The 2015 Expert Panelists
Members of our expert panel play an important role in Phase II of how the Global Cleantech 100 lists comes together. Each are given a limited number of votes they can use to voice a strong opinion, be it positive or negative, to strengthen or weaken a shortlisted company’s case for making the final 100. They also provide company nominations along with hundreds of others in Phase 1. The expert panel is drawn principally from representatives of multi-national corporations and industrials active in technology and innovation scouting, and from leading financial investors in Asia, Europe and North America. The panel includes pioneers, leaders, old veterans, and new entrants in Cleantech. The composition of the expert panel is created to be broadly representative of the global cleantech community, reinforcing the intention that the end result be a list in which all, or most, sub-sectors of cleantech are represented, and many countries have the chance to be represented, in approximate proportionality to their share of the overall number of innovative, private cleantech companies in the world.
Laura Nereng, Business Development Manager
Laura Nereng leads a Clean Tech Growth Initiative at 3M. The Clean Tech Department is an R&D group in 3M’s Industrial Business Group and focuses on non-incremental growth opportunities which have the potential to provide high impact for society and provide high growth for 3M. Duties are to scout, qualify, facilitate, and execute R&D programs and investments that will position 3M to participate in Clean Tech. Clean Tech scope includes Energy (opportunities which address Energy Generation, Storage, or Efficiency), Water (Desalination or Treatment/Purification), Air Purification, and Renewable Materials. Laura holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University. Her 24 years of experience at 3M include assignments in engineering, product development, manufacturing, marketing, sales, strategic planning and business development.
André Loesekrug-Pietri, Managing Partner
André Loesekrug-Pietri is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (Davos), co-Chairman of the Paulina Foundation, focused on solving education and environmental challenges globally, and the Founder of A CAPITAL, a leading European private equity fund. A CAPITAL is investing into performing European companies to accelerate their growth in emerging markets and particularly in China. A CAPITAL is focused on performing European MidCap companies in Digital, Environment/Energy, Agri&Food, Transportation/logistics, Healthcare and Tourism. Landmark transactions include Club Méditerranée (France), Bang & Olufsen (Denmark), Viadeo (France) and Balladins (Germany). The A CAPITAL Technology Fund was launched in Brussels early April 2014 in the presence of the Belgian Premier and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Cornerstone investors of A CAPITAL are the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation (CIC) as well as the Belgian Holding SFPI. A CAPITAL is also the publisher of the Dragon Index™, the reference indicator for Chinese investments globally. A CAPITAL has an exceptional track record of forging profitable partnerships in Emerging Markets and especially China. Previously André cofounded CEL Partners, a growth fund dedicated to China, developed Jaccar Capital Fund (for Vietnam and China) and, until 2005 Burelle Participations. Until 1999, André was executive assistant to the CEO of Aerospatiale-Airbus. Holding both French and German nationalities, he is a graduate of HEC School of Management, International MBA Program of the Michigan Business School, Global Leadership and Public Policy Program from the Harvard Kennedy School and attended Sup-Aéro aerospace engineering school. André has been appointed Counsellor of Trade by the French Prime Minister and is Deputy Chair of the Beijing Financiers Club. He a Colonel with the French Air Force People’s Reserve and a private pilot in his leisure time. He is married and father of a young boy.
Grant Allen, Senior vice president
Grant Allen is Senior Vice President of ABB Technology Ventures (ATV) and is based in Palo Alto, California. Grant leads ABB’s innovation efforts in Silicon Valley and invests in companies across North America and Western Europe. He has personally led investments in Industrial Defender (cybersecurity for industrial control systems and other critical infrastructure; acquired by Lockheed Martin), Validus DC Systems (datacenter power conversion; acquired by ABB), Persimmon Technologies (vacuum robots and 3D printed motor parts), Scotrenewables (offshore tidal power) and TaKaDu (cloud analytics for water utilities). Areas of interest include Internet of Things (IoT), industrial sensing, analytics and other software, robotics, and energy efficiency.
Before joining ABB in 2010, Allen was with Core Capital Partners, a $400 million venture fund based in Washington, DC focused on investments in enterprise software and network security. Prior to that, he was with Microsoft in their Mobile & Embedded Devices division; Jingle Networks (backed by First Round Capital and Goldman Sachs; acquired for $63 million); and several start-ups including a web services firm he founded at 19. Allen has also invested personally in a number of companies including Uber, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA), LivingSocial, AltspaceVR, Avizia and EquityZen, and is a founding member of NextGen Angels. He is an advisor to numerous startups and an invited speaker at SXSW, the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit and the Watt D’Or Swiss-US Energy Innovation Day where ABB received Best Achievement in the Energy Sector. Grant holds degrees from Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and has completed executive education at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Alex Betts, Managing Partner
Alex is one of the managing partners of Adaxia Capital Partners, which spun out of Climate Change Capital in 2015 and continues to manage the €200 million private equity fund raised in 2007. Alex was formerly Head of Corporate Venture Capital at Royal Dutch Shell and a Partner of Montagu Private Equity. Alex graduated in Classics from Oxford University and has 23 years experience in private equity and 11 years in cleantech. He has invested in a range of industries, geographies and stages. Board member with Climate Energy and Climate Energy Homes.
Rhea Hamilton, Managing Director
Ms. Hamilton is presently Managing Director at aeris CAPITAL, heading direct investments in renewable energy and clean technology. Prior to joining aeris, Ms. Hamilton was an Investment Director at RobecoSAM Private Equity, formerly part of the greater Rabobank Group. In this position, she built and managed a portfolio of cleantech related direct investments across diverse geographies. She served as a Board member/ observer for six portfolio companies, was on the Advisory Board of several funds, and acted as an advisor for the European Sustainable Energy Technology fund. Ms. Hamilton came from Royal Dutch Shell, where she held various positions including acting CFO of Shell Hydrogen, and head of Investor Relations for Shell’s global Exploration and Production business.Ms. Hamilton began her career with Shell Canada Ltd., where she worked in Exploration and Production oriented deal teams. She holds a Geological Engineering degree with a specialisation in Geophysics, from the University of British Columbia, Canada, an international MBA from IESE in Barcelona, Spain, and a diploma from the Institute of Directors (IoD) in the UK. She has published several articles in scientific journals as part of her scientific work in Antarctica.
Greg Fleming, Investment Director
Greg Fleming is an Investment Director within the Air Liquide corporate venture capital team of ALIAD (Air Liquide Investissements d’Avenir et de Démonstration). Director of Innovation and Academic Partnerships within the Corporate Research Group of Air Liquide. In this role, he has launched both internal and external innovation programs to detect, develop and deploy new technologies for gases and related services. Prior to this assignment, he was Director of Innovation and Academic Partnerships within the Corporate Research Group of Air Liquide. He also served as Associate Director at the Air Liquide research center in Delaware where he was responsible for building and managing a number of technology teams including separations, combustion and hydrogen technologies. Greg started his career at DuPont where he helped develop the MEDAL gas separation membrane technology. He later moved to Air Liquide and served in a number of roles in development of the MEDAL technology, including the role of Director of Research. Greg serves on the Board of two companies within the ALIAD portfolio.
Taejoon Park, Senior Investment Associate, Applied Ventures
Taejoon Park joined Applied Ventures in 2012. Mr. Park’s current investment focus is on semiconductor, cleantech, and advanced materials. Taejoon serves as Applied’s board observer in MTPV Power Corporation, Inpria, BT Imaging, and Enki. Prior to joining Applied Ventures, Taejoon was a senior consultant at Monitor Group Seoul office, where he performed diverse aspects of strategy projects for large Korean conglomerates in the cleantech, oil & gas, electronics, and mobile sectors. Mr. Park holds his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley.
Nathaniel Gorence, Technology-to-Market Advisor
Nate Gorence is a Technology-to-Market Advisor at the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), where he helps prepare breakthrough energy technologies for transition from the lab to the market and deepen ARPA-E’s private sector engagement. Previously, Nate worked at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a leading think tank in Washington, DC, where he served as Associate Director under its energy project. While there, Nate directed various aspects of strategy, research design, analysis, policy development, and advocacy related to a broad range of energy and environmental issues. His primary focus was developing better policy levers to improve the country’s energy innovation ecosystem and to bring advanced energy technologies to market. Additionally, Nate led a high-level policy initiative, the American Energy Innovation Council, which successfully brought together iconic business CEOs to articulate new and reformed strategies to improve U.S. clean energy technology innovation. Nate has also worked at the Broadscale Group, a new model of investment firm, working with leading energy corporations to invest in and commercialize the industry’s most promising market-ready innovations. Nate began his career at Epic Systems Corp. He holds a MBA from Yale University and an A.B. from Dartmouth College.
Pascal Siegwart, Partner
Pascal joined Aster Capital in 2011 and is leading investments in the areas of advanced materials and biobased materials, CO2, and energy. He is also in charge of business operations to strengthen growth opportunities for portfolio companies.
Prior to Aster, Pascal was CO2 Operations Director at Rhodia & Orbeo and Energy Purchasing Director at Rhodia Energy. He has been working since 2006 in the new fast growing carbon economy, in charge of developing worldwide CO2 offset projects in the Kyoto protocol frame for Rhodia and Orbeo. Orbeo is a pure carbon joint-venture between Rhodia and Société Générale developing market solutions to fight climate change. Pascal has over 10 years of industrial experience within the Rhodia group, where he held several positions in France and Italy such as Corporate Strategy Project Manager, Plant Manager and Quality Manager. Pascal is an engineer graduated from the Ecole Polytechnique of Paris and holds a Master A. Sc. in Biotechnology from the Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal in Canada.
Pascal is responsible for managing the investment of Aster Capital in Avantium and Etogas.
Dr. Björn heinz, Investment Manager
Björn Heinz joined BASF Venture Capital in April 2013 and works as an Investment Manager in Fremont/USA. He started his career at BASF 2009 in formulation research where he led projects on tertiary oil recovery. Later he worked on the development and build-up of a production plant for solar cell metallization products. Björn studied chemistry and received his PhD in physics at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich.
Anthony van bommel, Senior Managing Partner, Clean and Energy Technology Venture Fund
Tony Van Bommel is Senior Managing Partner in the Industrial, Clean and Energy Technology Venture Fund in the Toronto office. He is responsible for overseeing the Industrial, Clean and Energy Technology Venture Fund investments and maximizing value creation across the portfolio. Tony has been with BDC Capital since 2001 and with the Industrial, Clean and Energy Technology Venture Fund since its inception over two years ago, assuming the role of Managing Partner in 2012. Prior to joining BDC, he spent four years as Senior Investment Manager with InNOVAcorp, a General Partner for the Nova Scotia First Fund, an early stage knowledge-based venture fund. For 10 years prior to this, he worked as a lawyer and partner in the business law firm Little & Wright in London, Ontario. Tony has held multiple directorships in both public and private emerging growth companies across Canada and holds the CVCA “VC Deal of the Year award” for Q1 Labs in 2012. Tony earned the Dalhousie Governor General’s Gold Medal for the top graduate student chosen from all faculties at Dalhousie University and the gold medal from the Dalhousie University MBA program. He received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Western Ontario where he won the Pitney Bowes Award for the top graduating law student in Ontario who combined academics, athletics and service to the community. He is a past Chairman of Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia and Volunteer of the year for that organization.
