Speaker Biographies

Anil Achyuta is the Managing Director of TDK Ventures ($350M AUM) that invests globally in early stage deeptech startups. At TDK Ventures, he has reviewed over 2500 start-ups, invested in thirteen companies, and serves on 5 Boards as a Director or an Observer. Of his 13 investments, Anil has 2 exits, 1 M&A (Origin – 3D printing company) and 1 IPO (GenCell – fuel cell company), 1 unicorn (Ascend Elements – battery upcycling company), 3 are in the “soon-to-be-unicorn” club (>$300M+ in valuation – Autoflight (flying car company), Exo (hand-held medical ultrasound company), Verdagy (green hydrogen company), 4 are at $100M+ valuation and the last 3 are early companies growing rapidly. Anil was voted one of the Rising Stars in 2021 by Venture Capital Journal and was ranked #2 Rising Star in 2021 out of 20,000 corporate venture managers globally, in addition to being voted as one of the Emerging Leaders of 2022, which represents top 0.5% in the industry. Prior to TDK Ventures, Anil held leadership roles at Fortune 500 companies including L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, and Draper. He has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University and received his MBA from the University of Florida - Warrington College of Business. He has authored over 15 peer-reviewed journal publications and holds 5 U.S. patents. Anil’s thought leadership articles can be found on Medium and YouTube https://www.linkedin.com/in/anilachyuta/ https://tdk-ventures.com/cvc-team-serving-entrepreneurs/anil-achyuta/ https://medium.com/@anilachyuta

Rob joined Samsung in 2012 as part of the Open Innovation group for the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT). He supported internal technology strategy and external collaboration activities for SAIT until joining Samsung Ventures in 2023. He has experience in energy technologies, batteries, quantum computing, and advanced materials, and has a passion for bringing impactful new technologies to reality. He enjoys supporting the early-stage venture ecosystem, having previously served as a volunteer mentor for the Creative Destruction Lab's Matter stream and The Engine Blueprint program. Rob has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a BS from NC State University. Prior to joining Samsung, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University in Belgium and worked for Exponent as a technical consultant in their Thermal Sciences practice.

Sidd is an Executive Director, Debt Investments based in London, and leads IFM Next Generation Infrastructure Credit, the firm’s dedicated investment strategy focused on providing scale-up capital in the form of credit to the world’s most promising companies building the next generation of industrial and infrastructure solutions across sectors such as clean energy, industrial decarbonization, transportation, circular economy, amongst others. Sidd has wide commercial experience having worked as an operator in start-ups across high tech industrial manufacturing for solar and sustainable food retail. From 2012 onwards, Sidd has worked in private capital markets across Citibank and Jefferies, providing non-standard private debt financing to borrowers across infrastructure, real estate, lending platforms when traditional sources of capital were limited. Sidd holds a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering from University of Pune, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill as a Fulbright scholar researching entrepreneurship and sustainability.

Dan Blondal is the CEO, Director, and Founder of Nano One. Mr. Blondal has 30+ years of experience as a professional engineer, managing high growth technology in a career that has spanned materials handling, medical devices, industrial printing, nuclear fusion and materials science. As Product and Technology Manager at Creo and Kodak, he led strategically vital initiatives valued at $20M annually to leverage software, laser and chemical systems for high-quality printing.

Dr. Chamberlain is a proven leader with a long record of industrial product R&D and commercialization success in energy, integrated circuit, and water treatment technology. Dr. Chamberlain’s industrial experience is complemented by his ten years leading the energy storage initiatives at Argonne National Laboratory. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, Jeff led the effort to successfully transfer advanced battery technology from Argonne to LG Chem, BASF, General Motors, Toda Kogyo, General Electric, and others. Dr. Chamberlain also led the team that was awarded $120 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop advanced energy storage technologies for transportation and the grid, through a U.S. consortium of innovators from MIT across the country to Berkeley and Stanford. Jeff received his Ph.D. in the Physical Chemistry of Surfaces from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

