Cleantech 50 To Watch Expert Panel

Laurie Menoud is a founding partner of At One Ventures, a San Francisco-based VC firm managing over $500 million in assets, with notable LPs including Temasek, WWF, and the MacArthur Foundation. At the firm, she invests in deep tech startups driving forward planet-positive industries. She is a board member of 10 companies and brings over a decade of experience in deep tech commercialization, company building, and venture capital. She spent several years in the chemical industry (Solvay, BASF) and built a dozen ventures from US Defense research programs (SRI International). She began her career in fundamental and applied research as a microbiologist.

Miki has a background as a sustainability expert, consultant, startup operator, and impact investor. Her professional experience ranges from small startups and nonprofits to big multinational corporations and VCs, including Allianz, BMW Group, BCG, and UnternehmerTUM, UVC Partners, and AENU. ‍ To bridge tech-VC investing and impact entrepreneurship, Miki developed and launched RESPOND, today the impact accelerator of the BMW Foundation. During her time as Managing Director of the startup accelerator programs at UnternehmerTUM, she also co-created the Sustainability Playbooks with the sustainability consultancy akzente and UVC Partners. ‍ Today, in addition to managing Aurum Impact, Miki sits on the Board of the BDI Initiative Circular Economy, is a member of the advisory board of BÜFA, a medium-sized chemical company, and supports the entrepreneurship center UnternehmerTUM as a Sustainability Advisor.

Iris has worked for innovation and business development within the energy & environment sector across Europe focusing on a wide range of topics from grid optimisation and e-Mobility to environmental management systems and lifecycle assessment. Iris holds a M.Sc. double degree in energy engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Bennet is the Managing Director at RESPOND, a global climate-tech innovation program by the BMW Foundation. In addition, Bennet leads strategic initiatives in business, innovation, and technology at the BMW Foundation and contributes to the foundation’s investment team, managing international impact investments and advancing sustainable finance programs. Previously, Bennet worked at a leading Impact Venture Capital firm in Portugal

Ashley joined the Breakthrough Energy team in 2020 and leads the new global Breakthrough Energy Fellows program. Her deep expertise and passion surrounding early innovators and the commercialization of clean technologies will help to guide the Breakthrough Energy program, designed to find and fund innovators working to bring climate technology solutions to the market. Ashley has spent the entirety of her career working across the sustainability and impact investment landscape, spending 15 years in various capacities at Wells Fargo where she managed a $100 million impact program and was largely involved as a thought leader in the company's overall ESG and sustainable finance strategies and commitments.  During her time at Wells she immersed herself among cleantech entrepreneurs, universities, incubators/accelerators, national labs, and investors - pioneering an award winning cleantech commercialization program, IN2, that focused on speeding up the path to market for clean technologies. The IN2 program’s 72 portfolio companies have gone on to raise $1.8 billion in follow on funding from external sources. She earned a B.A. degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder, as a student athlete on the CU NCAA Division One women’s soccer team. She holds a Certified Financial Planning certificate from DePaul University and a Renewable Energy Certificate from CU Boulder. In 2017, Grosh was recognized as a ’40 under 40’ winner in Colorado and also recognized that year as a “Top Women in Energy” in the Denver Business Journal. Ashley is based in Chicago, Illinois. In her free time she enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing pickleball with her husband Michael, their two children, Kenley and Charlie and her bernadoodle Tilly. Ashley is also a sports fanatic – and loves cheering on her Colorado Buffaloes.

Iain is Director of Innovation at the Carbon Trust, where he leads the organisation’s work on low carbon and clean technology innovation activities, working with start-ups and innovators, governments, corporates, development finance institutions, philanthropists around the world to help them lead the way to a net zero economy.

Jonathan is Managing Director & CFO of Carbon13, the Cambridge based climatetech venture builder. Since inception just three years ago, Carbon13 has run eight cohorts with a total of around 1,000 founders participating, and funded and accelerated over 60 ventures across the whole range of verticals. Carbon13 is also now operating in Berlin. Prior to joining Carbon13, Jonathan spent the previous 20 years as the CFO of first a private equity owned cable telecommunications business based in Madrid and then of a global media & entertainment group with headquarters in Barcelona. He was with the cable business from inception to preparation for a $10 billion strategic trade sale and at the media business he led an operational turnaround through to a $2billion change of ownership. Jonathan has extensive experience of growing businesses, acquiring and disposing of businesses and the operational management required to create maximum value. Prior to these roles, Jonathan worked in investment banking. He is a graduate of the University of Cambridge.