Dr. Karl Ludwig Kley, Managing Director
Dr. Karl Ludwig Kley has been Head of Executive Management at Bilfinger Venture Capital GmbH since April 2012. He has been with the Bilfinger Group since 2004. Following operational positions in Civil in both Germany and abroad as well as with Corporate Development at HSG Zander International, he most recently worked in Corporate Projects / M&A at Bilfinger SE where he accompanies several M&A transactions for Bilfinger SE. Dr. Kley is a civil engineering graduate and holds a doctorate in the same subject from the University of Karlsruhe. Dr. Karl Ludwig Kley has been Head of Executive Management at Bilfinger Venture Capital GmbH since April 2012. He has been with the Bilfinger Group since 2004. Following operational positions in Civil in both Germany and abroad as well as with Corporate Development at HSG Zander International, he most recently worked in Corporate Projects / M&A at Bilfinger SE where he accompanies several M&A transactions for Bilfinger SE. Dr. Kley is a civil engineering graduate and holds a doctorate in the same subject from the University of Karlsruhe.
Rob Day, Partner
Rob Day is a Partner with Black Coral Capital, based in Boston. He has been a cleantech private equity investor since 2004, and acts or has served as a Director, Observer and advisory board member to multiple companies in the energy tech and related sectors. Rob was previously a co-founder of the Renewable Energy Business Network, a non-profit organization which was acquired in 2009 by the Clean Economy Network. Since 2005 he has also authored the website Cleantech Investing, which currently appears on greentechmedia.com. Formerly a consultant with Bain & Company, Rob has worked with companies and evaluated private equity transactions in the energy/ utilities, telecom, IT, medical/pharmaceutical, and retail industries. Earlier in his career, Rob was a member of the World Resources Institute’s Sustainable Enterprise Program, where he co-authored the report The Next Bottom Line: Making Sustainable Development Tangible. Rob received his MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Northwestern University), and his BA at Swarthmore College.
Ulrich Quay, Managing Director
Ulrich has been Head of BMW i Ventures since July 2011. BMW I Ventures based in New York City and has made 14 investments in start-ups in the area of Mobility Services, in particular e-mobility, navigation, parking, car sharing and intermodal mobility solutions. BMW i Ventures is part of the brand BMW i, which is about the design and development of visionary vehicles and mobility services and a new perception of premium guided by sustainability. Ulrich is on the board of Chargepoint and two other investments. Before heading the Venture Group of BMW, Ulrich was a department manager in the legal department of BMW, both in Germany and England, focusing on M&A and distribution law in particular. He holds a phD in International Private Law.
Meghan Sharp, US Director
Ms. Sharp is a member of BP’s corporate venture team. Investments span the BP Group, focused on emerging, strategic technologies in five areas: bioenergy and biomaterials; energy efficiency and storage; carbon management; renewable power; and oil and gas. Ms. Sharp focuses on bio-based investments for the team and serves on the board of Chromatin Inc., Biosynthetic Technologies, Verdezyne, and Taxon Biosciences. Ms. Sharp received her Ph.D. in microbial genetics from the University of California, San Francisco, performed post-doctoral work in plant genetics at the University of Chicago and the Carnegie Institution of Washington at Stanford University, and received her MBA from Columbia University.
Sulkhan Davitadze, investment director
Having almost 20-years of successful track record in research and development, project management, strategic planning and business development, venture capital and investment management, paralleled with scientific background, Sulkhan possesses unique knowledge and deep expertise in the fields of: renewable energy, energy storage, renewable fuels and green chemistry, advanced materials and technologies (energy-efficient, semiconductor, nanotechnology). From 2010 as Investment director at BRIGHT CAPITAL Sulkhan is responsible for analysis of the perspective investment sectors, deal pipeline generation, assessment of technologies and projects, organization and support of the investment process. Sulkhan also provides general assistance in business development and R&D projects organization in the CIS and participates in the Boards of Directors of portfolio companies, as well as in the work of the Investment Committee of the Fund.
sofie baeten, partner
Sofie is managing partner at Capital-E. Her investment focus is on innovative applications and technology in Green3. She joined Gimv in 2008. Before she gained two years of venture capital experience as investment manager at Baekeland Fonds II, a venture capital fund of the University of Ghent and as CEO of Viacatt, a small start – up specialized in Ru-catalyst development. Prior to that, she worked for 7 years at Bekaert NV, where she held several positions in R&D project management, business development and innovation management. Sofie holds a MSc degree in Materials science engineering from the University of Ghent (Belgium), a PhD from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) and a Master in Entrepreneurship from the Vlerick Gent Leuven Management School (Belgium)
Paul Decraemer, Partner – Cleantech Investment Practice
Paul joined Capricorn Venture Partners NV in October 2006 after a period of assistance leading to the first closing of Capricorn Cleantech Fund NV. He is an expert in venture, expansion and project equity capital in the sustainable technologies industry. He currently is and has been serving on the Board of Directors of various European quoted and private companies active in the fields of solar thermal, photovoltaics, biodegradable packaging, environmental advisory services, waste-to-energy, waste recycling, wind farm development, smart metering and membrane based separation. Paul acquired cleantech investment experience as Managing Director at Sustainable Energy Ventures and as Senior Investment Manager of Flemish Environmental Holding Company (VMH). He holds a Master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering (University of Ghent) and a post-graduate degree in Financial Management (Vlerick Management School).
Ian Cooke, Director
Ian is a Director at the Carbon Trust with responsibility for the portfolio of Carbon Trust Group technology development and deployment activities. This includes both managing an investment portfolio and leading the commercial development of the Carbon Trust Innovation activities. Operating at the interface of investors and corporates; governments and public sector bodies; and technology and business innovators, Carbon Trust Innovations seeks to continue to design and deliver technologies, products and services to enable a sustainable low carbon economy. The Carbon Trust has offices in London and Beijing and representatives in South Africa and Mexico. His prior career was working in international business development in the engineering and environmental sectors. This covered a variety of emerging markets in Asia, Africa and Europe. Ian has founded and invested in a number of successful new ventures in the engineering and technology fields. Ian qualified as an Engineer in Cape Town, South Africa and was awarded an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.
Wal van Lierop, President & CEO
Wal is an energy technology veteran with unique industry insight gained through deep operational experience as a venture capitalist, corporate executive, top international consultant and a university professor. Since co-founding Chrysalix in 2001, Wal has sourced, invested in and advised numerous startups building innovative solutions for the new energy economy – often while working hand-in-hand with large multinational companies on their sustainable innovation strategies. Wal is a specialist in maximizing returns from bringing innovative solutions to energy intensive industries that are in transition. Prior to founding Chrysalix, Wal spent six years as the Vice President of Strategic Planning at Westcoast Energy (at the time one of the largest Canadian energy companies) with a strong focus on innovation and venturing. He also advised energy, chemicals and financial services blue chip companies on innovation and change management while working for more than seven years with McKinsey & Company. Before officially joining the corporate world, Wal worked for almost a decade as an Associate Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam doing research in economics, econometrics and the environment, and consulting with businesses, governments and major international institutions including the World Bank and European Union. With a long standing passion for clean energy innovation, Wal has founded or co-founded several new ventures and clean energy organizations including New Ventures BC and SET Ventures in Amsterdam as part of the Chrysalix Global Network, which he assisted GRC from China in joining as well. He is a long standing member of the Cleantech Group’s Advisory Board, leader of the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance, 2014 Canadian “Clean16” honoree, co-founder of the BC 2030 Tech-Hub initiative, member of the regional sustainability council and a member of the Vancouver “Renewable City Action Team”, and frequent political advisor. Wal holds a PhD in Economics from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and has completed executive training in Change Management from MIT. He is a passionate advocate for innovation and sustainability, author of several books and scientific articles, and can regularly be seen contributing to articles in the international media as well as speaking at industry conferences around the world – from being a key business speaker during the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games, to debating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at GLOBE2014, to giving innovation speeches at high profile events including Oil and Money in London and Energy for Tomorrow in Kuala Lumpur.
Paul Straub, Partner
Paul Straub brings a successful 15-year track record of working with entrepreneurs at the earliest stages of company development and leading investments in information technology startups. Paul is particularly focused on the potential of digital and business innovation to advance broad-impact core industries. Paul represents CCV on the Boards of Alphabet Energy, Blue Pillar, Clean Power Finance, Project Frog, Renewable Funding (observer) and Yerdle (observer). He also currently manages the firm¹s investment in Root3 Technologies. He previously managed the firm¹s investments as a board observer at Property Bridge (acquired by MGI) and Lefora/Meetro (acquired). Prior to Claremont Creek, Paul invested in software and datacenter technology companies at Information Technology Ventures/Infinity Capital, including co-leading the first institutional round of Cyanea (acquired by IBM) where he was a board observer. Paul worked in product management and strategy roles leading projects for VERITAS Software and Red Hat Software. Paul began his career in investment banking at Montgomery Securities. Subsequently he joined Thomas Weisel Partners at the firm¹s inception where he executed over $7B across more than a dozen M&A and capital raising transactions. Paul earned an MBA from Duke University and a BS from the University of Virginia. Paul serves on the advisory board for Duke University¹s Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment.
Stefan Brand, Senior Manager New Business Development
Stefan Brand is Senior Manager in the New Business Development department of Clariant. He has 18 years of experience in the specialty chemical industry and started his career at Clariant in 1997. During the first years, he developed synthesis procedures for agrochemical and pharmaceutical intermediates. Afterwards, he was Head of Application Technology of an internal start-up of Clariant which developed and commercialized multifunctional coatings. In 2007, he received the Clariant Innovation Award in Bronze. Since 2011, his focus is on scouting and planning of new business opportunities. Stefan studied chemistry and, as a minor subject, astronomy and holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
RICHARD YOUNGMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, EUROPE & ASIA
Richard Youngman is responsible for driving the growth of CTG’s activities outside North America, especially in Europe and Israel, and Asia. He is based in Cleantech Group’s office in London. Richard has more than seven years experience researching cleantech innovation, venture capital markets, and start-ups across Europe and Globally. He is a regular keynote speaker at major cleantech events and is the driving force behind the annual Global Cleantech 100, a list of the World’s most promising private cleantech companies. He authors periodic reports, such as The Rise of the Corporation in Cleantech. Most recently, he was Vice President of Research & Operations at Library House, where he ran the Library House Research team, which discovered and collected the information about high-growth companies that underpinned that company’s data, analytical, and event services. Before Library House, Richard ran his own advisory firm conducting research and consulting on the measurement and evaluation of intangible assets and intellectual capital for organizations such as the European Commission. This followed nine years building a broad-based finance and research background with leading financial institutions such as ABN AMRO, Barclays Capital and BZW in the City of London. His work was centered on the debt markets and revolved around financing M&A deals and advising clients on achieving alignment between their financial and strategic plans. Richard has an MA from Cambridge University, and an MBA from Theseus International Management Institute, Sophia Antipolis, France.
MICHELE PARAD, SENIOR ANALYST
Michele is a senior analyst and lead on the Global Cleantech 100, managing the discovery of the most promising new cleantech companies. Based in London, Michele conducts bespoke research in resource innovation for European clients. Prior to the Cleantech Group, Michele worked within the Private Equity & Sustainability practice at Egon Zehnder International. Michele holds a BA in Public Policy with honors from the University of Chicago, and an MSc from the London School of Economics.
Peter Kennedy, Managing Director
Peter Kennedy joined CLSA from Fulcrum Fund, a venture fund focusing on sustainable resources and companies looking to effect improvements in healthcare services for under-served populations, based in San Francisco. Prior to Fulcrum, Mr. Kennedy was a highly ranked senior research analyst at Morgan Stanley for eight years in New York and London, most recently as Executive Director and head of the telecom and media research team where he led 11 IPOs. Mr. Kennedy has significant private market transaction experience, closing over 10 early stage investments at Fulcrum and several later stage telecom infrastructure transactions throughout Asia and Europe while at NYNEX. Mr. Kennedy holds and MBA and BA from the Hagan School of Business, Iona College.
