Partner, Clean Energy Venture Group

Tom Blum has been an active cleantech angel investor for 20 years.  He is a member of the New York Angels, Clean Energy Venture Group and several other investment groups.  He was an investment banker earlier in his career and has an engineering degree from Princeton and an MBA from HBS.  He was an Innovation Advisor for NYSERDA and currently serves as an EIR.  He is a board member of Sadoway Labs Foundation and a longtime treasurer of the Heart & Soul Charitable Fund. He lives in NYC and is glad to help cleantech startups.  

Senior Principal, Overture Ventures

Allison Hinckley is an investor at Overture Ventures, an early-stage venture fund that invests in energy, artificial intelligence, resilience, and industrial transformation startups and focuses on helping those founders win government support and navigate regulatory complexity. Allison holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Stanford and has been innovating and investing across energy, climate, electronics, and manufacturing for over 15 years.

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Clean Energy Ventures

An investor and advisor for companies at the intersection of technology and sustainability, David Miller brings over thirty years of technology startup management experience and over twenty-five years of seed stage investing experience to Clean Energy Ventures as a founding partner. Previously, David was the founder and Executive Managing Director of the Clean Energy Venture Group. Prior to that, he was a Director in the New Ventures Group at LucentTechnologies, and founder and CEO of Quantum Telecom Solutions. David has been on the board of directors and has advised numerous climate tech companies. He is an Advisory Board Member of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, where he also has an appointment as Research Affiliate, and previously taught in the electrical engineering department at Rutgers University. He completed his doctorate at MIT where he developed the model underpinning the CleanStart clean energy startup simulator,and runs workshops utilizing CleanStart as well as the En-ROADS climate change solutions simulator.

Principal, Climate Fund – Toyota Ventures

Ethan Sohn is a principal on the Toyota Ventures Climate Fund investment team, responsible for sourcing startups, evaluating opportunities, and negotiating and closing investments.

Prior to joining Toyota Ventures, Ethan worked in the global energy, power and utilities investment banking group at TD Securities, advising on mergers and acquisitions transactions for power and renewable companies, regulated utilities, and financial investors. Prior to TD, Ethan worked at Siemens Financial Services, where he was responsible for underwriting and portfolio management of project finance investments across power and renewable assets. Ethan began his career as a power markets consultant at Siemens Energy Business Advisory (formerly known as Pace Global).

He received a bachelor’s degree in international political economy from Georgetown University, graduating with honors.

Investor, Ecosystem Integrity Fund

Seth Udelson is an Investor at the Ecosystem Integrity Fund. His responsibilities include sector research, deal sourcing, investment due diligence, and portfolio company support.

Prior to joining EIF, Seth was an Investment Associate at SAFO Investment Company, a single-family office focused on sustainable investing across all asset classes. At SAFO, he was responsible for investment due diligence and implementation, as well as macroeconomic positioning. He has also worked on the investment teams at Impact Engine, Sandbox Sustainability Ventures, and Builders Vision.

Seth is a CFA Charterholder and received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, and Economics. While at Booth, he helped to develop the student-led Steven Tarrson Impact Investment Fund and served as its first Managing Partner. He also led the Net Impact and Booth Impact Investing Groups. Seth graduated from Swarthmore College with a BA in Economics and Political Science.

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Streetlife Ventures

Sonam Velani is passionate about connecting the dots between cities, climate, and capital. She is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Streetlife Ventures, an early stage venture fund investing at the intersection of cities and climate.

From New York to Barcelona to Mumbai, she has collaborated with businesses and governments to deploy multi-billion dollar investments in climate-smart infrastructure. With experience at Goldman Sachs, The World Bank, the New York City Mayor's Office, and Zipline, she is skilled at structuring financial transactions, operating large-scale projects, and leading public-private partnerships. Across her career, she has invested in cities and the infrastructure and technology that drives them forward.

Sonam’s interest in urban development is rooted in her lived experience. Growing up in a working class family in Chicago, she understands how inadequate housing, transportation, and environmental protections limit upward mobility. The first in her family to attend college, Sonam received a full scholarship to Harvard University and earned a BA in Government, Economics, and Visual & Environmental Studies. She loves being active in her community and volunteers with the Girl Scouts, the Women’s Impact Alliance, and Climate Tech Cities.

In her free time, Sonam enjoys Citibiking, museum-hopping, watching reruns of the West Wing, and getting lost in new cities and new conversations - 70 countries, thousands of people, and still counting on both fronts!

Global Director New Business Development, Orbia

John Jaddou is a senior executive with more than 20 years of experience building and scaling businesses at the intersection of advanced materials, energy, and manufacturing. He is currently Global Director of New Business Development at Orbia Fluor & Energy Materials, where he leads efforts to establish a North American battery business and expand into semiconductor applications.

He previously held leadership roles at Orbia Polymer Solutions, Cabot Corporation, and Nano-C, driving commercialization of new products across energy storage, medical devices, and additive manufacturing. Earlier in his career, he was a strategy consultant with Corporate Value Associates and a product engineer at Ford Motor Company, where he earned multiple Henry Ford Technical Achievement Awards.

John also advises startups, private equity firms, and global corporations through Veraxia, the strategy and innovation consultancy he founded, and has served as a research scientist at MIT, focusing on 3D printing and advanced manufacturing. A frequent speaker on strategy, innovation, and business growth, he serves on several academic and industry advisory boards.

He holds an MBA and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University.

Principal, Klavens Law Group

Drawing on a diverse background in general corporate, securities, project development and finance, fund formation, energy transactional, energy regulatory, environmental and nonprofit matters, Jon founded Klavens Law Group, P.C. in 2007 to help enable innovative ventures that have positive environmental or other social impact. His practice focuses on meeting the diverse legal needs of companies, investors, public entities and nonprofits in the areas of clean energy/clean technology, social enterprise and impact investment, and sustainable agriculture/aquaculture and food ventures. Jon previously practiced law at BCK Law, P.C. and Goodwin Procter LLP, and clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.  He holds a B.A. from Columbia College, an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School and a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. 

Partner & Registered Patent Attorney, Troutman Pepper Lock

As a registered patent attorney and proven litigator, Greg guides clients in patent litigation, patent prosecution, and licensing. Clients trust his experience and technical knowledge to handle all aspects of patent litigation, from discovery disputes, to claim construction issues and trial. Greg leverages his robust technical background, including an advanced degree in mechanical engineering and hands-on experience working as an engineer at a clean tech company, to connect with clients and guide them through the litigation process. Clients rely on Gregs pragmatic, common sense approach to help solve their business and legal challenges, which enables them to maintain focus on driving their business.

Greg represents clients in a wide range of technological fields, including software, image processing, automotive components, semiconductors, and medical devices. Greg has participated in, and managed, multiple trials before the International Trade Commission representing both complainants and respondents in Section 337 investigations and federal district courts.

Greg also prosecutes patent applications in the high-tech arena and handles various aspects of IP due diligence and licensing. His counseling and patent prosecution practice includes experience in fuel cell devices, wind turbines, photovoltaics, medical devices, power generation and distribution, and consumer products.

Before practicing law, Greg worked as a controls engineer for a clean tech fuel cell company. His experience includes the development of a distributed power generation product, as well as prototype automotive power systems utilizing partial oxidation reformers and small scale steam reformers to generate hydrogen.

Greg continues to build on and share his more than 20 years of experience in clean tech by volunteering as the Northeast judging co-chair for Clean Tech Open, the oldest and largest clean tech startup accelerator program in the U.S.