CLIMATE SCALE-UP’S

Aramco Ventures, CEO

Mahdi Aladel is Aramco Ventures’ CEO, with a background in Saudi Aramco’s corporate planning and international joint ventures, recognized for leading the company’s multi-billion dollar investment strategy in decarbonization and digital industrial technologies.

Energy Impact Partners

Hans Kobler is Energy Impact Partners’ Founder and Managing Partner, with a background as a senior leader at General Electric and CEO of ICx Technologies, recognized for pioneering the utility-backed coalition model in climate tech venture capital.

Braemar Energy Ventures, Managing Partner

William D. Lese is Braemar Energy Ventures’ Managing Partner and Co-Founder, with a background in Sithe Energies and Mantis Energy, recognized as a pioneer with over 30 years of experience in the energy technology sector.

MIT Vice President for Energy and Climate

Evelyn Wang is MIT’s Vice President for Energy and Climate and former Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), with a background as Head of MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, recognized for her pioneering innovations in phase-change heat transfer and water harvesting.

CEO, Power-to-X, TOPSOE

Kim Hedegaard is Topsoe’s CEO of Power-to-X, with a distinguished background in chemical engineering and global operations, recognized as a key leader driving the industrial transition to green hydrogen and renewable fuels.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Senior Partner

Libby Wayman is a Senior Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures leading investments in early- and growth-stage companies, with a background as Global Director of Innovation at GE Ecomagination and Director at the U.S. Department of Energy, and is currently recognized as an educator and co-author of Disciplined Entrepreneurship for Climate & Energy Ventures at MIT.

Activate, CEO

Cyrus Wadia is Activate’s CEO, with a background as Director of Worldwide Product Sustainability at Amazon, VP of Sustainable Business & Innovation at Nike, and Assistant Director of Clean Energy and Materials R&D in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, recognized for bridging science and business as the founding co-director of the Clean Tech to Market initiative.

Alpha, Whitby Wood, Director - Buildings & Infrastructure

Kelly Harrison is co-founder of alpha, a Whitby Wood group company providing European real asset investors with transition and value protection advisory. She has a 20-year track record in the built environment, with specialisms in contracting and the evolving insurance markets, and works with start-ups bringing innovation to the construction sector.

Ex-Tesla, Englewood Capital

Matt Severson is Englewood Capital’s Founder and Managing Partner, with a background as a Senior Director at Tesla, recognized as the architect behind the global expansion of the Supercharger network and a leader in scaling EV infrastructure.

Climate Finance Partners LLC (CLIFI), Senior Strategy Advisor

Susana Lopez is a Senior Strategy Advisor at Climate Finance Partners (CLIFI), bringing over 20 years of experience founding, managing, and scaling private equity investment funds focused on decarbonization and infrastructure in emerging markets. She has deep expertise in structuring and deploying blended-finance solutions that mobilize private capital at scale, accelerate climate-positive investments, and bridge the gap between public and commercial funding globally. She also currently serves as Senior Advisor for Climate Fund Managers and Managing Director for iTrust.

Artificial Intelligence International Institute (AIII), Managing Director

Dr. James Ong is the Founder and Managing Director of the Artificial Intelligence International Institute (AIII), with a background spanning four decades in industry and academia including a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, recognized for championing 'AI for Humanity as SDG#18' at the United Nations and co-authoring the book AI for Humanity: Building a Sustainable AI for the Future.

Takoa Growth, CEO

Laura Vartiainen is the Principal of Takoa Invest, with a background as the long-serving Chair of the Family Office Committee at the Family Business Association Finland, recognized for leveraging her retail and real estate heritage to drive strategic private equity investments.

The Impact Office, Founder

Risto Väyrynen is The Impact Office’s Founder, with a background as a fourth-generation chairman of his family’s Finnish bakery and leader of the WEF Family Business Community, recognized for uniting family business principals to invest their 'unfair advantage' in ventures that keep the economy within planetary boundaries.

Canopy, Founder and Executive Director

Nicole Rycroft is the Founder and Executive Director of Canopy, an award-winning organization transforming global supply chains to protect ancient forests. Leading initiatives like CanopyStyle, she has mobilized brands representing over $1 trillion in annual revenue to conserve 39 million hectares of forest. Backed by $60 million from The Audacious Project, Nicole is an Ashoka Fellow and a recipient of the Climate Breakthrough Award.

Founder CCSP-HSG, Managing Director

Dr. Falko Paetzold is the Founder of CSP and Managing Director at the University of St. Gallen, with a background as a Fellow at Harvard and MIT, recognized as a global thought leader in empowering ultra-high-net-worth individuals to mobilize capital for the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Creative Women Platform, CEO and Founder

Olga Balakleets is the Founder and CEO of Ensemble Productions and the Creative Women Platform, with a background as an award-winning concert pianist and cultural advisor to governments, recognized for pioneering cultural diplomacy through prestigious global events like the Ballet Icons Gala.