Andrée-Lise methot, Founder and Managing partner
Andrée-Lise, founder and Managing Partner at Cycle Capital Management, has 20 years of experience in venture capital, management and engineering. She has set up an investment platform specialized in cleantechs totaling more than 230 million dollars and which brings together industrial, institutional and strategic investors. Through her carreer, she developed a network of top-notch partnerships, from businesses, industrials and environmental backgrounds. In addition to serving on portfolio companies’ boards of directors, she is Ecotech Québec’s co-founder and Honorary Chairperson, sits on SWITCH, the Alliance for a Green Economy in Québec, Société québécoise des infrastructures, Fonds Capital Culture Québec and Natural Gas Technologies Centre (NGTC)’s Boards’ of Directors. She is also a member of the External Advisory Committee to the Vice-Principal Research and International Relations (VPRIR) at McGill University. She co-chaired a Task Force under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). She has chaired and has been a member of many panels of judges, in particular the Grand Prix du génie-conseil québécois, the Canadian Consulting Engineers Awards (ACEC) and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2011, Andrée-Lise was recognized as one of Canada’s Clean16 and was named La Presse/Radio-Canada Personality of the week, while in 2013 Andrée-Lise was named one of the Top 20 cleantech investors by CleanTechnica and amongst the most influential women in sustainable development and in the cleantech industry by Corporate Knight. She has a Master’s degree in Science from the Université de Montréal and a Bachelor’s degree in Geological Engineering from Université Laval. She also studied atmospheric physics at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Nancy Pfund, Managing Partner
Nancy E. Pfund is Founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners, a venture capital firm whose goal is to combine top-tier financial returns with meaningful social, environmental and economic returns in the regions and sectors in which it invests. Nancy is also the Founder of DBL Investors. As a leading player in the growing field of “impact investing”, DBL has helped to reveal the power of venture capital to promote social change and environmental improvement, and Ms. Pfund writes and speaks frequently on this topic. Ms. Pfund currently sponsors or sits on the board of directors of several companies, including; SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY) on both the audit and compensation committees and chair of the governance committee, BrightSource Energy, Primus Power, Eco.logic Brands, Farmers Business Network, The Muse and Powergenix, and, prior to their public offerings, Tesla Motors and Pandora Media. Prior to founding DBL Investors, Ms. Pfund was a Managing Director in Venture Capital at JPMorgan, having started her investment career at Hambrecht & Quist in 1984. Previously, Ms. Pfund worked at Intel Corporation, the State of California, Stanford University and the Sierra Club. Ms. Pfund was featured #17 in the FORTUNE World’s Top 25 Eco-Innovators and is: Chair of the Advisory Council of the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University; a member of the Advisory Board of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; a member of the Advisory Board of the UC Davis Center for Energy Efficiency; a past Lecturer in Management at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business; a past Lecturer in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management; a C3E Ambassador to the U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment Program, led by the U.S. Department of Energy; and is a founding officer and director of ABC2, a foundation aimed at accelerating a cure for brain cancer. In 1988, President Bush appointed Ms. Pfund as a charter member of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology. In 1999, Ms. Pfund was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the Congressional Web-Based Education Commission. Ms. Pfund is the author, along with Benjamin Healey of the widely cited report on the history of U.S. energy subsidies entitled, “What Would Jefferson Do? The Historical Role of Federal Subsidies in Shaping America’s Energy Future”, co-authored with Michael Lazar, “Red, White & Green: The True Colors of America’s Clean Tech Jobs”, co-authored with Noah Walker, “Ask Saint Onofrio: Finding What Has Been Lost in A Tale of Two Energy Sources”, and co-authored with Anand Chhabra, “Renewables Are Driving Up Electricity Prices: Wait, What?” Ms. Pfund received her BA and MA in anthropology from Stanford University, and her MBA from the Yale School of Management. Follow Nancy on Twitter @NancyPfundDBL.
Olivier Dupont, Chairman of the Board
Olivier Dupont has twenty-five years of senior management experience in Private Equity. Since 2005, he is the Founder and Chairman of the Management Board of Demeter Partners. Demeter Partners, an AMF-accredited independent asset management company, manages funds investing capital in SMEs in the eco-industries sector (water, waste, polluted sites) and the eco-energies sector (renewable energies, energy efficiency, eco-buildings). The first FCPR Demeter fund manages assets of €105 million invested entirely in 22 companies. The FCPR Demeter 2 fund is managing € 203 million. The latest FCPR Demeter 3 Seed Fund manages €43 million. Demeter Partners has offices in Paris, Madrid and Berlin. Prior to DEMETER Partners, Mr Dupont was Managing Director of Fonds de Promotion pour le Capital-Risque (CDC Entreprises) from 2001 to 2005, Head of Private Equity at Société Générale from 1997 to 2000, Director of Financial Engineering and Investment at Crédit du Nord from 1995 to 1997, CEO of BTP Capital, a Fund dedicated to the environment from 1991 to 1995, and CEO of SNVB Participations (Groupe CIC) (1987-1990). Olivier Dupont‘s industry experience includes being an Export manager at SOFRETU and SCHNEIDER Group (1974-1987). He is an Ingénieur civil des Ponts et Chaussées (Paris 1973), and holds a DES Sciences Economiques (Paris I Sorbonne 1974). Former Chairman of the AFIC Compliance Committee and the AFIC training committee, and former member of the EVCA‘s Investor Relation Committee, as well as Foreign Trade Advisor, Olivier Dupont is the author of «Les PME et le marché de l‘environnement» (“SME’s and Environmental Market” (1995) and «Ajustement de prix et capital investissement» (“Price adjustment and private equity”)(2002). In 2011, Olivier Dupont was made Knight of the French Legion of Honour.
Steve hahn, senior research scientist
Steve Hahn is a Senior Research Scientist in Dow’s Ventures and Business Development group. Steve joined Dow in 1982 in Central Research in Midland, Michigan and has worked in a variety of business and corporate research function in Midland and in Freeport, Texas prior to being named to his current position in 2007. As Senior Scientist, Steve leads Dow’s effort to identify emerging, strategically aligned chemical and material business opportunities.
Rodrigo Navarro, New Business Creation Manager
Rodrigo is responsible for scouting, assessing, prioritizing and driving the execution of selected business opportunities that are of high strategic interest for DSM yet in general new to the company. Positioned within the entrepreneurial DSM Innovation Center Incubator group, he acts as an advisor, shaper and champion of initiatives (mainly by means of Venture investments, partnerships, Business Development and R&D) which are related to emerging fields of Renewable Energy (including Solar, Energy Storage,..) and Electronics new materials. Rodrigo serves as a cross functional pin within DSM, connecting New Markets and Technologies to related internal R&D technology groups, Emerging and Running Business units, Corporate Strategy and Venturing teams. Before joining DSM, Rodrigo has also worked in other Top Dutch Innovation centers of Excellence: Philips and NXP Semiconductors. In both companies he was exposed to and has worked with a broad variety of high-tech and emerging areas (including NFC – Near Field Communication) in the fields of Consumer Electronics and Computer Systems that nicely complement his current Material Science focus. Rodrigo has an Electrical Engineering 5-year degree from State University of Campinas (Brazil), a Masters in Electronics Engineering from Politecnico di Torino (Italy), a Masters in Embedded Systems Design (Lugano Switzerland) and recently completed the post-graduate Diploma in Financial Strategy at Saïd Business School – Oxford University (UK). He is Brazilian, has lived in Italy, Switzerland, Austria and has been in the Netherlands for the past seven years. He is fluent in Portuguese, English and Italian.
Konrad Augustin, Head of E.ON SCI US
Konrad Augustin heads the US activities of the Strategic Co-Investment (SCI) Group of E.ON, one of the largest utility companies in Europe. SCI searches for and invests in innovative start-up companies with technologies and services that can be deployed across E.ON globally. SCI focuses on technologies that benefit customer engagement across the distributed energy generation, storage, smart grid and renewable energy sectors. Konrad led Investments into a number of companies, incl. AutoGrid, Greensmith, Enervee or Thermondo and sits on a number of boards. Before joining E.ON, Konrad worked at BASF Venture Capital and at strategic marketing and corporate audit of BASF Group, with projects in Australia, Japan, Singapore and various European countries. Mr. Augustin studied Business Administration in Regensburg and Connecticut, USA, and holds a Diploma and an MBA.
Dr. Paul-Josef Patt, Managing Partner & CEO
Dr. Paul-Josef Patt, PhD serves as the Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer of eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners AG. He co-founded the eCAPITAL entrepreneurial Partners AG. He is a Strategic Advisor/Project Manager at Roland Berger and Partner, Munich; Head of strategic corporate development / chief representative and authorized signatory at Kaufhof Holding AG. He is a Sole Managing Director of MBI Ernstings family, Coesfeld. Dr. Patt is a Fund Manager of Gründerfonds Bielefeld-Ostwestfalen GmbH & Co. KG. He was also responsible for a management buy-in a medium sized company with a successful exit. He is a member of the advisory board of NRW.BANK, Chairman of the executive board of Universitätsgesellschaft Münster e.V. He serves as a Member of the Supervisory Board at Novaled AG. He serves as a Board Member at Open-Xchange AG, Dresden; NRW.Bank, Düsseldorf; Feri Private Equity Dachfonds, and Bad Homburg. He serves as Member of Supervisory Board at Jedox AG. Dr. Patt holds experience as a Management Consultant, Corporate Manager, and an entrepreneur. Dr. Patt holds a Dipl. Kfm. He holds a Doctorate in economic and political sciences from University of Tübingen, Paris.
Chris Morrison, Assistant Vice President, Technology Scout Team
Chris Morrison, from Nalco/Ecolab is a 30+ year global veteran of the water treatment industry, most recently in Geneva, Switzerland and now living near SF, California. Nalco is now a division of Ecolab, a $12 Billion/year firm and is seen as the industry leader in Water treatment. Chris has had a variety of executive assignments in leadership (Division Vice President, Water group; Asia Pacific General Manager and technical/commercial roles), mostly focused on industrial water treatment involving: refrigeration/towers, steam/boilers, reverse osmosis, and waste plant/MBR operations. He and his teams have provided green technical solutions to a variety of industries (including: steel, pulp and paper, refining, commercial buildings, microelectronics and various food/Beverage manufacturers) to reduce water footprint, re-use and recycle strategies. Chris has led these assignments starting in the 80’s from San Francisco and in the 90’s, living and leading teams for Nalco in Sydney, Australia and Jakarta, Indonesia. Chris is a previously an elected public official and director/Chairman of the Marin Municipal Water District, serving water for over 200,000 people just north of San Francisco. While serving as Chairman, the water district went through one of the longest droughts in the history of the district, forcing drastic (25 %+) water reductions on the consumers and scrambling for alternative sources of drinking and irrigation water. He was also a California Governor appointee of the Regional Water Control Board for San Francisco. Chris is recognized leader and mentor, speaker and judge for three global water projects trying to recognize and bolster support the best new ‘water-related companies in the industry (theartemisproject.com, www.Cleantech.com and imagineh2o.org). Chris graduated with a degree in Biology from UC San Diego (La Jolla, CA, USA) and extension courses in business/engineering at University of Sydney and Northwestern.
