corporate executive programmes with INSEAD in France. Notably, Mox has recently slipped to #2 on the family fly-fishing grid, losing coveted #1 to his son Cody.
Follow David Moxam:
About MalibuIQ, Manti Resources, The Clear Creek Group: HRL Labs Technology Commercialization
Yazan Harasis
Co-Founder of Power Edison
Follow Yazan Harasis:
About Power Edison: Power Edison is a mobile electric energy storage developer.
Benjamin Krall
Founder & CEO of Urban Umbrella
Former associate at Metamorphic Ventures, now co-founder of a NYC based Scaffolding Company called Urban Umbrella.Holds a JD & an MBA in corporate law and sports management. Graduated from Syracuse University in 2009 with a political science and entrepreneurship degree. Perviously held business development roles at The Hockey ad Network and Leadspend (exited) in NYC. Started his career in private equity working as an analyst at Fore River Ventures in Boston while completing his legal degree. Started a successful international textbook distribution platform in 2007 called Tiger Books.
Follow Benjamin Krall:
About Urban Umbrella: Urban Umbrella is the first alternative to the scaffolding industry
Remco van den Elzen
Co-Founder and COO of Leap
Follow Remco van den Elzen:
About Leap: Leap is a marketplace for Distributed Energy Resources to participate in the energy market.
John Berger
Founder and CEO of Sunnova
John Berger has more than 19 years of experience in the power industry. He co-founded Sunnova Energy Corp. in November 2012 and serves as chief executive officer. Prior to Sunnova, he co-founded and served as chief executive officer of SunCap Financial, a leading residential solar power service company. Before SunCap, Berger co-founded Standard Renewable Energy (SRE), a top-10 provider of renewable energy and energy-efficient products and services for residential, commercial and government customers. He also co-founded and served as managing partner for Contango Capital Partners, LP, a venture capital firm focused on renewable energy and energy technology companies. Berger began his career in 1996 as an analyst for Enron Corp. and completed his tenure there as director for Enron Energy Services. Berger graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 2003. He served as an advisor to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during business school.
Follow John Berger:
About Sunnova: Sunnova is a solar power company providing nationwide coverage with local minded service to thousands of homes across the United States
Jim Marver
Co-Founder & Managing Director of VantagePoint Capital Partners
Jim co-founded VantagePoint in 1996 and is experienced in every element of venture fund management. Over the past three decades, Jim has worked closely with hundreds of public and private companies on all aspects of their operations, especially strategy and finance. He has run global technology practices at leading investment banks and has served as a senior consultant at SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute). He is Chairman of the Board of Advisors, Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. And he is a member of the Board of Directors of The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Jim attended Williams College (BA) and the University of California, Berkeley (MPP, PhD).
Follow Jim Marver:
About VantagePoint Capital Partners: VantagePoint Capital Partners (formerly VantagePoint Venture Partners, until 2011) has more than $4.5 billion in capital under management
Alan Salzman
Co-Founder and Managing Partner of VantagePoint Capital Partners
Alan Salzman has served on our board of directors since 2007 and served as our Chairman from 2009 to April 2012. Salzman is the co-founder of VantagePoint Capital Partners, a venture capital firm specializing in multi-stage investing, and has served as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner for more than the past five years. Salzman previously held a faculty appointment for more than 10 years as an Adjunct Professor of Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Companies at Stanford Law School. Salzman holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the London School of Economics and the University of Toronto, a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School, and a Master of Laws degree in international business from Vrije Universiteit Brussels.