Mr. Schick has more than twenty years of experience as a technologist and investor. In his investing role at Clean Energy Ventures, Mr. Schick works with deal teams to source, screen and diligence new investments, as well as support portfolio companies on technology, markets, strategy and commercialization. Prior to joining Clean Energy Ventures, Mr. Schick was co-founder, partner and CTO at NewWorld Capital, and served as a Managing Director at Ritchie Capital. From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Schick held a variety of positions at General Electric’s Corporate Research and Energy groups. Mr. Schick facilitated GE’s entrance into both solar and wind energy, and led GE’s solid oxide fuel cell program. Mr. Schick was trained as a physicist and co-authored papers in accelerator physics, space physics, and biophysics as well as earning ten granted US patents. He holds a BS in Physics from Union College; an MS in Physics from Cornell University.

Anthony manages Cleantech Group’s research team, delivering critical insights on new cleantech innovation and opportunities for engagement to Cleantech Group’s clients in the industrial, investment, and policy communities. He is based in the U.S. Anthony joined Cleantech Group in late 2019 after over 8 years of work in US-China cross-border expansion consulting and start-up venture funding roles, including 5 years living in Shanghai. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of Rhode Island, a Masters in Sustainability from the Harvard Extension School, and an MBA at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Jason is President and CEO of Cleantech San Diego, a business organization that positions the greater San Diego region as a global leader in the cleantech economy. Cleantech San Diego’s members include more than 130 businesses, universities, governments, and nonprofits committed to advancing sustainable solutions for the benefit of the economy, the environment and all members of the community. In 2016, Cleantech San Diego launched the Southern California Energy Innovation Network with the support of the California Energy Commission. The program provides free resources through a consortium of regional partner organizations to help energy entrepreneurs successfully bring their innovations to market. Before joining Cleantech San Diego in 2010, Jason was Vice President of Business Development for the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Prior to joining EDC, Jason lived in Austin, Texas, where he worked in the State Capitol as a Legislative Director for a Texas State Senator. Jason holds a degree in Corporate Communications from the University of Texas in Austin. Jason serves on the boards of the San Diego Urban Sustainability Coalition, CONNECT, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative and Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights organization.

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

Sara is Co-Founder & Managing Director at Earth Foundry, an early-stage venture capital firm which has backed some of the most transformative energy and cleantech companies. Sara is the driving force of the firm, leading investment activity and actively building cutting edge companies including Advanced Diamond Technologies (acquired by SMIN), Azumo, e-Zinc, Intellihot, NanoGraf, Network Perception, Polystyvert, Tank Utility (acquired by Generac), and Volexion. Prior to Earth Foundry, Sara built a government advisory practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and helped climate tech startups raise $300M in non-dilutive funding. She also held roles with GE Energy and environmental consulting firm, GaiaTech. Sara earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an undergraduate degree from Emory University. She is an advocate for the ecosystem and serves on the Investment Committee for accelerator Evergreen Climate Innovations, the Advisory Board for Chain Reaction Innovations, an incubator program at Argonne National Laboratory, and as an Executive-in-Residence at the Rustandy Center – Chicago Booth. Fortune recently recognized Sara as a Top Seed Stage Climate VC to watch, and in 2015 by Midwest Energy News “40 Under 40.” Sara currently sits on the board of Earth Foundry portfolio companies 3E Nano, Azumo, e-Zinc, Harvest Thermal, Polystyvert, and Volexion.

Tien Nguyen is the founding partner at Earth Venture Capital, a deep-tech VC firm focusing on energy transition, green manufacturing and agriculture with investments in 7 countries. Tien is also an expert at Rockefeller Foundation Asia for AI and climate actions. He serves the steering committee of Impact Investing Readiness Vietnam by IIX and Global Affairs Canada, as well as an advisor at CarbonX Capital. An Irish Government fellow, he's a key player in expanding Irish influence across Southeast Asia through the "Team Ireland" vision.