Ilian Iliev, CEO
Ilian is CEO and founder of EcoMachines Ventures. Prior to EcoMachines Ventures, Ilian founded and was CEO of CambridgeIP Ltd, a leading technology and IP strategy company. In that role, he led multiple technology and IP strategy engagements with corporate, SME and investor clients around the world in a range of sectors including energy, healthcare and telecoms. Before CambridgeIP, Ilian co-founded and ran a family business in the electrical industry in Southern Africa, focused on medium and high-voltage infrastructure. Since 2001, Ilian has provided strategic advice to blue chip companies, high-growth technology companies and investors. Ilian’s research on the technology trends in energy and other sectors, and on innovation policy more broadly has been covered by major business media, including Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg, The Engineer and Renewable Energy Focus. He has worked with the likes of WIPO, IRENA, UNFCC and national governments on innovation finance and innovation policy, and is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs). He is a regular speaker and has published widely in both academic and business media on the topics of innovation finance, science-industry technology transfer, service sector innovation and technology policy. Ilian has a Master’s in Economics from Wits University (South Africa), and a PhD in innovation finance in emerging economies from the Judge Business School, Cambridge University.
Valery Prunier, Director, Innovation North America
Luis Manuel, Executive Director
Executive Director of EDP Inovação since 2008, directly responsible for the Venture Capital fund of EDP Group (EDP Ventures). Board member of EDP Inovação, EDP Ventures, EDP Mop, Sgorme, Arquiled, EIDT, Feedzai, Windplus and Principle Power. Previously he worked two years at Explorer Investments (Portuguese private equity fund manager) and six years at Galp Energia working in Strategy and Business Portfolio department. He also worked previously in Espírito Santo Investment in the Project Finance and Corporate Finance Advisory divisions in Portugal and Brazil. Member of the Cabinet of the Ministry of Economy during the XVI Portuguese Constitutional Government, where he assisted the Undersecretary for Economic Development. Luís has a degree in Economics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
José Eduardo Claro Glorigiano, Growth / Innovation Senior Manager
Jose Glorigiano is a business executive with more than 15 years experience in Marketing, Strategic Planning and Business Development. Today he runs the Corporate Venture and Innovation department at Embraco. His goals are twofold: Turn Embraco into one of the major companies at the Startup Ecosystem and accelerate companies with Smart Money. Major areas of expertise are Energy Management, Food Preservation, Recycling, IOT and Refrigeration. He holds a Business degree from Fundação Getulio Vargas and MBA from Indiana University.
Gina Domanig, Managing Partner
Gina Domanig is the Managing Partner of Emerald Technology Ventures, a globally recognized investor in the areas of energy, water, materials and industrial IT, having invested in more than fifty companies to date. In 2000, she founded Emerald as the first independent Cleantech venture capital firm in Europe. Gina currently serves on the boards of GeoDigital International, Pelamis, SDC Materials and TaKaDu. Previously, she also represented Emerald as a director at Agraquest (acquired by Bayer CropScience in 2012) and inge watertechnologies (acquired by BASF in 2011). Gina has over 25 years of international business experience including banking, M&A, strategic development, and venture capital. Prior to starting Emerald, she was senior vice president at Sulzer, a Swiss multinational, responsible for strategic planning and M&A. During her ten year tenure, she built up a team which completed 45 transactions including acquisitions, divestitures, IPOs and JVs in industrial technology sectors. Gina holds MBA degrees from Thunderbird in Arizona and ESADE in Barcelona.
Riccardo Amoroso, Head of Innovation and Sustainability
Riccardo Amoroso, born in Milan in 1973, holds a master degree cum Laude in Mechanical Engineering from Rome University in Italy and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA (USA). After an experience embarked as an officer in the Italian Navy, Riccardo in year 2000 has joined McKinsey, a leading consultancy, where he has focused in the energy industry (with a second focus on airlines, driven by his passion for flying). During his eight years in McKinsey, Riccardo has served several clients in Europe ranging from fully liberalized markets (UK) to liberalizing markets (Eastern Europe) and focusing on all steps of the energy value chain, from generation to transmission, distribution and retail. In 2008 Riccardo has joined Enel Green Power, taking a leadership role in the solar business managing the Solar Joint Ventures Department. In particular he has led Enel Green Power development effort to set-up two joint ventures: the factory 3Sun (with Sharp and STMicroelectronics) and the off-taker ESSE (with Sharp). Riccardo has then taken the leadership role in the second JV (CEO of ESSE), successfully managing the investment of ca. 100 mn Eur in IPP solar business in Italy, Greece and South Africa. In 2013 Riccardo has led Enel Green Power efforts in opening the South Africa market, with the successful award in competitive tenders of more than 500MW of solar and wind generation capacity, which now makes Enel Green Power the leading renewable player in the fast-growing African continent. In 2014 has driven the opening of new markets in the Asia-Pacific region. Since January 2015, Riccardo is the Head of Innovation and Sustainability function for Enel Green Power.
Wally Hunter, Managing Director
Wally has been investing in energy and clean energy companies and projects for 11 years. Wally runs EnerTech’s Canadian operations from Toronto. His specific areas of interest and responsibility include opportunities in alternative fuels and storage, power quality and conversion, power electronics, advanced materials, motor controls, automation and sensors. Prior to EnerTech, Wally was with Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”), where he was a Managing Director of the bank’s private equity fund and responsible for the Energy Technology and Advanced Technology Fund. Prior to that he was in RBC’s investment banking division. In addition, Wally produced and hosted the weekly financial television show “Money Week” which featured over 200 guest interviews from Canadian and U.S. money managers over a 14 year period. Wally currently sits on the boards of Filterboxx and Enbala Power Networks and managed our investment in Catch the Wind. He is currently the Energy Technology Chair for the Banff Venture Forum. Wally received a BA from the University of Western Ontario and has completed a number of securities-related courses and programs including the Canadian Securities Institute (CSC program) and Canadian Investment Finance (CIF I, II &III).
Hendrik Van Asbroeck, Director
As Director Corporate Venture Capital, Hendrik Van Asbroeck is responsible at GDF Suez’s group level to manage the corporate fund for participations in innovative companies and funds.He started working at Electrabel, GDF Suez as Account manager and soon moved to Key Account Manager, focusing on the automotive and chemical industry. In 2007 he took over the responsibility of the Renewables department. In this position he created multiple joint ventures to stimulate Electrabel’s green energy development. In 2011 he was promoted to Head of Sales Electrabel, where he had to turn around the organisation to make it more efficient. When he left the job in 2014 the efficiency had improved by 30% and the sales results were again positive. Before joining Electrabel Hendrik was Account Manager and Financial Analyst at Air Products Belgium. Hendrik Van Asbroeck holds a Master degree in Commercial Engineering from the K.U. Leuven University. He holds additional diplomas from the Vlerick Management School, the European Energy Institute and Insead-Cedep.
Klaas de Boer, managing partner
Klaas de Boer is Managing Partner of Entrepreneurs Fund. He started his career with McKinsey & Company in Amsterdam in 1991. In 1997 he transitioned into venture capital by joining a client (Vanenburg Group), for which he set up and led a corporate venturing activity. All-in-all he has spent nearly 20 years in venture capital. Entrepreneurs Fund is the venture capital fund of one of Europe’s oldest family businesses and invests in a broad range of sectors, predominantly in Europe. Klaas joined Entrepreneurs Fund in 2006, restructured it in 2007, and became its managing partner in 2008. In the Cleantech space he serves on the boards of General Fusion inc., Heliocentris Energy Solutions AG, and The New Motion BV, and was in involved with inge watertechnologies AG (acquired by BASF in 2011). Klaas holds an MSc in Applied Physics from Delft University of Technology, and and MBA from INSEAD.
Fabrice Bienfait, Principal
Fabrice is a Principal at the Environmental Technologies Fund investing in high growth technology companies across Europe. Fabrice has been leading a number of investments, notably at the convergence of information technology and sustainable development, and he represents the firm on the board of portfolio companies. Fabrice worked previously at Goldman Sachs’ M&A advisory group where his work covered both public and private transactions, including the renewable energy and environmental services sectors. Fabrice also worked as a strategy consultant at Simat Helliesen & Eichner (SH&E), focusing on the transportation and aerospace sectors across Europe and Asia. Fabrice is a French national and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an MSc in Aerospace Engineering from l’Institut Supérieur de l’Aéronautique et de l’Espace (ISAE).
Dr Lutz Stoeber, Investment Director
Dr. Lutz Stoeber is an Investment Director of Evonik Venture Capital which is the corporate venture unit of Evonik Industries AG. Dr. Stoeber is based in Parsippany, New Jersey and represents Evonik Venture Capital in North America. Dr. Stoeber has been involved in investments in chemical, advanced materials and industrial companies for more than 15 years. Dr. Stoeber helped to establish Pardus Capital in 2005 and ran their German office. Dr. Stoeber holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and is an inventor of technology relating to advanced materials.
Dirk De Boever, Head of investments
Dirk started his professional career in within the flat carbon steel division of the Arbed Group (now ArcelorMittal). During this period he was strongly involved in strategic marketing, investment and feasibility studies, business planning and support of group management in M&A transactions. He also served as quality auditor. In 2002, Dirk joined tKMC, a marketing and business intelligence boutique as managing partner, serving blue chip companies in telecom, energy, fmcg and industry. Dirk accepted an assignment in 2006 to support OCAS, a metal research center and JV between the Flemish region and ArcelorMittal, with its first spin-off company. Two years later he was asked to join OCAS Ventures as managing partner to build and manage a portfolio of innovative material related companies for Finindus, the investment company linked to OCAS. Since July 2013 Dirk is appointed Head of Investments of Finindus. Dirk serves at the Board of Directors of Borit, Calyos and Powercell. Dirk De Boever holds a M.Sc. in Applied Economics, a degree in international B2B marketing and an Executive MBA (Vlerick Business School).
Ignacio Martinez, Partner
Ignacio Martinez joined Flagship Ventures in 2013 and focuses on sustainability And life sciences investments with a special interest in the agricultural sector. Ignacio holds a BS in Economics and Business Administration from Deusto University in Spain, and an International MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Spain and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany. Prior to joining Flagship, Ignacio was the Managing Director of Syngenta Ventures, where he was directly involved in investments in the agribusiness, biotechnology and cleantech industries in Europe, North America and Latin America. Syngenta Ventures is the venture capital arm of Syngenta International AG, the world’s largest agrochemical business with more than $13 billion in revenue. Ignacio has international board experience having served as Director in companies from seven different countries. He was also involved in corporate venture capital activities managing the relationship as limited partner with Life Science Partners BioVentures, a $100 million Agribusiness fund and the Gilde European Food and Agribusiness, a €90 million fund. Prior to Syngenta, Ignacio was the Chief Financial Officer of Progenika Group, where he was responsible for financial systems controls, transactions and processes (GAAP/IFRS) reporting to the investors. He also oversaw spinoffs and M&A activity, participated in raising more than $50 million in funding and actively participated in the expansion of the company to the US and Latin American markets. Before Progenika, Ignacio spent several years working for Najeti Ventures Fund investing in IT and biotech companies in Europe.
Chris Thomas, Founder and Partner
Chris is a Founder and Partner of Fontinalis, where he is responsible for a wide range of critical processes ranging from deal sourcing and execution to corporate operations and business strategy. Chris also acts as a business development executive on behalf of Fontinalis’ portfolio companies. Prior to Fontinalis, Chris worked at Ford Motor Company in Sustainable Business Development and Treasury, where he conducted financial and strategic analysis. Previously, Chris served in the U.S. Army as a Communications Officer in Iraq where he was responsible for data communication systems and organizational change management. Before joining the military, Chris worked as an Investment Banker at UBS in San Francisco and New York within its Technology and Energy groups. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of one of Fontinalis’ portfolio companies, LocoMobi, and is the Chairman of Read to a Child, a national children’s literacy and mentoring nonprofit that inspires adults to read aloud to children regularly, increasing their chances to lead healthy, productive lives. Additionally, he serves as a Board Observer of four of Fontinalis’ portfolio companies: Life360, ParkMe, SmartKargo, and SQLstream. He is also a member of the Global Cleantech 100 expert panel and a former member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Personal Transportation Systems. Chris earned his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Yale School of Management with a concentration in strategy. While at Yale, he served on the Honor Committee and graduated with distinction in former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s seminar on Faith and Globalization. Chris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Economics and International Relations from Michigan State University. Chris is a staunch advocate of urban redevelopment and the revitalization of the City of Detroit.