George Cintra serves as GM's Director of Global Battery R&D. Cintra leads GM’s comprehensive battery innovation strategy and portfolio across all business segments. He is a globally recognized battery expert with more than 30 years of leadership experience in energy storage technologies across consumer electronics, aerospace, defense, medical devices, and electric vehicles. Prior to joining GM, Cintra was CTO at EaglePicher Technologies where he led all engineering and technology initiatives for battery solutions in aerospace and defense. Prior to EaglePicher, he was Executive Vice President and CTO for Integer Holdings (formerly Greatbatch), a diverse medical device supplier, where he led global research, development, engineering and regulatory & clinical affairs serving implantable medical and portable power products in cardiac rhythum management, neuromodulation, surgical instrumenentation, and patient monitoring. Cintra began his career in batteries at Duracell, where he led the development and commissioning of the first lithium-ion cell production line in the US. He subsequently led numerous initiatives and organizations in battery related advanced materials, new product innovation and process development as part of Gillette and Procter & Gamble Co. Cintra has been awarded 39 patents in the U.S. and internationally across a broad range of power systems and electromechanical product innovations. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Cintra is a member of the USABC Management Council. He has also served as a Board Member for NanoGraf and Advastim, and is on the Advisory Boards of other energy-focused companies. Cintra also serves on the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board of the University of Rhode Island where is earned his B. S. in chemical engineering and completed graduate studies in chemical engineering at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Virginia.

Cameron Dales is co-founder of sodium-ion grid storage company, Peak Energy. Most recently, Cam was an operating partner at Eclipse Ventures where he focused on technology investments in the $8T industrial economy. Previously, Cam was CCO of lithium-ion battery company, Enovix, where he was responsible for commercial strategy and operations. He navigated the company from lab start-up through successful public listing and built a $1.5B sales funnel including strategic relationships with all six worldwide “mega-cap” technology companies. Prior to Enovix, Cam served as VP/GM for Symyx Technologies, a $150M revenue public company that developed high throughput robotic tools for the discovery of advanced materials for the world’s leading energy and materials companies. He started his career at Lockheed, where he developed spaceflight qualified hardware for several spacecraft including the first commercial high resolution imaging satellite. Cam holds engineering degrees from Cornell and Stanford and is an inventor on 103 patents.

Dr. Dawson holds a Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He currently leads the next generation battery company Elementium Materials that's rapidly bringing a disruptive electrolyte solution to market. He's spent the past twenty years developing and commercializing next generation energy technologies. Over the course of his career he has served as a Board Director or Advisor on nine boards covering the oil & gas, automotive, finance, and renewable energy industries and has led emerging technology companies as a CEO, CTO, and Investment Director. He's founded multiple successful start-up companies, which have raised over $100 hundred million dollars and generating hundreds of millions of dollars in value across multiple industries.

John Du was named Partner, GM Ventures, in May 2019. Prior to this appointment, John was Director of General Motors Research & Development organization’s China Science Lab, which he led from its founding in 2009. He was responsible for building a strong and innovative research team and leading the research and development in intelligent and connected vehicles, battery, advanced materials, and electrified propulsion systems.

Dr. Frith is a principal at the US based venture capital firm, Volta Energy Technologies, where he works as part of the investment office. At volta, James identifies, diligences, underwrites and manages investments in growth-stage companies in the energy transition space. James has over 15 years of experience in the energy storage industry, which includes seven years working on lithium batteries in the laboratory before moving to BloombergNEF, where he led the company’s coverage of energy storage technologies and their associated supply chains. Using his in-depth knowledge and understanding of techno-economics, market dynamics and technology development, Dr. Frith has advised investors, governments, financial institutions, and the automotive and mining sectors as they position themselves for the low carbon economy. James holds a Ph.D in Electrochemistry from the University of Southampton.

Bob Galyen, is recognized as a top international executive in the battery energy storage market and one of the most sought-after battery experts in the world. His 48 years’ experience developed with 21 years GM, 4 years Delphi, 3 years Pres. Magna E-Car, and most notably 8 years as CTO of CATL. He sits on multiple Board of Directors and Technical Advisory Boards around the world. He is an SAE Fellow and the CTO of NAATBatt International. Some of his world-wide coveted awards received include: • Peoples Republic of China “Friendship Award” • Peoples Republic of China “National Distinguished Expert” • NAATBatt International “Lifetime Achievement Award” • Benchmark Mineral Intelligence “Lifetime Achievement Award” • SAE International “Fellow” and “Outstanding Contribution Award” • Ball State University “Circle of Excellence Award” • General Motors “Best of the Best” • Automotive News “Electrifying 100” • Emerging Technology News “50 Global Leaders in Energy Storage”