Yoachim Haynes is the Vice President of Strategy for EIP’s European Fund where he leads research, innovation, commercialization as well as LP engagement. He works closely with EIP’s global portfolio. Yoachim has 10 years of experience working with startups, corporations and governments in the energy and climate space. He led the corporate innovation programs at Cleantech Group as a consulting manager where he developed the strategy for, launched, and operated multiple corporate venturing programs, including multi-stakeholder pilot project processes and CVCs. He also delivered clean technology market assessments, market entry strategy and other climate impact projects for governments and corporations. His clients in North America, Europe, and Asia operated across a diverse set of industries including heavy industry (e.g., steel, oil and gas, cement), power generation, real estate, agriculture, mobility and FMCG. He has a Bachelor of Science in Earth and Environmental Engineering from Columbia University (Cum Laude, C.P. Davis Scholar, Tau Beta Pi). He now lives in London but has spent most of his life in Trinidad and Tobago where he grew up.

Mr Natharoun NGO SON is the Director of EnergyLab, an independent non-profit organization supporting clean energy development in Cambodia. He holds 18 years of private sector development and sustainable business practice, working with Ernst and Young Consulting and Cap Gemini in Europe early 2000; And relocating in 2005 to Southeast Asia to conduct consultancies for the IFC, The Asia Foundation, and then working in leadership positions for 10 years with the UNDP. Natharoun holds an MBA from Paris XII University and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. He is a member of the Asia Society.

Georgia Parker is the Innovation Director at Fashion for Good, the global initiative that convenes stakeholders in a pre-competitive space to support and embed breakthrough technologies into the fashion supply chain. She focuses on orchestrating multi-stakeholder projects and pilots across the supply chain as well as running the Innovation Programme. Previously she worked at adidas in their Brand Sustainability team and has a background in business having started her career at Deloitte.

Jeanette Jackson is the CEO of Foresight Canada, the country’s largest cleantech accelerator, and an entrepreneur with extensive experience across various industries. She founded a tech company, scaling it into a successful business, and has secured millions in investments, project funding, and revenue. Jeanette has led cross-functional teams and developed groundbreaking programs for cleantech acceleration and adoption, expanding Foresight into a nationwide organization. Recognized as a cleantech leader both in Canada and globally, she is a sought-after speaker, media guest, and advisor to industry and government. Her impactful leadership in the fight against climate change has earned her multiple prestigious awards, solidifying her role as a driving force in the cleantech community

Alyssa Gilbert is the Director of Innovation at the Grantham Institute - Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London where she leads Imperial’s climate change and sustainability innovation activities, linking innovative students, staff and alumni to opportunities to make a difference. She is the Director of Undaunted, a collaborative activity between Imperial and the Royal Institution that is seeking to create a home for climate innovation in London, supporting successful creation and scale up of businesses that tackle climate change. Alyssa is also the co-chair of the UK Universities Climate Network, which brought together academic expertise on climate change ahead of the international negotiations in November 2021. Prior to joining the university, she worked at a specialist energy and climate consultancy for nearly 12 years on a range of climate change mitigation and adaptation topics. Alyssa has worked with the UK and many other national governments and at an international level. She has also been a member of the Natural Environment Council’s Advisory Network.

Scott is responsible for leading Imagine H2O in its mission. He initially volunteered with Imagine H2O’s launch team in 2008 before joining as its first employee in 2010. Since then, Imagine H2O has supported over 150 startups and expanded its programming internationally. Scott serves on the National Alliance for Water Innovation’s (NAWI) Innovation and Commercialization Council and is an advisor to the Environmental Policy Innovation Center. Prior to Imagine H2O, Scott developed ESG and cleantech investment strategies for institutional and private clients at Royal Bank of Canada and Piper Jaffray. He has a BA in Economics from the Colorado College.

Victor has 20 years of experience in investments and investment linkages, design, development and management, fundraising, fund management, business modeling and assessments, and public-private partnerships. Prior to joining Kenya Climate Ventures, Victor worked at Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, KPMG - International Development Advisory Services, providing technical sector expertise, leading investment and portfolio management, enterprise development, and impact monitoring and reporting of renewable energy businesses and climate-smart solutions in Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa and Asia. Victor has a BSc. Agricultural Economics from Egerton University and an MBA. Strategic Management from Nairobi University. Victor is a member of the Cleantech Group - 50 to Watch Expert Panel, the Investment Committee of West Africa Brighter Future Fund, and various Boards.