Andrew Lackner, SENIOR DIRECTOR, iNVESTMENTS, GE VENTURES
Andrew Lackner is a member of the venture capital group at GE Energy Financial Services, investing in emerging energy and water-related technology companies. With over $19 billion in assets, GE Energy Financial Services invests more than $5 billion annually in two of the world’s most capital-intensive industries, energy and water. As a member of the venture capital team, Mr. Lackner evaluates prospective equity investments in companies developing game-changing technologies and services throughout the energy and water value chain, from natural resources to clean technology. The venture capital team is one of the most active investors in the energy technology markets, with presence in San Francisco, Munich, Boston and Stamford, CT. Prior to joining GE Energy Financial Services, Mr. Lackner was an associate at Columbia Capital, a venture capital firm in Washington, DC, specializing in the communications, media, and information technology industries. He also served as an associate consultant at Fletcher Spaght, a strategy consulting and venture capital firm in Boston, a product manager for MicroStrategy, a business intelligence software company in Washington, DC, and as a process engineer for MacLean-Fogg. Mr. Lackner received an A.B. in Engineering Sciences in 1997, a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering in 1998, and an M.E.M. in 1999 from Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.
Colin Le Duc, Partner
Colin is a founding partner of Generation Investment Management and the Co-CIO of Generation’s growth equity Climate Solutions Funds. Prior to co-founding Generation in 2004, Colin was a Director at Zurich-based Sustainable Asset Management. He has also worked for the Energy Practice at Arthur D. Little in London, and Total as a natural gas analyst based in Paris. Colin holds a BSc in International Management and Modern languages from University of Bath, UK. Colin is on various Generation portfolio company boards. He also serves on the Board of San Francisco-based not-for-profit Business for Social Responsibility.
Nicholas Atkins, Partner
Nicholas Atkins has over 20 years of corporate finance and private equity experience. He has advised on a range of M&A and corporate finance transactions across various industry groups, including the technology sector, and now heads up Georgieff Capital’s clean technology advisory practice. He has also successfully led a number of private equity transactions both as an advisor and principal. Mr. Atkins has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. He has dual British and US citizenship. Mr. Atkins is External Partner of Intelligent Venture Capital, Board Observer at Tiger Optics LLC and a member of the European Advisory Board of the Cleantech Group LLC.
Sherwin Prior, Managing Director
Sherwin Prior was named Managing Director, General Motors Ventures LLC effective September 1, 2010. Prior to this appointment, he worked on the micro-cap to mid-cap growth platform for NorthPointe Capital, LLC in Troy, Michigan since June 2005. Sherwin worked for Morgan Stanley Investment Management in New York as a Senior Associate from 2002 to 2004, where he was responsible for investments in the industrials and consumer discretionary sectors of the economy. His experience also includes General Motors Retail Holdings, where he was a Financial Acquisitions Analyst responsible for the valuation of dealerships; JP Morgan Chase (formerly Bank One), where he was a Commercial Credit Analyst in the Asset-Based Lending Group; and Stout Risius Ross Valuation Consultants in Farmington Hills, where he was responsible for appraising middle-market companies and real estate. Sherwin is a native of Detroit and veteran of the U.S. Army. He received a bachelor of business administration degree in finance from Eastern Michigan University in April 1998. In 2002, he earned a master of business administration with a concentration in accounting and international finance from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business.
Eric Wang, Partner
An experienced fund manager in China, Taiwan and Silicon Valley with strong track record and over 16 years of experience in private equity and venture investment, investment banking, equity research and technology marketing
- Partner, Grand River Capital, a Greater China based PE and VC fund (2009 – present)
- Managing Director, WK Technology Fund, one of the largest Taiwanese PE and VC funds with US$500mn under management; during his 7 year tenure (2002 – 2009), he led his team making investments in the high-tech sectors in Silicon Valley in the U.S., Taiwan and China; and in particular, while based in Silicon Valley (2004 – 2008), he was responsible for WK Technology Fund’s U.S. operations and had successfully cultivated start-up companies from early stage and brought them to IPO or acquisition by public companies including Aruba Networks (ARUN) and Brion Technologies (now ASML)
- Prior to joining WK in 2002, Dr. Wang was the Global Head of Semiconductor Research at ABN AMRO Bank; and during that time, he and his team were highly ranked by institutional investor surveys including Reuters, Institutional Investors, Asia Money and Asset
- Earlier in 1994-1997, while a Ph.D. student at Stanford University, he worked as a yield management engineer for KLA-Tencor (KLAC) and was responsible for providing services to semiconductor giants such as Intel, TI, Samsung and TSMC
- Ph.D. and M.S. in Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations from Stanford University, M.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan
Jamie James, Chief Innovation Officer
For the past decade, Jamie has been the lead sustainability advisor to Tridel, Toronto’s leading condominium developer, and has contributed to the company’s transition to become a green building leader with over 12 million square feet in development or under construction in LEED projects. For six years, Jamie was a Partner in the Windmill Development Group, when they successfully developed LEED- Platinum certified mixed-used buildings in Calgary, Ottawa and at Dockside Green in Victoria. Jamie also manages 350 Capital, a small venture fund that invests in green building technologies, and he has served on the board of cleantech start-ups and the Canada Green Building Council (2008-2011). In 2011, working with the cleantech practice at the MaRS Discovery District and Tridel, Jamie founded Tower Labs @MaRS, a non-profit green building technology accelerator, to manage pilot and demonstration projects of new approaches to improve the environmental performance of large buildings in Toronto
Thorbjorn Machholm, Group Director, Business Development, Emerging Water Technologies
Thorbjørn Machholm works with new business creation, corporate venture activity, investments, company start up and strategy work in the Grundfos group. He is responsible for business development and product/project development within the Emerging Water Technologies segment (portfolio companies and technologies) including leading initiatives and people around this. A role combining leadership, board positions and assessments of new business opportunities. In parallel, external affairs role with regards to the international investment and innovation community, both the corporate venture and the private venture capital/equity community. Board of Director positions in portfolio companies. Thorbjorn has an extensive international experience with cross-functional/cross-cultural management, sales development, strategic planning and business controlling responsibilities. He is a Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni, holds a M.Sc. (DEA) in Management of Technology and Innovation from Dauphine Université Paris, and a M.Sc. in Business Administration and Strategy (1992) from CBS.
Tao Xie, Disruptive Technology Director
Catherine Jhung, Vice President, Technology and Energy Technology Groups
Catherine Jhung is a vice president in the Technology and Energy Technology Groups at Hercules. Before joining Hercules, Jhung spent over 10 years in senior operational roles within startup companies, including sales, business development, research and product management. At Cleantech Group, Jhung ran the company’s data business, where she lead the product, engineering, research and sales teams. Prior to Cleantech Group, Jhung was the Director of Sales at edo Interactive, a firm developing digital marketing technologies leveraging pre-existing global, point of sale payments infrastructures along with modern social networking communities. Prior to edo Interactive, Jhung spent over five years on the executive team at Equilar, the leading research firm for benchmarking executive and board compensation. There, she built and managed the business development and client services divisions from the ground up, growing the business to over 600 clients. Jhung received an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, a bachelor’s in Agricultural Economics and a minor in Computer Information Systems from UC Davis.
Robert Liu, CEO
Amit Shilony, Technical Manager
Amit Shilony is business development manager at Hutchison Kinrot. He is responsible for new investment opportunities as well as strengthening Hutchison Kinrot’s strategic partnerships. In addition, Amit provides business and technological support to Hutchison Kinrot’s portfolio companies, and serving as an active management member in several of them. Amit holds a B.Sc.Agr degree specializing in Soil and Water Science from the Hebrew University.
Diego Diaz Pilas, head of new ventures
Diego is responsible for the management of Iberdrola´s 70 M€ venture capital program – Iberdrola Ventures – PERSEO, aimed at investing in clean energy start-ups. He joined Iberdrola in 2008 and since then he has contributed to the launch and management of the company´s venture program, engaging its activity with the corporate innovation strategy. Leading a team of investment professionals, he is responsible for the management of the program and the full life cycle of the investments, serving as a director in the board of key portfolio companies. After graduating, he developed his career in several roles related to engineering, technology development, innovation and entrepreneurship both in the Telco (Telefonica R&D and Eircom) and Energy sectors. He holds an M.Sc in Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and an executive degree in Venture Capital from the Walter A. Haas School of Business in the University of California at Berkeley. Follow diego on Twitter @ddiazpilas
Peter Williams, CTO, Big Green Innovations
Holding the title of IBM Distinguished Engineer, Peter Williams is currently the chief technology officer for IBM’s Big Green Innovations incubator, and has more than 20 years of management consulting experience. His focus areas include photovoltaic technologies, developing greenhouse gas reduction solutions and, especially, services and water management solutions that cover entire water resources, utility infrastructures and enterprise water management. He was also heavily involved in creating the intellectual foundation for IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative. In 1986, Willams received his PhD from the School of Management at the University of Bath, England. He was born in the UK and moved to California in 1999, where he currently lives with his wife and three children.
Nicolas Chaudron, Partner
Nicolas Chaudron joined Idinvest Partners, formerly AGF Private Equity and an affiliate of Allianz, in 2001. Since 2006 he has been focusing on the cleantech sector and he led Idinvest Partners’ investments in several companies including Nenuphar (vertical axis wind turbine manufacturer; France), Prudent Energy (redox flow batteries; China), or Seatower (gravity-based foundations for offshore wind; Norway), Forsee Power (energy storage), Sunfire (High-temperature fuel cells and electrolyzers), Leosphere (instruments for wind measurement and aerosol characterization), and Techniwood (building materials). He is a member of the European Advisory Board of the Cleantech Group and a founder of the Club Cleantech AFIC (French Private Equity Association), a platform to foster the entire cleantech ecosystem in France. Prior to that, Nicolas Chaudron worked mainly in the sectors of information technology and semiconductors, and he led Idinvest Partners’ investments in Soamai (sold to ASG), Alchimer, Median Technologies (IPO), and Telemarket (sold to Système U). Between 2001 and 2005, he was also a board member of several start-ups, including Siriatech and Vizelia, two start-ups pioneering cleantech in France. Before joining Idinvest Partners, Nicolas Chaudron started his career in venture capital at Europatweb, the Internet investment company founded by Bernard Arnault. In addition to his involvement in the operational launch of Europatweb, he participated in various investments and led the one in Webhelp (LBO exit in 2007). Nicolas Chaudron is an alumnus of the Ecole normale supérieure (Paris, France) and of the Peking University (Beijing, China). He holds an MSc in mathematics from the University of Paris IV, an MBA from the Collège des Ingénieurs, and an MBA from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania), where he was a Palmer Scholar.
Christian Ehrenborg, Managing Director
Christian Ehrenborg joined IKEA Greentech in September 2009. He has 25 years experience in corporate development, IPO’s and M&A’s. Ehrenborg has 15 years experience from the VC business with an international network within VC. He has experience from 4 venture firms and 2 VC fund start-ups. Ehrenborg is part of the Advisory Board in EL-Seed Corp. and Mountain Cleantech Fund and is a board member in Bofood AB and DyeCoo Textile Systems B.V.