Family Business Network, CEO

Alexis du Roy de Blicquy is the CEO of The Family Business Network (FBN), with a background in senior leadership at Verlinvest and the IFC (World Bank Group), recognized as a Top 10 Family Advisor worldwide for uniting over 20,000 members across 65 countries to drive family enterprise strategy.

Canopy Generations Fund, Co-Founder & Partner

Sonia is a Co-Founder at Canopy Generations Fund, investing in climate solutions and energy transition. A 5th-generation principal of TPC (Tsao Pao Chee), she previously spent a decade in early-stage tech startups. Sonia holds a Harvard MBA and resides in Los Angeles and Singapore with her family.

Eoliann, CEO and Co-Founder

Roberto Carnicelli is Eoliann’s CEO and Co-Founder, with a background in strategic consulting and international management at Bocconi University, recognized for leveraging satellite data and AI to predict and quantify global climate risks.

Tessi.ai, CEO and Co-Founder

Susan Hunt Stevens is Tessi’s Co-founder and CEO, with a background as the founder of the sustainability platform WeSpire (acquired by Bonterra), recognized as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year for pioneering behavior-change technology and people-centric climate innovations.

VEIR, CEO

Dr. Tim Heidel is VEIR’s Co-Founder and CEO, with a background on the investment team at Breakthrough Energy Ventures and as Program Director at ARPA-E, recognized for leading research portfolios focused on high-efficiency power electronics and optimizing electric power transmission.

Active Surfaces, CEO and Co-Founder

Shiv Bhakta is the Founder and CEO of Active Surfaces, with a background in energy infrastructure at ExxonMobil and the U.S. Department of Energy, recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree for commercializing ultra-lightweight, flexible solar modules to decarbonize the built environment.

Found Energy, CEO and Co-Founder

Dr. Peter Godart is the Founder and CEO of Found Industries, a venture-backed company building next-generation energy and critical-materials infrastructure. A former Principal Investigator at NASA JPL with a Ph.D. from MIT, Peter has raised over $25M to commercialize proprietary technologies that eliminate supply chain bottlenecks across heat, power, and critical-metals refining.

Momentum Technologies, CEO

Mahesh Konduru is a CEO, with a background as a Principal at Potomac Energy Fund and at the U.S. DOE Loan Program, recognized for leading proprietary technology companies from proof-of-concept to commercialization and structuring over $400M in solar projects.

Volare, CEO

Jarna Hyvönen is the CEO and Co-Founder of Volare, a Nordic deeptech company scaling circular insect protein production. She leads Volare’s growth, fundraising, and partnerships, driving the company’s proprietary technology from research to full industrial production and positioning Volare at the forefront of the global protein transition.

Blue Energy, CEO and Co-Founder

Jake Jurewicz is the CEO and Co-Founder of Blue Energy, with over 10 years of experience across the energy, climate, and security sectors. He previously co-founded Entropy Power and served as Head of Transition Risk at Cervest. A former corporate strategist at Exelon, Jake holds a Master’s and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Nuclear Science & Engineering and Physics from MIT.

Gridfire, CEO and Co-Founder

David Peto is Gridfire’s CEO and Co-Founder, with a background in technology scaling and critical infrastructure protection, recognized for pioneering AI-driven solutions to enhance grid resilience and mitigate wildfire risks.

Emergent Climate

Eron Bloomgarden is the Founder and CEO of Emergent, where he launched the LEAF Coalition at COP26, mobilizing $1 billion for forest protection. A pioneer in carbon markets, he created one of the world’s largest carbon ETFs listed on the NYSE and worked on the first Kyoto (CDM) project. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

Gigablue, Co-founder

Ori Shaashua is a Co-founder of Gigablue, with a background in AI and cybersecurity, recognized for securing over 300 kilotons in offtake agreements and defining the market for scaled, science-backed marine carbon removal.

Ardent, CEO

Erica Nemser is the CEO of Ardent, with a background of 14 years at McKinsey & Company and a Ph.D. in Economics, recognized for transforming deep-tech research into scalable commercial solutions for industrial decarbonization.

TURN2X, CEO and Co-Founder

Philip Kessler is TURN2X’s CEO and Co-Founder, with a background as a serial deep tech entrepreneur (understand.ai) and in research at Mercedes-Benz, recognized as a member of the Energy Resilience Leadership Group (founded by Breakthrough Energy) and a pioneer in commercializing Power-to-X technology to ensure Europe’s energy sovereignty.

Amini.ai, CEO and Founder

Kate Kallot is Amini.ai’s Founder and CEO, with a background as Head of Emerging Areas at NVIDIA and in strategic roles at Intel and Arm, recognized as a TIME100 AI leader for her work in building sovereign data infrastructure for Africa and the Global South.

ArtifexAI, CEO and Founder

Russ Wilcox is ArtifexAI’s CEO and Founder, with a background in physics and data science policy (formerly at GovTribe), recognized as a 2024 Autodesk Global Sustainability Leader and a key voice in AI governance and sovereign infrastructure.