Tyler Hamilton is Senior Director of Climate at MaRS and guides all climate-specific activities for ventures, corporate partners and investors, including the flagship Mission from MaRS program. Previous to joining MaRS, Tyler spent two decades as a journalist and wrote extensively about Canada’s clean technology sector and global cleantech trends. Most recently he was editor-in-chief of business and sustainability magazine Corporate Knights. He also spent 13 years at the Toronto Star, where he reported on Canada’s energy sector and wrote a popular weekly column on clean energy technologies and trends. In 2011, Tyler authored Mad Like Tesla, a book that examines the various barriers to clean energy innovation and surveys the landscape of some potentially world-changing clean technologies. A recipient of the Cleantech Group’s “Pioneer” award for his early writings on the sector, Tyler was also recognized in 2016 on Canada’s “Clean50” list for his thought leadership on clean energy and climate issues.

Monali Mujumdar leads the startup relations at National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC). In this role, she fosters relations with cleantech startups and provides relevant resources. In her program operations role, Monali assists with technical assistance programs at the IEC. In addition, she is part of the organization team for the Industry Growth Forum – a flagship annual event to connect innovators with investors. In her previous role, Monali worked for E Source, a research and consulting firm in Boulder, CO, as an analyst conducting research on emerging technologies suitable for the utility industry. Monali has a background in electrical engineering and completed her Ph.D. from the University of Wyoming.

Frederic Clerc is the interim Managing Director of the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, NYC's longest-running innovation hub for climatetech startups. He also leads the Carbon to Value Initiative, an innovation program focused on supporting carbontech startups. In his past role with EnVertis, he worked with multinational corporations and governments to identify and evaluate low-carbon business models and technology opportunities, from pilot to commercial scale across various industries including forest-products, agriculture, chemicals and oil and gas in Canada, US, Brazil and Europe. Prior to that, Frederic managed large corporate transformation programs with BearingPoint, a leading European business and technology consultancy. He started his career as a product engineer with Assima, a growth-stage software startup. Frederic holds a Masters of Engineering in Energy and Sustainable Development from the Chemical Engineering department at Polytechnique Montreal, Canada (2016), as well as a graduate engineer degree from the National Institute of Applied Science in Rennes, France (2005).

Dr Ashwath Sundaresan is an Associate Partner at Pacific Channel, NZ’s oldest deep-tech venture capital fund, and leads the “Future of Environment” and engineering portfolio. Ashwath is a director across multiple NZ cleantech startups that are solving problems in energy storage, waste minimisation and reducing emissions in the built environment. Ashwath has over 10 years’ experience working with deep-tech and technology businesses. Prior to Pacific Channel, Ashwath was involved in university technology transfer and technology consultant with Accenture and Google working with energy and healthcare clients across APAC. Ashwath is passionate about the role of technology and business model innovation and how these can drive changes in our environment.. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering (University of Canterbury) and an MBA (INSEAD).

Gabriel VanLoozen is a Principal at Powerhouse Ventures, which invests in founding teams building innovative software to rapidly decarbonize our global energy and mobility systems. Gabriel received his JD/MBA from the University of Michigan and has prior experience in multiple functions at Bosch, ENGIE, Orrick, and Anthesis.

Max is Managing Partner of Rockstart’s Energy Fund, offering early stage startups access to capital, market, expertise and community through a customized accelerator program and follow-on investments up to series B. Max is Dutch and based in Amsterdam. He has been active in renewable energy since 2003, when he helped Essent (currently RWE) to establish their wind business in Germany. As Director at EWT, the largest Dutch wind turbine manufacturer, he was responsible for corporate finance, business development and strategy. Further, he was co-founder and CEO of e-kite, a Dutch start-up which developed kite power systems. Before entering the renewable energy sector, Max worked several years at McKinsey, as Engagement Manager. He holds MSc degrees in Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology, Business Administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam and an MBA from INSEAD.

Sabrina is a professional with 8+ year academic and international work experience within the environmental sector. She is a strategic and creative thinker, with an eye for the bigger picture and the end goal. She is also passionate about the role that business can play in creating a future that benefits all people and planet. At the Solar Impulse Foundation she leads the Operations team and she is in charge of defining and implementing the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label's scheme. Her focus is to ensure that the labeling process is applied consistently, with integrity, and to promote the global reputation and credibility of the Label. Sabrina holds a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from Cranfield University (UK), an MSc in Environmental Biotechnology from the University of Milano (IT) , a BSc in Biotechnology from the University of Modena e Reggio Emilia (IT), and a Professional MBA Essentials certification from London School of Economics & Political Science (UK).