Amanda Hall is the CEO and Founder of Summit Nanotech. Amanda spent years in the oil and gas industry and identified the opportunity to make a significant impact with clean energy. She is a graduate from University of Toronto - Trinity College with a BSc Biology major and a double minor in Physics and English. She later graduated from the University of Calgary with a BSc Geophysics and has a passion for the environment. Amanda is on the Advisory Board for Canadian Energy & Climate Nexus (CECN) and sits on the Board of the Chilean Clean Technology Institute. She is a mentor for Canadian Society of Exploration Geophysicists (CSEG) and contributes to the arts as a member of the Board of Directors for the Calgary Opera.

Katherine He is an investor at TDK Ventures, spearheading extensive research and landscape development in energy-storage materials and battery technologies. With a broad spectrum of expertise, she delves into battery startups developing next-gen battery materials, advanced manufacturing, recycling and mining, and electrification solutions across various applications. Katherine plays a pivotal role in supporting investments in AM Batteries, Ascend Elements, Novalith, and Peak Energy. Prior to TDK Ventures, she was a senior battery engineer at Nanoramic focusing on high energy density lithium-ion battery materials and electrode processing. Before that, Katherine led several research projects funded by DOE and NSF to commercialize lab scale innovations. Katherine holds a Ph.D. in materials science, boasts 12 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and is the Managing Editor and co-founder of the Volta Foundation, the world's largest community of battery professionals.

Kevin Hettrich serves as Chief Financial Officer at QuantumScape (NASDAQ: QS), a pioneer in solid-state lithium-metal battery technology for electric vehicles. Over his 14-year tenure, Kevin has led product and operations management before assuming the CFO role seven years ago, guiding QuantumScape through its public listing in 2020. He holds an M.S. in Earth Sciences and an MBA from Stanford University, and his prior experience includes consulting at McKinsey & Company and private equity at Bain Capital. Kevin is also the inventor on 10 issued patents related to battery cell and system design.

For nearly a decade, Ken Hoffman led McKinsey's global battery value chain work from capital raising and strategy advice to go-to-market work. He has assisted top private equity firms on more than 100 due diligence projects. Today, Ken sits on the Board of NEO Battery Materials, serves as an advisor to the CEOs of Pure Lithium and IBC Advanced Technologies, and is the commodity strategist for Canada's Redcloud Securities. He has been a keynote speaker at PDAC, Future Minerals Forum, FastMarkets, AABC, NAATBATT, LME, SMM, etc., as well as on the advisory Board for "The Battery Show". He was asked by the Chamber of Commerce forum in Washington, DC, to talk about batteries to more than 300 global CEO's. Before McKinsey, Ken had worked in financial markets as a portfolio manager and director of research among other roles.

Dr. Qichao Hu (Ph.D.), Founder and CEO of SES AI, leads a battery trailblazer dedicated to developing next-gen high-performance Li-Metal and Li-ion batteries and the intelligent material discovery service platform, Molecular Universe (MU). Harnessing the power of AI at its core, SES AI is driving the creation of ‘superintelligent' AI that bring unparalleled advancements in battery innovations —from materials discovery to battery health monitoring and prediction platform—propelling the evolution of electric mobility. Under Qichao’s leadership, SES AI marked a milestone as the first in the world to introduce 100Ah Li-metal cells and the first to enter into automotive A-sample and B-sample joint development agreements with major global OEMs.

Wenxiao Huang is the Co-Founder and CEO of Feon Energy, a Boston-based battery technology company developing an end-to-end AI platform for molecule design and performance prediction to accelerate next-generation, non-flammable electrolytes. He previously led battery R&D and system engineering at EnerVenue and conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University.

Mr. Sung Bum Huh graduated from the Korea University in Seoul with a BEc. He is an experienced and proven financial professional with more than 25 years of financial and operational experience in Canada and Korea, and a track record of supporting ambitious growth plans. His expertise includes financial operations, strategy, performance management, and business planning for Korean and Canadian companies.