Follow Alan Salzman:
About VantagePoint Capital Partners: VantagePoint Capital Partners (formerly VantagePoint Venture Partners, until 2011) has more than $4.5 billion in capital under management
Kirill Parinov
Co Founder of Rock Flow Dynamics
Founding member of Greycroft-backed Speechki. Angel in 2 Alchemist alum startups and 2 Alchemist startups currently in classes 28 and 29. Co-Founder Company NameSpeechki Dates EmployedNov 2018 – Present Employment Duration2 yrs 8 mos LocationSan Francisco Bay Area Audiobook recording with only synthetic voices Retell Co-Founder Company NameRetell Full-time Dates EmployedNov 2019 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 8 mos LocationDubai, United Arab Emirates I’m a co-founder of a tech startup (https://retell.cc) which works with publishers to turn all their stories into audio – without any human involvement whatsoever. Here’s an example of how our player works: https://www.dropbox.com/s/i4e121rvzxd8h4k/SNV_Walden.mp3?dl=0 Have you heard that gen Z and millennials are 25% more likely to consume articles with audio? Here’s can our tech be useful for you: – we bring you new customers (who’d rather listen then read) and increase their engagement and revenue with audio versions of all your articles – you’ll be able to embed audio ads into audio versions of your articles and keep all revenue from these ads – monetizing your existing traffic. Main points: – our high load service can handle several billion requests – articles are read automatically, content is taken from RSS – the player is installed on the website and in the mobile application, AMP, Turbo – in your personal cabinet, you can add ads from your advertisers -in some types of our player you can install an image, for example, the logo of the sponsor of the soundtrack, – we can make a unique player interface for you so that it can be built into your interface. – you can 100% integrate Retell with your web analytics and track audio engagement . Statistics: Between 1.5% and 14.0% conversion per listening. Depends on the platform itself and the audience. Inside the website, the conversion is always steady. About 10% listen on PC About 45% in a mobile browser About 45% in the mobile application 60% listen to the end of the article. Cost per month: If, say, you publish 900 articles per month and if an average article has 2,500 characters, our service would cost you U.S.$660 per month. That’s around 73 cents per article. … see more PiperEye Private Investor Company NamePiperEye Full-time Dates EmployedNov 2020 – Present Employment Duration8 mos LocationUnited Arab Emirates Pipereye provide a set of tools that allows concert organisers to create interactive shows with full immersive experience for the audience. Our show format allows viewers to interact with the artist in real-time, affect the show and participate in challenges on the global scale. TOTA Systems Private Investor Company NameTOTA Systems Full-time Dates EmployedNov 2019 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 8 mos LocationUnited Arab Emirates Anton Suhanov Co-Founder Company NameAnton Suhanov Full-time Dates EmployedSep 2019 – Present Employment Duration1 yr 10 mos LocationUnited Arab Emirates https://watchilove.com/anton-suhanov-lotus-clock https://youtu.be/QZt8XNR_21c The Lotus clock is a new amazing project of an independent watchmaker Anton Suhanov. The clock is a mechanical flower with a bud on along thin stem, the petals of the bud open automatically during the day, freeing a glass sphere inside which, like a butterfly or a moth, a three-axis tourbillon rotates. … see more down_lot_03_l.jpg
Follow Kirill Parinov:
About Rock Flow Dynamics: RFD develops software for the petroleum industry, offering innovative reservoir engineering tools implemented in its tNavigator simulator.
Garrett Aida
Founder & CEO of Dark Energy
Garrett Aida is Founder/CEO at Dark Energy.
Follow Garrett Aida:
About Dark Energy: Dark Energy creates destruction-tested, rugged, waterproof hunting tech products.
Alex Yu
Founder and President of Factorial Energy
Follow Alex Yu:
About Factorial Energy: Factorial Energy focuses on sustainable future with safe, high performance batteries for EVs, homes, and critical applications.
Siyu Huang
Founder and CEO of Factorial Energy
Siyu Huang is the Founder and CEO of Factorial Energy.
Follow Siyu Huang:
About Factorial Energy: Factorial Energy focuses on sustainable future with safe, high performance batteries for EVs, homes, and critical applications.
Sai Shivareddy
CEO and Co-Founder of Nyobolt
Sai Shivareddy is the CEO and Co-Founder at Nyobolt.