Kelsey Lynn Skinner, Director, Technology Ventures
Kelsey Lynn Skinner invests in technology startups led by ambitious, thoughtful people. Kelsey joined Imperial Innovations, a £600m market cap venture capital business, as Director Tech Ventures in 2012 after more than a decade in Silicon Valley. Her primary focus is technology solutions enabled by novel materials, energy technology and smart connected products. Kelsey currently sits on the boards of AQDOT Ltd (novel encapsulation technology from Cambridge) and Econic Technologies (cost-reducing & environmental catalyst technology from Imperial) where she led financings for a combined $17m over the past two years. Previously in California, Kelsey was Partner at Firelake Capital in Palo Alto and also worked at Google and with Stanford University’s Engineering and Business Schools. Kelsey graduated in Mechanical Engineering and with an MBA at Stanford, where she played fullback for the national champion women’s rugby team.
Sean Petersen, Senior Investment Officer Venture Capital
Sean leads IFC’s venture investment program in USA and Latin America/Africa. He has spent more than a decade making direct venture investments as well as limited partner investments. Currently at IFC Sean focuses on direct venture investments with emerging market angles in edtech, consumer internet, health and resource efficiency as well as opportunistic limited partner investments in successful emerging market venture firms. Prior to joining IFC, Sean was a Director at Good Energies Venture Capital in New York where he led numerous venture investments in the cleantech sector. Prior to Good Energies, Sean launched SwapsWire Ltd.,(acquired by MRKT on NASDAQ) and was a founding member of Blackbird, Inc. the world’s first electronic derivative trading platform. Sean began his career at Merrill Lynch in derivative trading & IT. Sean received his MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where he was a Joseph Wharton Fellow. He completed his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Joe McGee, Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Development
Joseph A. McGee was named Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning & Development in January 2010 reporting to the CEO. Prior to this role, Joe was Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Development from Jun 2008 and Senior Vice President, Global Business Units from September 2004. Joe joined Jabil in 1993 as a Business Unit Manager in Scotland and has held several positions, including Director of Business Development, Malaysia, General Manager, California, and Vice President Global Business Units. Prior to joining Jabil, Joe held positions with Sun Microsystems, Philips, University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde. Joe earned a Ph.D. in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde, and hold an MBA from the University of Glasgow. Joe is married with three kids, one daughter (20) and two boys (19 & 16), and his interests include golf, flying, diving and mountain biking.
Kevin Self, Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development
Kevin Self is Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development at Johnson Controls’ $15B Building Efficiency (BE) business. As a member of the senior leadership team, his responsibilities include: Leading global strategy development and the resulting action plan to drive greater growth and continued margin expansion; driving collaboration across BE to assure business portfolio and technology developments align with strategy; developing a portfolio approach to manage BE’s global businesses; leading external/competitive analysis; managing the investment portfolio, including investments in cleantech venture capital firms & individual companies; leading BE’s inorganic growth processes, including acquisitions, integrations and divestitures. Prior to joining Johnson Controls, Kevin led the integration of MillerCoors (the US entity created by SABMiller and Molson Coors) from 2008 to 2010 and from 2007 to 2008 he led corporate strategy for Miller Brewing Company. Kevin was Director of Business Development from 2001to 2007 at GE Healthcare, leading various acquisitions, divestitures and strategy development. He also worked at McKinsey & Co. from 1993 to 1997 and was a Senior Design Engineer at Baxter Healthcare Corporation from 1987 to 1992. Kevin holds an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, a Masters Degree in Bioengineering from The University of Michigan and a Bachelors degree in Engineering Science from The University of Michigan.
Eric Tao, Partner
Dr. Eric Tao is a partner and founding member of Keytone ventures, a leading venture capital firm in China focused in technology investment. His brings over 5 years of startup operations experience and over 8 years of investment experience to the fund. Dr. Tao’s investment areas include consumer services, advanced manufacturing and clean technologies. He has been actively involved in a number of companies including Tenfen Tech, LP Amina, Borqs, Lattice Power, China Eastern Clean Energy, Zhongte Logistics. Past investments he has been involved include Greatwall Software, AMEC, TechFaith (NASDAQ:CNTF), InvenSense (NASDAQ: INVN). Prior to Keytone, Dr. Tao worked as a founding member of KPCB China team since 2007, covering mostly technology and clean tech investments. Prior to KPCB, Dr. Tao was an investment manager at Qualcomm Ventures, covering strategic venture investments globally, including applications/software/content, handset & wireless supply chain, infrastructure and enabling technologies. Dr. Tao was significantly involved in two start-ups before starting his venture capitalist career. He was a co-founder of an e-commerce comparison shopping portal, responsible for fundraising and operations; he also founded a clean energy start-up in the U.S. where he was responsible for fundraising and business development in China. Dr. Tao holds a BS from Tsinghua University, an MS and a PhD from Stanford University, all in engineering. Dr. Tao holds three international patents and two U.S. patents. Eric is a Kauffman Fellow in class 16.
Kai Engelhardt, Head of Corporate Venture Capital
Kai Engelhardt is Head of MAHLE Corporate Strategy and jointly responsible for the venture arm of MAHLE. MAHLE’s CVC investment activities focus on companies offering technologies that reinforce and strengthen the core business as well as open up new opportunities for automotive relevant technologies. Prior to beginning his career with MAHLE, Kai worked for premium OEMs such as BMW and Daimler and is well connected in the automotive industry. In 2008 Kai joined MAHLE as Strategic Analyst for the Corporate Planning Department. During this time he established a worldwide competitor network and developed and implemented several business strategy supporting tools, which still serve as input for the corporate strategy meeting. As Business Development Manager from 2010 to 2012 Kai actively contributed to the strategy of the non-automotive sector of MAHLE and was involved in many M&A projects. Kai studied Mechanical Engineering in Constance and Auckland and earned a Master’s Degree in Engineering. He also holds a Swiss MBA and is fluent in German and English.
Adam Rein, Principal
Adam Rein focuses on investments related to sustainability, efficiency and resilience. In 2010, Adam co-founded Altaeros Energies, a startup launched out of MIT to develop the world’s first commercial high altitude wind turbine. Adam is also a Director at Greentown Labs, Boston’s leading early stage incubator of cleantech startups. Previously Adam worked as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company. Adam has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BA from Yale University.
Kevin Kuhn, General Manager
Mr. Kuhn is currently General Manager of the Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) Silicon Valley Office. In this capacity he leads a team that is focused on bringing new technologies and business models into Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) and its’ affiliates. He has 26 years of experience with Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) and Mitsubishi International Corporation. Since 2005, Mr. Kuhn’s work has focused on the evaluation and early execution of investment and business opportunities for Mitsubishi International Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).
Dr. Martin Kröner, Managing Partner
Dr. Martin Kröner is Managing Partner at Munich Venture Partners, the cleantech venture capital specialist based in Munich. He was co-founder and CEO of agnion Energy Inc., a supplier of distributed energy plants to convert woody biomass into electrical power and natural gas. Prior to agnion, Martin worked at Linde Engineering, world¹s leading supplier of technical gases and one of the most profitable engineering companies. Prior to Linde, Martin built up Thermotec Engineering Services, a spin off from the Technical University of Munich. He holds a M.Sc. in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in combustion engineering from the Technical University in Munich. Martin represents MVP in the Boards of COBI, Kebony, Luxexcel, GreenCom Networks, and Electrochaea.
Ravi Viswanathan, Partner
Ravi joined NEA in 2004 and co-heads the firm¹s Technology Venture Growth Equity investment practice. Ravi¹s investments in the software and technology sectors include Acquia, Bloomreach, Boku, Captora, Desire2Learn, Mulesoft and Stitcher. Ravi¹s investments in other sectors include Availink, Boulder Wind Power, Goji, Imergy Power, PURE Energies, and Suniva. Prior investments include Arcot (acquired by CA), Braintree (acquired by eBay), GlobalLogic (acquired by Apax Partners), IM Logic (acquired by Symantec), Sanera (acquired by McData), Tele Atlas (Euronext: TA, acquired by TomTom), and ViXs (TXS: VXS). Prior to NEA, Ravi worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. as co-head of the technology practice in their private equity group. Ravi has also worked for McKinsey & Company and Raychem Corporation focusing on R&D in various materials systems. Ravi received an MBA from Wharton and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCSB where he focused his search on materials science applications. Ravi also earned a BS in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently serves on the Wharton Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.
Sasha brown, Principal
Sasha Novograd Brown is a Principal at NewWorld Capital Group, LLC, where she has co-lead the origination, diligence, investment, portfolio management, board activities, and fundraising for growth-oriented companies in the broadly defined environmental opportunities sector. Her most recent deals include PosiGen Solar Solutions, SolarEdge Technologies, LLC, which had a successful IPO, and Astrum Solar, Inc, which was sold to Direct Energy. She currently serves on the board of PosiGen Solar Solutions. Drawing on her industry background, in her role at NewWorld, Ms. Brown has developed specialized expertise in residential solar, the built environment, HVAC, and environmental consulting and engineering. Before joining NewWorld, she worked in J.P. Morgan’s Natural Resources Group, and prior to that Environmental Capital Partners, a private equity firm investing in middle market companies in the environmental industry. Prior to Environmental Capital Partners, Mrs. Brown worked at Atelier Ten, an environmental design firm providing consulting services to the building industry, where she focused on building energy models to optimize the energy cost and consumption patterns of buildings. She also worked on general environmental design consulting, including systems performance analysis, benchmarking, and strategic sustainability planning. Mrs. Brown received a BS in Environmental Engineering from Yale University and holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Keith Gillard, General Partner
Mr. Gillard is General Partner at Pangaea Ventures Ltd., an industry leader in early stage advanced materials investment. He joined Pangaea in 2010. Mr. Gillard has over twenty years’ experience as an investor and entrepreneur, with the past twelve years focused on cleantech and advanced materials. From 2006-2010, Mr. Gillard served as President of BASF Venture Capital America. He was responsible for the establishment of the Silicon Valley office and expansion of the team. Mr. Gillard led investments into SDCmaterials Inc., Luca Technologies LLC, Ultracell Corporation, Arcadia Biosciences, Inc., Sciona, Inc., and ARCH Ventures VII, among others. From 2001-2006, Mr. Gillard was with Mitsubishi Corporation and responsible for venture investment and business development activities in Canada, with a specific focus on cleantech. He was instrumental in establishing Japanese markets and partners for several Canadian and American cleantech companies, with a special focus on fuel cells, solar and smart grid applications. Prior to joining Mitsubishi, Mr. Gillard began his career in investment banking, structuring mergers and acquisitions as well as manufacturing technology joint ventures into China. In the late ’90′s, he spent five years as an full-time entrepreneur, establishing three IT companies in succession. Mr. Gillard sits on the board of directors of Vestaron Corporation, NewLeaf Symbiotics Inc., and Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre. He is also the co-author of “Inside the Minds: Energy Venture Capital Best Practices”, published in 2008 by Aspatore Books. Outside of work, he is a highenergy father of two, an avid cyclist and a Canadian Independent Music Award winner.
gabriel kra, managing director
Gabriel Kra founded Prelude Ventures’ cleantech platform in 2009, after more than 15 years of experience developing companies, both as an entrepreneur and investor. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s investments across a broad range of new energy innovations. Before joining Prelude Ventures, Gabriel spent four years as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in its solar and semiconductor groups. He also was an early employee at three venture-backed telecommunications and semiconductor start-ups, where he was instrumental raising money, launching products, developing technology and getting acquired. Gabriel’s early experience with Greenpeace and at Yellowstone National Park sparked his lifelong commitment to fighting climate change. Gabriel serves on the Boards of Renew Financial, Sense Labs, PLANT PV and Project Frog, and is actively involved with the firm’s investments in Citrine, Suniva, QuantumScape, and yerdle. Gabriel holds MBAs from the Columbia Business School and the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, an MS in atmospheric chemistry from SUNY Stony Brook and a BA in philosophy from Columbia College. Gabriel enjoys spending time in the mountains and looks forward to the day when he will no longer be able to keep up with his children on skis. He loves spending time with his wife and family, and is thrilled that his passion for the outdoors is matched with a career that will help ensure that his children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy it as much as he has.