Jeff Johnson has nearly 25 years of investment, entrepreneurship and corporate experience across climate and technology. Jeff is a General Partner at the global multi-stage investment firm B Capital where he leads the firm’s growing climate investment team. He most recently served as a Managing Director at Temasek leading the sustainable investing team for the global investment firm. Prior to Temasek, Jeff ran a boutique advisory business focused on scaling of sustainable businesses. He also co-founded and was on the Board of Xpansiv, the world's leading provider of market infrastructure for environmental commodities. Jeff worked in innovation business development at ABB between 2012 to 2014, leading growth initiatives for new sustainable products and services. Earlier in his career, he held several leadership and business development roles at various companies, including Better Place, Vendavo, and Intel Corporation. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from University of Florida and a Master of Science in Engineering Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sungkwon Kang is a Director with LG Technology Ventures. Sungkwon has held various roles within LG Group, including global business development at LG Chem and open innovation and business development at LG Technology Center of America. Sungkwon was also a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Sungkwon received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Cornell University and B.S. in mechanical engineering and applied computational mathematics from Virginia Tech.

Recognized for his impressive more than 30-year career as an expert in the critical minerals industry and global operations, David brings his unparalleled experience and knowledge to his role as Chief Executive Officer and President of Cirba Solutions. Cirba Solutions is the most experienced and premier service provider in the battery recycling materials and management industry. With 7 strategic locations, Cirba Solutions is taking batteries at end-of-life, processing them to refine critical materials, and putting battery-grade salts back into the domestic supply chain. Leading the strategic growth of Cirba Solutions, Klanecky led a capital raise securing almost $300 million dollars and won 3 significant Department of Energy grants of more than $282 million in his first few years with the organization. Coordinating with both private and public sectors, David is focused on expanding operational and technology capabilities and increasing the domestic capacity to process lithium-ion batteries to support the growing needs of the circular battery supply chain. David is the current President of NAATBatt International, sits on the External Advisory Committee for the Advanced Energy Technologies Directorate of the Department of Energy’s, Argonne National Laboratory, and is a Board Director for NanoGraf. Prior to his time at Cirba Solutions, Klanecky served as Executive Vice President and COO of Piedmont Lithium, where he helped build one of North America’s largest lithium company. From 2013 to 2021, David served in increasingly senior management roles within the Albemarle Corporation, the world’s leading lithium producer, including VP of Strategy and Corporate Development and as Vice President – Lithium Operations and Commercial teams with global responsibility for Albemarle’s manufacturing/operations, process technology, and product management within the global lithium business. He also served as the CEO of the MARBL joint venture between Albemarle and Mineral Resources Ltd., which includes the Kemerton and Wodgina assets in Australia. David also had a notable 20-year career with The Dow Chemical Company that spanned the globe including expat assignments in Spain, Switzerland, and China across a number of innovative industries. In his last role with Dow, he launched the Dow Energy Materials Business, focused on Lithium-Ion Battery Materials offerings for cell manufacturers and Automotive OEMs.  David is a Chemical Engineer with an Executive MBA from Arizona State/Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Chetan is a Principal and Head of Research & Diligence at Third Derivative (D3), RMI's global climate tech accelerator and innovation engine, where he advanced RMI's work on battery technologies, and been responsible for evaluating innovative companies in cell manufacturing, new chemistries and components globally for the D3 program. Prior to joining D3, Chetan was a venture capital investor with 3i Partners (a technology-for-impact fund in India), and has previously worked with both the World Bank and IFC, and with the Harvard Business School's Laboratory for Innovation Sciences. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and a master's in Technology Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Vivas Kumar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Mitra Chem. He was previously at Tesla as a senior manager responsible for the global battery supply chain, and a Principal at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. He earned a BS in electrical engineering from Rice University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Brad Li is President of the Americas at Ampace, a joint venture between CATL and ATL, the world’s leading battery and energy-storage enterprise. With more than 20 years of international leadership across renewable energy, AI-driven infrastructure, and telecommunications, Brad has led the growth and transformation of multiple global brands throughout the Americas. At Ampace, Brad drives strategy, business development, and market expansion for the company’s comprehensive energy-storage portfolio — spanning advanced battery cells, BESS, and AI data-center power applications. Previously, he served as President of the Americas at LONGi Solar, the global leader in solar and green hydrogen, where he launched the largest solar-panel manufacturing facility in the Western Hemisphere. Earlier, as CEO of ZTE North America, he guided the company’s rise to become the region’s second-largest player in the prepaid market. Brad holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, an M.S. and B.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University, and a Certification in Business Law from Cornell University. He was recognized by Forbes China as one of the “Go-International Pioneers Top 30” in 2024.

