Climate Tech Circle Times

Connecting Partners, Not Pitching and Judging

We collaborate to build a network of different partners for building ventures, investors are only one kind of partner, get strategic and build your gang here!

Climate Tech Circle Times meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month, climate tech companies can present themselves, and ask for help, feedback or partnerships with our Venture Council and Partner Network. These are closed-door meetings to protect presenting companies, we might share part of the meeting insights afterward. To join us as a startup, or as a partner, please get in touch with us.

We stand with founders in our ally, this event track is part of our venture-building effort, more works are behind the scene — match-making, catalyzing collaboration, interpreting values for different parties, aligning synergies, deal-making, team-building, structuring equities for incentive design, forming strategic partnerships, investment syndicates, jointed ventures, and exit strategies.

— Collaboration with Born Global Community and Born Global Ventures

Featured Advisors

Jim Lawnin

Managing Partner, Sustainability Ventures Group

Mr. Lawnin has been a serial entrepreneur for the past 30 years, has held senior executive positions at Fortune 500 companies leading global management consulting teams advising both domestic and international energy companies on strategic business transformation initiatives.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Houston Angel Network, the most active angel group in the US, and co-leads their energy sub-committee. He is co-founder and board member of the Energy Blockchain Consortium, a nonprofit industry organization focused on building industry blockchain standards and use cases.

Hani Elshahawi

Managing Director, NoviDigiTech

Hani has more than three decades of experience (18 years in Shell) in operations, innovation, technology management, business consulting, and the full cycle of innovation from cradle to grave and from concept to commercialization in the energy industry with roles spanning technology, engineering, marketing, business, technology, and management.

He is now mentoring startups as an advisor who will help promote startups, and make introductions for them to strategic partners, key team members, or industry contacts in Energy and Healthcare domains.

Noah Miller

Founder & Chief Strategist, Rho Impact

Noah is the Chief Strategist and Head of ESG Advisory Services at Rho Impact. With over a decade of ESG consulting experience, Noah has held multiple leadership roles including Senior Director for Summit Strategy Group’s ESG Consulting Services practice and serving as interim ESG Director for multiple public and private companies.

A recognized thought-leader in the ESG space, Noah has been influential at building ESG capacity at the industry level, having led the curriculum development for multiple industry-specific ESG certification programs. Noah holds an MBA in Sustainable Innovation and a BA in Community Development & Applied Economics (CDAE) from the University of Vermont. Noah also holds an MS in Mediation & Applied Conflict Studies from Champlain College.

Deanna Zhang

Blogger, Consultant, Advisor on Climate Tech

Deanna is the creator of EtechMonkey, a climate tech blog, and ETM Advisor, a climate tech consulting practice. She is passionate about helping startups and others in the innovation ecosystem navigate energy transition.

Before starting ETM, she led the Energy Technology Banking division at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co., covering clients in areas such as energy software, industrial technology, environmental infrastructure, and alternative energy. She was responsible for deal origination and execution, performing industry and company research, and providing thought leadership in the energy technology space. She has advised dozens of companies on their capital and exit strategies, spoken at a variety of events and conferences, and written 100+ articles on the topics of energy transition and technology.

Deanna holds a BA in Statistics from Yale University and is a native of Houston, TX.

Joe Hurd

Operating Partner, SOSV

Strategic CEO thought partner + operator; demonstrated track record of revenue growth/value creation at global F500 and private companies (FB, Gannett, AOL, VideoEgg, Friendster). Scaled P&Ls from $0 to $100M+, built partnership pipelines, and launched multiple new products/services. Moves the needle from 0 to 1, starting @whiteboard and ending @revenue.

Independent public board director advising on strategic growth (new international markets/products), long-term value creation, ESG/workforce engagement, innovation, governance, compensation, and board recruitment/diversity. Consumer products/ digital media/ e-commerce/ energy/ entertainment/ insurance/ retail/ travel/ transportation.

WHAT I’VE DONE:
✓ MD @ $750m US multi-stage VC fund; 3 company valuations by 4x in 6 mo
✓ Dir @ £500m UK listed co; 3 new brands in 18 mos., stock +35%
✓ 6x public/private/non-prof Board Member – Chair, comp/gov/strat
✓ Fmr Obama Admin. appointee (@Commerce Dept.)
✓ Global exp: UK 4 yrs, Japan 2 yrs, ANZ 18 mo, deals in APAC/EU
✓ Mentor 4 black 1st time CEOs

Fatimah Bello

Partner @ 8090industries & Portfolia G&S Fund

Fatimah Bello is focused on supporting global energy transition ventures and adjacent enablers; she collaborates with 8090 Industries Fund (as an Operating Partner), Portfolia Green & Sustainability Fund (as an Investment Partner), Climate Impact Capital (Venture Partner), and Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator (Executive-in-Residence).

Before these, Fatimah spent over 20 years in corporate intrapreneurship, corporate and business development, product management, and leadership roles at Heliogen, SABIC (Aramco), and The Dow Chemical Company.

She holds an MBA from Rice University, a Master’s in Engineering Management from The University of Alberta, and a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from The City College of New York.