Inigo Palacio, Director
Iñigo is Deputy Director of Repsol Emerging Businesses and Portfolio Manager of Repsol Energy Ventures, Repsol’s corporate venture capital aimed at investing in early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies in high technology industries, such as oil&gas, advanced materials, renewable energies, power storage and electric mobility. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors of various international companies active in the fields of floating offshore wind platforms (PRINCIPLE POWER), charging infrastructures for electric vehicle (IBIL), advanced materials (GRAPHENEA), pipe monitoring (ROCSOLE) and geophysics (ROCK SOLID IMAGES), electric scooters (SCUTUM), as well as in two NEOTEC Funds. Iñigo has more than 20 years at Repsol occupying different managing positions mainly in the LPG Division where he was Chairman of the World LPGas Association, WLPGA (2009-2010.). Iñigo holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the Oviedo University, a PDD from IESE Business School and a PIM from Austral University. His fields of experience mainly concern project management, business development and investments.
Keimpe Keuning, Investment Director
Mr. Keuning is responsible for the co-investment activities for RobecoSAM Private Equity and is a member of the Allocation and Advisory Committees. He serves on the advisory board of a number of private equity funds and co-investments. Mr. Keuning joined the team from Robeco where he was a Manager at Corporate Development. He was responsible for strategy and acquisitions, where he played an essential role in the realization of three joint ventures and two acquisitions for Robeco, including the acquisition of RobecoSAM by Robeco. Previously, he worked at Fortis Bank as Associate Director where he advised a broad range of clients on numerous M&A and Equity Capital Markets transactions. He began his working career at Ernst & Young as a tax advisor. Mr. Keuning received his law degree in tax law from the University of Leiden. He also studied US and International tax law at the University of Florida, participated in executive education at INSEAD and is a CAIA-charter holder.
Dhiraj Malkani, Partner
Dhiraj began his career at Bell Labs/Lucent Technologies as a Senior Product Engineer developing next-Generation optical components for Telecommunications. He received several U.S. patents for his inventions in MEMS technology before transitioning from pure engineering to evaluating early-stage photonics and life-science companies for Boston University’s Photonics Center business incubator program. Prior to joining RockPort he was a summer associate in Deutsche Bank’s Technology Investment Banking division. At Rockport, Dhiraj is an active member of the screening and diligence teams and has worked on multiple transactions in solar energy, transportation, advanced materials, energy storage, smart grid, water and wind technologies. Dhiraj is a graduate of the University of Mumbai with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He earned an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Fabien Mondini, senior Investment Manager
Fabien Mondini is Senior Investment Manager and one of the original team members of SABIC Ventures. SABIC Ventures was set up in October 2011 as the global corporate venture capital arm of SABIC, based in the Netherlands. Its primary goal is to seek out innovative technologies and businesses consistent with the company’s global strategy. Its investment focus includes functional materials, alternative feed stocks for chemicals and materials and alternative energy technologies. Fabien has extensive international business experience with cross-functional/cross-cultural management within large multinational corporations. Prior to joining GE Plastics in 2006, acquired by SABIC in 2007, he worked for DuPont de Nemours in Paris and Arkema in Philadelphia. He held a number of various business development, marketing, sales and business management roles. Fabien is an alumni of Babson Executive Education. He holds a Material Engineering degree from INSA Lyon and a MBA from EM school of management in Lyon.
Chris Brown, Partner & Chief Scientist
Chris is a scientist and entrepreneur with diverse business and technical backgrounds. His past experiences have spanned multiple verticals, including electronics, textiles, and telecommunications. His background and experience position him at the crossroads of business and technology. He holds a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a Ph.D. in Physics from North Carolina State University. Chris’ technical background includes a pioneering accomplishment in the field of MEMS cryotribology, the study of surface friction on the micro and nano length scales at cryogenic temperatures. He has worked with colleagues from UC Irvine, UC San Diego, Sandia National Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and Irvine based start-up wiSpry on DARPA and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) funded MEMS initiatives. Chris’ results are part of a larger body of work recognized in 2010 by the National Science Foundation’s American Competitiveness and Innovation (ACI) Fellow Award. Results achieved in this work will lead to effective methods for controlling friction and associated energy losses equivalent to 1-2% of annual GDP for US industries. In addition, Chris was a project engineer with Corning in the world’s largest volume fiber optic production facility. He also co-founded a textile dye company based on technology developed jointly with Procter and Gamble, Leeds University, and North Carolina State University. Earlier in his career, Chris worked as an intern with venture-backed solar panel manufacturer Stion, where he was part of the team that initiated a joint venture with Taiwan Semiconductor.
Dorothee Martin, External Venture Manager
Dorothee Martin is External Venture Manager at Saint-Gobain, in the NOVA group which identifies and evaluates start-up companies for potential partnerships with Saint-Gobain business units. Focus areas for the External Venturing group include new products and technologies related to the three pillars of growth for Saint-Gobain: Building Construction, Energy and Environment. Dorothee Martin has joined Saint-Gobain in 1997 as a Research Engineer in Saint-Gobain Recherche (Paris area). She has held various management and business development positions within the Saint-Gobain R&D organization and at Eurokera (Greenville, SC). She took her current position in August 2011 and is hosted in the US Corporate R&D Center of Saint-Gobain (Northboro, MA). She has a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Ecole des Mines de Paris (Mines Paris Tech, 1993), and a PhD in Solid State Physics from Orsay University (1998).
brian tolliver, Director, Strategy and Business Development
Brian Tolliver is currently Director of Strategy and Business Development at Schneider Electric, focused on corporate development and strategy for the $7B+ U.S. division. His prior experience includes ecommerce business development at Sears Holdings and work at Microsoft in corporate development, business development and finance. Prior to that, he worked in Deutsche Bank Alex. Brown’s Technology Investment Banking Group focused on private equity, IPOs and M&A transactions for companies ranging from early stage to blue chip multinationals. Earlier in his career he gained deep expertise in software development, consumer finance and capital markets. Brian is also a volunteer mentor with the Future Founders Foundation, assisting Chicago Public School high school students with their entrepreneurial business plans. He received his BS in Industrial Management and Computer Science from Purdue University, and a MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago.
Wouter Jonk, Managing Director
Wouter Jonk is the co-founder and Managing Director of SET Ventures since its creation in 2007. He is responsible for the financial, legal and fiscal aspects of the Funds besides his investment responsibilities. He serves on the Boards of EnOcean, NGenTec, LUXeXceL and 4energy. From 1998 until the end of 2004, Wouter was part of the Philips Corporate Venturing team, which focused on early and growth stage technology companies. From the second half of 1999 through the end of 2001 Wouter was based in Silicon Valley where he was the operational manager of the North American team that handled all the US venturing deals. Upon returning to Europe, Wouter handled both venturing and M&A deals for Philips from 2002 through 2005. In this period the portfolio was successfully divested. Wouter’s expertise from these investments was directed towards the digital transition of some of Philips’ core industries, specifically the digitisation of media delivery and the digitisation of the lighting sector. In 2006 Wouter joined the management team of the Philips Healthcare Incubator at its formation in the capacity of CFO. His main focus was to make investments in and partner with external start-up companies to aid in the transformation of Philips internal R&D projects and early stage business into new valuable businesses in health care. During his 18 month tenure 3 investments were successfully executed and 7 ventures built. Previously, Wouter was a manager in the M&A group of Philips after being a manager at Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance. He started his career in Venture Capital in 1993 where he held positions at Greenfield Capital Partners and N.V. Brabant (merged into NeSBIC Ventures). Wouter holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial Engineering & Management from the Technical University Twente, the Netherlands.
Gerd Goette, Investment Partner
Gerd is a Partner, based in Silicon Valley, CA. He specializes in investments in energy and cleantech. He manages SVC’s investments in BuildingIQ, ChargePoint, Sensys, Sunverge, Tendril and Wirescan AS. Earlier investments include Broadlight (acquired by Broadcom), Dune Networks (acquired by Broadcom), G2 Microsystems (acquired by Broadcom), IP-Unity Glenayre, ISE Limited (TSX:ISE), Kagoor Networks (acquired by Juniper Networks), Myrio (acquired by Siemens), Prenova (acquired by Ecova), Reactive NanoTechnologies (acquired by Indium), SmartSynch (acquired by Itron) and Verimatrix. Gerd serves on the Investor Advisory Board of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). With over 25 years of worldwide industry experience, he combines a strong technical background with wide-ranging operational skills. Prior to joining Siemens Venture Capital in September 2000, Gerd held the position of Vice President and Head of CableTV Solutions in Siemens Information and Communication Networks. Additionally, Gerd’s managerial and operating expertise stems from earlier focus on R&D, system integration, product line management, technical sales support, project management and general management in the fields of telecommunication equipment and solutions. Gerd received a master’s degree in electrical engineering (Dipl. Ing.) from Technical University Darmstadt, Germany.
Matt Maloney, Head of Energy & Resource Innovation
Matt Maloney is Head of Silicon Valley Bank’s Energy & Resource Innovation Practice. The practice extends to SVB’s national presence with hundreds of clients across the spectrum of Energy & Resource Innovation Practice investment, most of which are venture-backed. Maloney has over 20 years of experience investing in and lending to the technology industry. Prior to joining Silicon Valley Bank in 2002, Maloney co-founded Enflexion Capital, a specialty debt provider for alternative communications companies. From 1989 to 2000, Maloney held several business development and senior management positions in GATX Capital’s Technology Services group that grew from zero to more than $500 million during his tenure. Among other roles, he developed, structured and managed numerous technology investment joint ventures, spearheaded strategic acquisitions and founded the company’s Telecom Investments group. Prior work experience includes investment banking and money center commercial banking. Maloney earned a bachelor’s degree from Guilford College and a master’s of business administration from Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Joshua Raffaelli, Partner
Josh Raffaelli joined Silver Lake in 2011 and is a Managing Director at Silver Lake Kraftwerk. Previously, he was a Principal at Draper Fisher Jurvetson where he assisted in the founding and growth of the fund’s energy investment practice. Prior to DFJ, Mr. Raffaelli was an Analyst at Och-Ziff Capital Management in London where he focused on merger arbitrage and emerging market investments in the logistics and oil and gas markets. Mr. Raffaelli was an Analyst at JPMorgan’s Technology Investment Banking group in San Francisco. Mr. Raffaelli is a Cum Laude graduate of Harvard University with a B.A. in Government, and has an MBA from Stanford Business School. Mr. Raffaelli is also a Kauffman Fellow.
Thierry Piret, Head of Corporate Venturing
Thierry Piret is Head of Solvay Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of the Solvay group based in Brussels, Belgium. With a team of 6 professionals, Solvay Venturesmanages a portfolio of fund and direct investments in the chemicals / advanced materials space. Thierry worked for Solvay for 30 years within research, innovation and new business development including activities in biotechnology, industrial enzymes and animal health. He holds a MSc. in Chemical and Agricultural Sciences.