Dr. Paul Lichty is the co-founder and CEO of Forge Nano - a materials science company that optimizes material performance to enable better battery and semiconductor products. Dr. Lichty invented the method of high throughput material surface engineering (atomic layer deposition, or ALD) that enables Forge Nano to coat materials with protective and performance-enhancing layers at the atomic level. Dr. Lichty founded Forge Nano as a spin out from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2011 and has since raised upwards of $100M from Volkswagen, LG, Mitsui Kinzoku, Sumitomo and more. Forge Nano's book of business is expansive with partnerships with leading lithium-ion cell manufacturers, battery material production companies and semiconductor manufacturers. Dr. Lichty has a broad technical background with over half a dozen patents to his name. He received his PhD in Chemical Engineering and bachelor’s Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Janet Lin is the Senior Vice President of Strategy for the Mobility Energy Business Division within Panasonic Energy Company. Lin is charged with global strategy and expansion for Panasonic’s electric vehicle battery business. Lin joined Panasonic in 2015 and led the strategy and corporate development function for Panasonic’s clean energy solutions platform in North America. Prior to Panasonic, Lin was previously with independent energy and environment analyst firm Verdantix, where she founded the U.S. office and served as Chief of Research. Lin’s public sector experience includes the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s Administration, where she served as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Housing and Economic Development. Lin began her career as a software engineer at Raytheon and SensAble Technologies, a company spun out of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Lin earned an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management, where she directed the MIT Clean Energy Prize, and an AB from Brown University.

Annie Liu is a seasoned executive, having spent 20+ years in building and leading teams across stages from product incubation to rapid growth and scale-up in mature markets. Annie was the Executive Director at Ford (Model E). Prior to her role at Ford, Annie forged and managed Tesla’s multi-billion-dollar strategic partnerships and sourcing portfolios that support Tesla’s Energy and Battery business units including Battery, Battery Raw Material, Energy Storage, Solar and Solar Glass, including raw materials sourcing efforts such as lithium for battery cells. Earlier in her career, she held various leading manufacturing and procurement roles at Microsoft launching advanced technology products. Annie is a co-founder of Alto Group Inc, a trusted advisor and counsellor to many of the world’s influential businesses in the EV value chain. Annie is also currently a Non-Executive Director with ASX Listed Vulcan Energy Limited, and a Non-Executive Director with ASX Listed Alpha HPA Limited.

Michael heads thought leadership as Director of Research & Insights at Volta Foundation. Prior to Volta, Michael spent his career in industry specializing in battery cell design, materials development, and high-volume manufacturing. He led technical commercialization efforts of next generation silicon anode materials for Panasonic and accompanying OEMs in his last role at Sila Nanotechnologies. Additionally, Michael draws on his experiences from previous roles in cell engineering at Apple–delivering batteries from clean sheet to multi-million unit production for numerous product lines. Michael holds a BS and MS of Materials Science & Engineering from UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech, respectively, and was advised by Prof. Gleb Yushin.

Alex Manoloff leads up Barclays’ efforts to cover the battery industry, within the Investment Bank’s Energy Transition Group. She covers battery companies across the value chain ranging from materials processing, through active material, cell manufacturing and assembly. Before covering the battery space, Alex covered various aspects of climate technology, healthcare and leveraged finance within investment banking, and prior to that she worked in various government positions including NASA. She holds a Bachelor of Science & Engineering from Princeton University.