Follow Sai Shivareddy:
About Nyobolt: Nyobolt is a developer of high-power battery technology used to serve automotive applications.
Abhay Gupta
Founder & CEO of Bidgely
Abhay Gupta founded Bidgely with the mission to accomplish energy efficiency at a massive scale. He’s worked at a combination of energy and technology companies including Grid Net, Echelon and Sun Microsystems. He holds a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, M.S. from University of Southern California and MBA from Santa Clara University. Abhay is passionate about music and travel!
Follow Abhay Gupta:
About Bidgely: Bidgely leverages the power of AI to optimize utility customer engagement and is the choice of leading utilities
Vivek Garud
Co-Founder & CTO of Bidgely
Vivek is leading the technology team which is building the biggest and best energy analytics system yet. Prior to Bidgely, Vivek contributed to building voice recognition technology at Microsoft. He has a B.Tech degree in Computer Science from IIT Bombay. Once done solving the worlds energy problems, he fantasizes of becoming a full time musician and doing big things in Bollywood.
Follow Vivek Garud:
About Bidgely: Bidgely leverages the power of AI to optimize utility customer engagement and is the choice of leading utilities
Saad Alam
Founder & CEO of Get Peak Today
Saad Alam is the Founder and CEO at Citelighter.
Follow Saad Alam:
About Get Peak Today: Get Peak Today is a modern hormone optimization company that helps men regain their energy, focus, and confidence.
Peter L. Corsell
Managing Partner/Founder of Twenty First Century Utilities
Peter L. Corsell is an entrepreneur and investor known for successfully bringing emerging technologies to market. MIT’s Technology Review recognized him as one of the world’s top innovators under age 35, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader, and the National Association of Corporate Directors included him on its inaugural list of leading directors under 40. Corsell is Managing Partner of Twenty First Century Utilities, an investment firm dedicated to acquiring and transforming regulated electric utilities. He is responsible for implementing the firm’s investment thesis of generating excellent long-term returns, while identifying and implementing smart grid and distributed clean energy technologies within the traditional regulated utility model. Corsell is also Chairman of GridPoint, which he founded in 2003 and led as CEO until 2010. GridPoint developed an innovative smart grid platform to facilitate increased adoption of distributed energy technologies by aligning the interests of electric utilities, consumers and the environment. GridPoint has evolved into an established cleantech leader and Internet of Things pioneer, enabling businesses, utilities and government agencies to maximize energy savings, operational efficiency and environmental sustainability. The company has deployed more than 500,000 connected devices and has saved its customers almost $400 million and 5 billion kilowatt-hours of energy. In 2011, Corsell cofounded Hubub, a digital platform used by individuals, publishers and brands for exploring, discussing and debating topics of interest. In partnership with Bell Media, Canada’s largest multimedia company, Hubub developed a significant following in Canada, where it was featured in a 2015 Super Bowl commercial. In 2016, Hubub was acquired by The Stagwell Group, the digital marketing services conglomerate founded by Mark Penn, and was renamed Stagwell Tech. Corsell is currently Senior Advisor to The Stagwell Group. Corsell has been a board member and investor in several technology companies, with a focus on big data analytics and enterprise software. He has been interviewed on Charlie Rose and featured in several books including Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tom Friedman, Perfect Power by Robert Galvin and Kurt Yeager, Earth: The Sequel by Fred Krupp and The Clean Tech Revolution by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder. Earlier in his career, Corsell served in the Central Intelligence Agency and with the U.S. Department of State in Havana, Cuba. He holds a BSFS degree from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Follow Peter L. Corsell:
About Hubub, Twenty First Century Utilities: Twenty First Century Utilities, LLC is working to transform regulated utilities with a twenty first century model.