Mark Bonnar, Partner
Mark Bonnar is an experienced venture capital investor, active board member and seasoned executive with deep networks across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia. He is continually searching for, and thrives on working with passionate and hard working entrepreneurs; particularly in the areas of energy & resources, ICT, industrial and new materials. Before getting into venture capital Mark was part of CSIRO’s corporate transactions team where he was responsible for the birth of several new companies based on CSIRO technology. His early career included the development of advanced materials for applications ranging from biomedical implants to power generation. Then joining Applied Materials Inc. in Silicon Valley he worked with the World’s largest semiconductor device manufacturers of the time including Intel, Motorola & NEC. Returning to the UK Mark gained a variety of start-up, high growth and turn-around experience with several private equity backed ventures, including as Chief Executive of Applied Thermal Control Ltd. Mark holds a BSc in applied physics and a PhD in materials science from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. A graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Mark was a previous recipient of the CSIRO Medal for business excellence.
Kurt Faulhaber, Partner
Kurt has spent the last 18 years focused on the sustainability sector. He launched and manages Stafford Capital Partners’ sustainable private equity program. Before Stafford, Kurt managed a platform of global cleantech private equity, infrastructure, and venture capital funds at Macquarie. Previously, he was at the ATI Clean Energy Incubator, focusing on launching and growing cleantech companies. In addition, he has had consulting engagements with cleantech startups and DOE labs, as well as operational and product development experience in the energy efficiency sector. Kurt has had numerous domestic and international speaking engagements on a range of topics including: sustainable investing, commercializing clean technologies, and launching clean tech companies.
Eric Landais, Managing Director
David Harris Kolada, Vice President, Alliances & Market Development
As Vice President, Alliances & Market Development, David Harris Kolada leads SDTC’s market transaction assistance initiatives designed to facilitate SDTC portfolio companies’ market entry and scale up through a team of professionals known as the Market Transaction Team with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. These initiatives include attracting private sector financing, such as venture capital, public market and debt finance. The Market Transaction Team is also active in driving portfolio company revenue growth and access to export markets through leveraging SDTC’s relationships with global corporate partners to facilitate joint development and go-to-market commercial agreements. David brings over 20 years of experience in venture capital, technology company management and investment banking to SDTC. He has held several senior management positions over the course of his career, including those of Senior Director, Strategic Investment at Cognos (now IBM) and Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Chief Financial Officer at Eloqua Corporation (now Oracle). Previously, David gained experience in venture capital investment management at Jefferson Partners, where as a Partner he jointly managed over $200 million of assets. David began his career as an investment banker both on Bay Street and Wall Street, where he developed relationships with world class companies and professionals and a deep understanding of the capital markets. David holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Queen’s University.
Andreas Stubelius, Senior Project Manager
Andreas Stubelius is a Senior Project Manager at the Swedish Energy Agency. He is responsible for developing the Agency’s portfolio companies. The portfolio consists of more than 60 cleantech companies and Andreas has been involved in starting 15 of them. He has a long experience in seed funding and has been working within the Energy sector for more than 10 years. Andreas holds an engineering degree in power electronics and also one in corporate finance. He has worked in various positions the last years and the last one in managing a project for the Swedish Government.
Todd Jaquez-Fissori, Managing Director
Mr. Jaquez-Fissori is a Managing Director of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, LLC and TCP Capital Corp. He is also the Head of the Energy Technology Group. Prior to joining TCP in 2014, Mr. Jaquez-Fissori was a Senior Managing Director and Group Head of the Energy Technology Group of Hercules Technology Growth Capital. Prior to joining Hercules in 2009, he served as a Director at TriplePoint Capital and was the General Partner in charge of cleantech investing at Siemens Venture Capital. He was formerly a Principal at Boulder Ventures and an Analyst at Mayfield.
Astorre Modena, Partner
Astorre Modena is the Founder and General Partner of Terra Venture Partners, leading early-stage Cleantech VC in Israel. Before founding Terra, Astorre was a Principal at Israel Seed Partners, a leading seed-stage venture capital in Israel with more than $260 million under management. Until recently, Astorre was an active key investor in the establishment of Cellint, a new cellular startup that is growing rapidly. Prior to Israel Seed, Astorre was with McKinsey & Co., based in Paris, where he consulted to leading Italian, French and Israeli manufacturing and financial corporations.Astorre holds a B.Sc. in Physics and Outstanding Students Program (“Amirim”) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from Imperial College in London.
Nick Cizek, Sensor Strategist
Nick is Sensor Strategist at The Climate Corporation. Previously he developed technology strategy and performed technology diligencing for the Facebook Sustainability group and the Advanced Research Projects Agency ¬ Energy (ARPA-E). At Facebook, he identified companies and organizations that could use the >1-billion-person Facebook platform to solve sustainability problems, then helped increase their impact. As an ARPA-E Fellow, his primary focus was making natural gas passenger vehicles as cheap and convenient as gasoline vehicles, including helping create ARPA-E’s $30M Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy (MOVE) technology development program. His other focus was the energy-water-food nexus, where he investigated potential technologies to make energy production more water efficient, freshwater production more energy efficient, and food production more water and energy efficient. Nick completed a Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Stanford University and a B.A. in Physics, summa cum laude, from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He was an optical engineer at Network Photonics and InPhase Technologies.
François Badoual, CEO, TOtal energy ventures
François Badoual is a graduate civil engineer with 25 years of experience in the oil & gas industry. He started his career with Total in Indonesia as logistic engineer. He then became a reservoir engineer working on reservoir modeling and exploration wells, as well as on Middle East fields posted in Dubai. He then moved to the head office economical evaluation team. He led the consolidation of the company’s long term plan before moving to the extra-heavy crude oil Sincor project in Venezuela where he created the corporate business department. Back to Paris, he joined the new business and asset management team working in the new ventures identification group. He was then appointed deputy general manager in Angola. He subsequently was nominated country chairman in Algeria developing tight gas onshore projects and petrochemical activities. As of August 2012 he is CEO of Total Energy Ventures, the Corporate Venture Capital arm of the Total Group. Its investments support the development of companies with innovative technologies or business models, in areas such as renewable and alternative energies, oil and gas, gas monetization, energy efficiency, energy storage, waste valorization, greenhouse gases reduction, industrial water and sustainable mobility.
Steve Kloos, Partner
Steven Kloos is a Partner with True North Venture Partners, focusing on identifying early stage investment opportunities, key technology trends, and early stage investment opportunities as well as assisting portfolio companies post investment and assisting with fund and firm management. Prior to joining True North in November, 2011, Steve held various R&D roles within GE Water, including Advanced Technologies Leader and Membrane Technology Leader. Steve also lived and worked on assignment in China from 2005-2009, establishing GE Water’s R&D team in Shanghai, founding and starting the GE Singapore Water Technology Center, and leading GE Water’s In-China-for-China program. Steve began his career in 1994 working for Osmonics, starting as a Chemist designing membranes and later became responsible for membrane technology. He is a native of Minnesota and received a BS in chemistry from University of Wisconsin at River Falls in 1989 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from North Dakota State University in 1994. Steve is based in Chicago.
Stephan Dolezalek, Managing Director
Mr. Dolezalek has spent over 25 years in Silicon Valley working exclusively with technology-driven companies. He joined VantagePoint in 1999 where he served as head or co-head of the Firm’s Software and Life Sciences Groups. Mr. Dolezalek crafted VantagePoint’s CleanTech platform in 2002, and has actively headed the CleanTech Group since its inception, guiding it to become one of the preeminent practices in the world. He has been instrumental in building the Firm’s Corporate Strategic Partner program and has served on the boards of numerous portfolio companies. Mr. Dolezalek has extensive experience in helping start-up companies through scale-up and project-deployment phases. Prior to joining VantagePoint, he was a senior partner with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison acting as Managing Partner of that Firm’s Palo Alto Office, Head of the Business and Technology Group and Chairman of the Life Sciences Group. He has acted as co-chairman of the CleanTech Venture Network’s Advisory Board, is a member of the NVCA CleanTech Advisory Council and an active member of the American Council on Renewable Energy. Mr. Dolezalek is a frequent speaker on the topic of our new-energy economy and has shared his insights at dozens of events, most recently the ARPA-E Innovation Summit, the CleanTech Forum and the Renewable Energy Technology Conference and Exhibition. He is a graduate of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia (BCP) and the University of Virginia School of Law (JD).
Peter Auner, Partner
Since 2013, Peter Auner has been a partner of VNT Management Ltd., a venture capital company which focuses on clean technology. VNT was founded in 2002, and are among the first venture capital companies in Europe to focus on renewable and distributed power generation and energy-saving technology. Geographical investment focus is Northern and Central Europe, with a main focus being on the Nordics and German-speaking Europe. Before getting into venture capital Peter has worked for 23 years in the electrical industry, and has spent much time internationally, in countries such as the US, China, Japan, and Switzerland. For many years he was VP of a Global Business Unit at Schaltbau Group, and as head of R&D at Yamaichi Electronics. Peter began his career as a mechanical engineer as a Partner at an engineering firm for electromechanical components. Customers included the Bosch and Lapp cable Group.
Pat Ramm, Director, Corporate Venturing
Pat is currently Director of Waste Management’s (WM) Corporate Venturing Group where he leads the management of WM’s portfolio of investments, made up largely of waste conversion technology companies, as well as new investment activity. He has been with WM for 14 years, most recently as Director of Innovation and Business Optimization and has also held positions at WM in Pricing as well as Financial Planning and Analysis. Prior to joining WM, Pat worked as Director of Strategy and Business Development at a start-up venture within Koch Industries and began his career at Coopers & Lybrand. Pat is a CPA, holds a BA in Accounting from the University of West Florida, and a MBA in Finance from Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business in New Orleans, LA.
Khalil Maalouf, Managing Director
Mr. Maalouf started his career in venture capital with Working Ventures Canadian Fund, at the time Canada’s largest venture capital firm. He moved quickly up the ranks, participating in over twenty transactions across diverse industries and stages. He specialized in semiconductor and middleware software companies, and led five investments in that area. Subsequently, he joined VenGrowth Capital Partners, where he led seven investments in the communications industry. Many of the companies in Khalil’s portfolio have been successfully exited through initial public offerings (IPOs) or acquisitions. Examples include: Genesis Microchip Inc. (NASDAQ:GNSS – subsequently acquired by STMicroelectronics NYSE:STM), Cognicase Inc. (TMX:COG – subsequently acquired by CGI Inc. TMX:CGI), and Simba Technologies, acquired by Pivotal Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PVTL – subsequently acquired by Broadcom Corporation NASDAQ: BRCM).
Samer Salty, ceo
Samer Salty is the Founder and CEO of Zouk Capital. He has 27 years’ experience in private equity, investment banking and technology. Samer oversees both the strategic direction of the firm and the investment process. Zouk’s distinctive dual track strategy, consisting of Cleantech growth capital and renewable energy infrastructure, was designed and implemented by Samer. His vision for sustainability started with his investment in The Carbon Neutral Company in 2000 and his philosophy is to make investments that both create economic value and build on sustainable principals. Prior to Zouk, Samer was at JP Morgan where he led many private equity and advisory transactions in the technology and telecom sector. Samer began his career designing and managing the development of air traffic control computer and telecom systems for a number of Fortune 500 clients and government aviation authorities in the US. Samer holds a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from California Polytechnic and a M.S. in Management and Finance from MIT. Samer sits on the boards of Zouk’s portfolio companies, Anesco and Lighting Science Group. He also sits on the International Council of the Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Centre and Advisory Board at MIT Sloan School of Management.