Celina Mikolajczak is a Licensed Mechanical Engineer who has spent 25 years working in the battery industry including senior roles at Exponent, Tesla, Uber, Panasonic, QuantumScape, and Lyten. She has significant experience across the battery industry including in materials development, cell R&D, cell design, pack design, cell & pack manufacturing, failure analysis, factory planning, safety testing & regulatory requirements, especially fire codes related to batteries. Celina is currently on sabbatical and advising companies throughout the battery ecosystem including Voltaiq, Manaflex, VTA Technologies, Battery Associates, and Polyplus

Eric Rosenblum has been a leader in technology and strategy for over 25 years, and is currently a Managing Partner with Foothill Ventures, a $300M seed fund investing in early stage technology-focused ventures in North America. In this role, he has led investments in energy/ battery companies like AM Batteries, Ascend Elements, Coreshell, Unigrid, South-8, Feon, Ampersand and Abacus Power. Prior to Foothill Ventures, Eric was a senior product executive at both Google and Palantir, and was COO of Drawbridge (sold to LinkedIn) and CEO of SmartPay (sold to Ping’an Group). He began his career as a consultant for The Boston Consulting Group. He has an AB from Harvard University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Jun Shin has over 25 years of experience in the battery industry, beginning as a Process Quality Engineer at Energizer after earning a Chemical Engineering degree from Case Western Reserve University. Jun has worked across multiple chemistries—lithium-metal, alkaline, thermal, Li-ion, NiMH, and lead-acid—supporting both primary and secondary applications. He has held leadership roles at Energizer, SAFT, Tesla, Uber, Mobius, and Amazon, specializing in technology assessment, engineering, testing, supply chain optimization, and sustainability. Most recently, Jun led Pan-Amazon battery strategy through the Amazon Battery Collaborative (ABC), driving innovation and improvements across AWS, Devices, Kuiper, Prime Air, and Zoox.

Dr. Tal Sholklapper has an extensive record of success as a cleantech engineer and entrepreneur. Prior to founding Voltaiq, he worked as the lead engineer on a DOE ARPA-E funded project at the CUNY Energy Institute, developing an ultra low-cost grid-scale battery. Before joining CUNY, Dr. Sholklapper co-founded Point Source Power, a low cost fuel-cell startup based on technology he developed while at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley, where he also did his graduate work in Materials Science and Engineering. As a Materials Postdoctoral Fellow at LBNL, he successfully led the transfer of lab-scale technology to industry partners.

Josh Stiling is an Investment Director at Anzu Partners with a focus on investing at the intersection of material science, electrification, and manufacturing technologies. Since joining Anzu in 2021, Josh has led and supported investments for several companies in Anzu's portfolio, including investments in AM Batteries, South 8 Technologies, e-Zinc, Xendee, and XGS Energy. Prior to Anzu and following undergrad, he competed professionally in the sport of water polo in Australia (Perth) and Spain (Barcelona) for two years before continuing on to work for an R&D industrial materials start-up in San Jose for 4 years. At Lyten, he served as a senior engineer in materials development and worked on applications such as batteries, super-capacitors, conductive inks and an IoT sensing platform for explosive materials. At Anzu he is supporting several portfolio companies, while also conducting diligence and sourcing new technologies in the industrial materials and energy space. He holds two degrees from UCSD, an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering and an MBA.

Rajesh Swaminathan is a Partner at Khosla Ventures, with over two decades of experience assisting and investing in deep tech startups. He manages many of the firm’s investments across renewables generation, storage, hydrogen, industrial decarbonization, plastics, foodtech, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Previously, Rajesh was the head of Applied Ventures LLC, the venture capital arm of Applied Materials, where he managed a portfolio of 85 deep tech startups globally and two deep-tech funds in Korea and Taiwan. He led investments and helped build companies with strong exits, including Enphase Energy, Solid Energy, Rockley, Infinite Power Solutions, Adaptive3D, Tango, Inpria, PlayNitride and Norsk Ti. Rajesh was recognized amongst the top 100 global CVCs on the Global Corporate Venture (GCV) Powerlist. Earlier, he worked at Third Point Ventures and at Lucent’s Bell Labs, where he drove technical assessments and partnerships for several optical, MEMS, and RF device startups, and also led DFR programs for the successful deployment of Lucent’s 10Gb/s and 40Gb/s systems. While pursuing his MBA at Harvard Business School, he worked on Deutsche Bank’s cleantech banking team and worked with KV on companies in solar and water. Previously, Rajesh earned a master of science degree from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, where he was awarded the Shankar Dayal Sharma (President of India) Medal for overall excellence.