Larry Kellerman
Managing Partner/Founder of Twenty First Century Utilities
Larry Kellerman has spent over three decades in the electric utility, power generation and independent energy industries. Larry has overseen, acquired and constructed over 20,000 MW of conventional and renewable generation assets. The enterprises led by Kellerman have produced a cumulative profit of over $6.5 billion. Most recently, Larry was Chief Executive Officer at Quantum Utility Generation, a private equity-funded, independent power generation company. Previously, Larry was Partner at Goldman Sachs and President of the firm’s electric power business, where he built operations from the ground up and led a wide range of investments for the firm, including cleantech and smart grid initiatives. Earlier in his career, Larry served as Senior Managing Director at El Paso Corporation, where he developed a 6,000 MW fleet of highly profitable North American power generation assets. Larry was founding President of Citizens Power, the nation’s first independent power marketing enterprise, from start-up through its eventual high-value sale. Larry began his career with electric utilities Southern California Edison and Portland General Electric, where he became General Manager of Power Supply and Power Marketing. Larry holds a B.A. degree in Management from the University of California, Davis (cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and an MBA from West Coast University, Los Angeles (summa cum laude).
Follow Larry Kellerman:
About Twenty First Century Utilities: Twenty First Century Utilities, LLC is working to transform regulated utilities with a twenty first century model.
Slava Agafonov
Founder & CEO of Energsoft
Technical leader and architect in enterprise software including S&P 500 customers for Microsoft. Built web portals for IBM with Team International, created medical FDA-approved devices with Medtronic over Global Logic. , and certified phone station in telecom business over the globe with Alcatel over Altron. Excellent background in distributed systems, artificial intelligence, and Big Data. Passionate about tuning robust, high-performance systems that scale well. Two Master’s degrees in Technical Management from Foster School of Business – The University of Washington in the USA and also computer science masters from Kharkiv Aerospace University in Ukraine. Slava received customer obsessions awards in Microsoft and always acting as a bridge from business to technology with a pioneering spirit. Viacheslav is passionate about leadership roles on strategic and impact projects with metrics-driven, high-performance, and scalable development. Expert in lean software development – it means rapid, agile prototyping with development cycles that fail fast to learn quickly and to apply innovative solutions in iterations. Clients hire me to develop new software products for innovative markets that are rapidly growing. They know that the best products come from great empathy and customer insights, but also require courage, hard work, and perseverance.
Follow Slava Agafonov:
About Energsoft, Microsoft: Energsoft is software as a service that improves batteries and energy storage, B2B platform reports, and predicts batteries AI insights.
Udi Meirav
Founder of enVerid Systems
Follow Udi Meirav:
About Calibre Biometrics, CliniWorks, enVerid Systems: enVerid provides indoor air quality and HVAC energy-saving technologies for commercial buildings.
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.
Follow Christophe Schilling:
About Genomatica: Genomatica manufactures sustainable chemicals from renewable feedstocks.
Benjamin Pietro Filardo
Founder, CEO and Chief Technologist of Pliant Energy Systems
Pietro Filardo is the Founder & CEO of Pliant Energy Systems to which he has assigned sixteen of his granted patents. Prior to founding his company he worked as an architect for ten years, most of them at the firm of the late American architect Philip Johnson. Prior to his architecture degree he earned a degree in marine biology and worked as a brick mason, plumber and carpenter.
Follow Benjamin Pietro Filardo:
About Pliant Energy Systems: Pliant Energy Systems conceptualizes, patents and develops technologies in the fields of energy harnessing and marine robotics.
Saul Griffith
Founder & Chief Scientist of Rewiring America
Saul Griffith is the Founder & Chief Scientist at Rewiring America.
Follow Saul Griffith:
About 3D Fab Light, Gradient, HowToons, Kestrel Materials, Low Cost Eyeglasses, Otherlab, Rewiring America, ROAM, WattzOn, WattzOn: Rewiring America provides a blueprint for reducing climate change pollution and creating good-paying jobs.
Shannon Miller
CEO and Founder of Mainspring Energy
Follow Shannon Miller:
About Mainspring Energy: Mainspring Energy is engineering advanced technology to revolutionize the way electricity is generated and delivered