As one of the founding directors of SOW Asia, Demetrius had the desktop view of young companies that wanted to do good. He is now on the front line as the Director of Programs in helping these young companies directly to grow with the hope that they will continue to make positive impacts to the society in the years to come. He does this by bringing his experience in fundraising, entrepreneurship, board directorship, investor relation, non-profit, restructuring and mergers and acquisitions from various organisations such as start-ups, investment banks, private equities, international and listed corporations. Demetrius graduated from Boston University, the University of Southern California and the Ivey Business School at the Western University, Canada in various degrees and program. He has also been continuing his pursuit of knowledge through online programs at MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, the University of Pennsylvania and Imperial College.

Erki Ani is the founding partner of Sunly Future Ventures, an early-stage cleantech VC fund dedicated to investing in impact-driven founders and startups. As a pioneer in Estonia's cleantech startup sector, he has been instrumental in its development since its inception. In 2016, he took on the role of CEO at Cleantech Estonia, spearheading acceleration programs for startups. Currently, he holds the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board of its predecessor, the Estonian Cleantech Association. Erki also co-founded the Little Green Fund and one of the region's first cleantech-focused accelerators, Beamline, which boasts a portfolio of 100+ cleantech startups. Additionally, he co-founded and served as Executive Director of Cleantech for Baltics, ensuring that innovation opportunities and policy align effectively.

Claude-Sébastien is an Investment Director for SNI3, the latest early-stage fund of Supernova Invest. His focus areas include advanced materials & manufacturing, as well as mobility. He also serves as a board director for 5 companies within Supernova Invest's portfolio (Vulkam, Ollow, Terakalis, Nanomakers and Isybot). Before joining Supernova Invest, Claude-Sébastien was an Investment Director at NOVA, the corporate venture arm of Saint-Gobain, from 2018 to 2024, where he was instrumental in structuring over 15 startup investments. His career also includes 9 years with Saint-Gobain Abrasives in China, where he held various management positions. Claude-Sébastien holds an MBA from the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and a degree from ESSEC Business School in France.

Benjamin Lesage is passionate about the ocean and is an expert in technology and innovation. He has been an active startup advisor at SOA since 2018. Prior to joining SOA full-time, Ben worked for the innovation studio of BNP Paribas in San Francisco. In this tenure, he would provide advisory services to the Bank and large European corporations on their open innovation and startups engagement strategies. He is the author of the first study dedicated to Ocean Technology startups, and was invited to share his work in various media and events

Develops and implements projects and programmes to enhance competitiveness of the private sector and MSMEs to provide innovative solutions for climate action and resilience in developing countries. Since joining UNIDO in 2012, designed and implemented climate mitigation and sustainable energy projects and programmes with a geographic focus in sub-Saharan Africa. From 2015, areas of focus included promotion of cleantech innovation ecosystems in developing and emerging economies, providing strategic support for international energy and climate initiatives, and coordinating partnership engagements with governments and the private sector. Prior to joining UNIDO, worked on environmental sustainability and climate change issues at the Asian Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability, the Global Climate Finance Project at New York University, and the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute.

Marie is a Founding Partner of Wavemaker Impact, the first VC backed climate tech venture builder in SouthEast Asia. Wavemaker Impact co-founds start ups with experienced entrepreneurs with the aim of building a portfolio of scaleable companies that can abate 10% of the global carbon budget. Marie has worked with over 30 entrepreneurs to help them build their businesses. In the last two years, Marie has focused exclusively on launching climate tech startups in Southeast Asia and is passionate about increasing the pipeline of women founders in the sector.

Pippa is the Founding Partner of Zero Carbon Capital, investors in early-stage companies in the UK and Europe on a mission to fix climate change. ZCC supports deep science, hard-tech solutions that have the potential to make half gigaton-level reductions of CO2e at scale; and vision-aligned, ambitious teams to go with them. Pippa started angel investing in decarbonisation technologies in California seven years ago, where she was an active member of the impact investing ecosystem. Prior to that, she held a variety of roles in technology companies - general management, business analysis, and consumer-facing interactive user experience research and design. She holds a Masters degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Cambridge.