Kyle Teamey joins RA Capital as a Managing Partner, Planetary Health. Kyle's primary responsibility at RA is to lead investments in private companies that are developing innovative solutions to address climate change and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining RA, Kyle was a Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), where he led investments and served on company boards that span the utilities, energy storage, chemicals, agriculture, automotive, recycling, and consumer products sectors. Prior to BEV, Kyle was a Principal at In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the CIA and US Intelligence Community, where he invested in early stage manufacturing, materials, energy, computing, and defense companies. Kyle was also the CEO and co-founder of Liquid Light, developer of a proprietary process to make major chemicals from CO2, which was sold to Avantium in 2016. Kyle also recently retired as a Colonel in the US Army Reserve after 24 years of service. He holds a BA in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth College (1998), an MA in International Finance and Energy Policy from John Hopkins University (2008), an MS in Materials Science from Columbia University (2012), and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the Army War College (2020).

Maximilian is a deep tech investor excited by the ever changing landscape required for energy transition and climate mitigation. As the managing director of Ajinomoto Group Ventures, he has built a single LP fund that focuses on technology investing that enables Ajinomoto innovation past 2030. He was an entrepreneur for 10 years and as such has deep founder empathy. When he is not working, he is golfing or enjoying the beaches of Halfmoon bay.

Scott Walbrun is a principal venture capital investor at BMW i Ventures, the independent venture capital fund managed on behalf of BMW Group based in Silicon Valley, where he focuses on Series A & B investments around the future of mobility, energy, artificial intelligence. In this capacity, Scott has served on the board of eight companies. He also serves as a mentor and workshop leader for hundreds of startups through various accelerator programs across the country. Prior to joining BMW i Ventures, Scott provided M&A and capital markets advisory as a member of Jefferies’ Technology Investment Banking team. Scott joined Jefferies after completing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While completing his MBA, he worked at Kinzie Capital Partners evaluating private equity investments, as well as at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation supporting the commercialization of science-based and deep tech companies. Prior to business school, Scott managed Strategic Finance and FP&A at Truck Hero (a TA Associates portfolio company) and began his career in Fiat Chrysler’s Finance Leadership Development Program.

Dr. Yan Wang is the co-founder and President of AM Batteries and the co-inventor of its dry electrode technology. He is also the cofounder of Ascend Elements, Inc., a leading company in Li-ion battery recycling. As the William Smith Foundation Dean’s Professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), Dr. Wang has been researching battery materials, manufacturing and recycling since 2010. A recognized expert in the battery field, he earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the University of Windsor, Canada in 2009.

Dr. Michal Wolkin is a board member, investor, physicist with a focus on energy storage and climate tech. She has two decades of experience in venture investments, technology evaluation, and innovation. Michal is the former Director of GM Ventures' Battery & Electrification Fund, she is serving on the boards of public and private companies. With a Ph.D. in Materials & Physics, she has driven disruptive technologies at 3M, PARC, and NASA. Michal is also a part-time professor heading a new master’s degree program in Sustainability Management at Reichman University focusing on entrepreneurship and sustainability.

Adrian is the Founder & Team Lead of STEER, a new Stanford organization focused on guiding “What to build, Where to Innovate, and How to Invest” for the energy transition. The mission of STEER is to overcome economic uncertainties of emerging energy technologies to unlock strategic investments and innovations. Key areas of focus span from batteries, advanced nuclear, carbon capture & storage, advanced geothermal, hydrogen, and more. Prior to STEER, Adrian spent 8 years as the Founder and CTO of a Li-ion battery cell manufacturing company, EnPower, Inc., on which he still serves as a Board Director. Adrian drove technology development and scale-up at EnPower from 2014-2022, taking the company from its Texas roots through Tennessee, Arizona, and finally Indianapolis, where EnPower acquired a brownfield gigafactory and is now scaling to several hundred MWh/y of high-performance cells for premium markets, spearheading the domestic production of advanced Li-ion batteries. Adrian obtained his B.S. in Material Science & Engineering from Rice University in Houston, TX.