Invest NY: Climate Tech 2022

Charlotte Hamilton

CEO and co-founder Conamix

Charlotte Hamilton is the CEO and co-founder of Conamix, a venture-backed battery materials company working to lower the cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles worldwide. Charlotte has led hard-tech venture-backed companies since 2006 including Novomer a catalytic chemistry company making chemicals from CO and CO2 where she served as the chief executive until 2009.

Nicholas Querques

Director of New Ventures at SUNY Research Foundation

Nicholas is the Director of New Ventures at the SUNY Research Foundation where he leads an extensive portfolio of initiatives focused on promoting innovation and commercialization across the enterprise, helping SUNY companies start strong and grow healthy, and building partnerships with investors and development partners to get more SUNY technology into the market.

2ndLife Batteries®

Their affordable reusable 2ndLife Batteries enable small to medium size companies to reduce their demand charges up to 80% savings

FunForm

FunForm’s vision is to accelerate the transformation of buildings toward net-zero energy use by applying a repeatable, scalable process that leverages proprietary technologies, components and materials at a cost that competes with business-as-usual construction cost.

MicroEra Power, Inc.

MicroEra Power is developing THERMAplus, a breakthrough thermal energy storage system for efficient, flexible, low carbon heating and cooling of buildings. Our system is a tool for reducing the cost of peak electricity, which can represent more than 50% of energy bills, by shifting thermal loads to off-peak and renewable-intensive periods. We are supported by NYSERDA, the US Department of Energy, and our investors to develop and commercialize this technology.

EMPEQ

EMPEQ has created Fast Site Survey® which combines One-Click Capture® of detailed, accurate data on building equipment and customizable forms and templates to make site surveys up to 80% more efficient.

Feedback Solutions Inc.

“Feedback Solutions (“FSI”) is commercializing an asset light, non-intrusive IoT solution for reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions in commercial and institutional buildings while ensuring optimal indoor air quality (‘IAQ”) and adhering to critical ASHRAE standards.
Data from best-in-class people counting and IAQ sensors is leveraged by FSI’s patented technology platform to communicate highly accurate real-time occupant counts and IAQ metrics to the building management system so that the operation of the HVAC equipment is optimized – driving savings of up to 40%.
FSI has successfully sold to top tier Universities, Commercial Landlords and Municipalities – NYU, Manulife Financial/John Hancock and the City of New York, as examples, due to the exceptional payback periods and GHG reduction demonstrated.”

Castor Energy

At Castor Energy, we are developers of scalable on-site energy producing and water harvesting solutions, namely the Air to Electricity and Water Microgrid, which is a fast battery recharging solution that can be scaled to various sizes in order to use air to produce and store high density electricity and harvest airborne moisture. At the heart of our microgrid’s electrical generation process is our patented power amplifying linear generators, which have the unique capability to generate high-density electricity, temporarily store the electricity and then stack new electricity atop existing or held electricity. This stacking capability provides game changing energy efficiency even with very minimal effort.

BIO-H2-GEN Inc.

BIO-H2-GEN INC targets aqueous H2S in global wastewater treatment infrastructure. Our KNAPP PROCESS™ will effectively reduce the cost of treating the H2S, in municipal wastewater treatment infrastructure & simultaneously, produce “zero-carbon” hydrogen gas 24/7. Our US patented process will be more cost-effective than the electrolysis of water

We Are The New Farmers

We Are The New Farmers is building a carbon eating machine by feeding captured carbon to microalgae in modular indoor farms across the country to create sustainable and nutritious food products.

3dPrintedChairs.com

3dPrintedChairs.com aims to bring 3D printed furniture to the masses at an affordable cost.

Regenerative Solutions, Inc.

Regenerative solutions, Inc. aims to provide sustainable materials for environmental clean-up. Specifically, we have developed innovative, green and sustainable materials for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from water and soil.

FlowActive, Inc.

FlowActive makes IoT devices with AI software that recognizes signs of a possible leak that would otherwise go undetected in commercial and residential buildings. We enable customers to find and stop leaks, saving money while conserving water and energy.

Green Potential

Using data points to provide vendors to building owners and managers in a cost effective / expedited fashion.

Sam Ticknor

Principal, Union Hill Advisors

Sam is a Principal at Union Hill Advisors and an Advisor at Hamilton Lane, where he represents and advises their NYS direct investment platform. He is also Managing Director for Fort Ghent Brokerage where he raises capital globally and and introduces high quality investment opportunities to investors. Prior, he was Executive Director at Upstate Capital. Sam earned a BA from Bucknell University in 1983 and his MBA from the Simon Business School at University of Rochester.

Charlotte Hamilton

CEO and co-founder Conamix

Charlotte Hamilton is the CEO and co-founder of Conamix, a venture-backed battery materials company working to lower the cost of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles worldwide. Charlotte has led hard-tech venture-backed companies since 2006 including Novomer a catalytic chemistry company making chemicals from CO and CO2 where she served as the chief executive until 2009.

Clayton Besch

Director, NY Ventures

Clayton Besch, Director of the NYS Innovation Venture Capital Fund, has been investing in tech companies for the past 8 years. He works with New York Ventures bolstering the capital needs of New York State’s innovation economy by providing seed and early-stage venture funding to high-growth startups as they move from concept to commercialization, early growth and expansion. He has in-depth expertise in energy storage focusing on battery technologies, and has served as a judge for GENIUS NY’s multi-million dollar accelerator competition.

John Freer

Operating Partner, Energy Innovation Capital

John Freer is the Operating Partner at Energy Innovation Capital. John is a senior executive with over 25 years of experience developing, leading, and investing in emerging technologies. He is a thought leader with a track record in discovering new approaches to difficult technical and interdisciplinary challenges, building teams, and successfully executing plans. John has the ability to quickly assess and triage a situation to work towards achieving a viable outcome.

Louis Schick

Director of Investment, Clean Energy Ventures

Louis Schick is the Director of Investments for Clean Energy Ventures. He brings more than twenty five years of expereince as a technologist in large and small companies and investing in early and growth stage companies. Louis has a passion for combining business, technology insight, and experience to cause transformational change. He is an experienced technologist, investor, and leader.

Tim Hoffman

Program Director, NYSERDA EIR Program

Tim Hoffman is currently Program Director for the NYSERDA EIR Program, NYSERDA Climate Justice Fellows Support Program and Verizon Forward for Good Accelerator Alumni Program, administered by Columbia Technology Ventures. The NYSERDA EIR program offers mentoring services, including advisory, pitch coaching, grant writing, etc., and provides C-level matching services to promising early stage clean energy and climate-tech companies in the State of New York. The NYSERDA Climate Justice Support Program provides peer group, workshops and Skills Labs to support participants in NYSERDA’s workforce development program. The Verizon Forward for Good Accelerator is an initiative to support start-ups leveraging technology to make a social impact. Tim currently also serves as NYC Metro Director of the Cleantech Open Northeast and Board member of the NECECi.

Dr. William Acker

Executive Director, NY-BEST

Dr. William Acker is a well-known and highly-regarded scientist, business leader and entrepreneur in the field of energy. He currently serves as the first Executive Director of NY-BEST, the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium. Under his leadership, NY-BEST has grown its membership to more than 175 companies, created the BEST Test and Commercialization Center and new battery prototyping capabilities, and has performed pioneering work in advancing markets, policy, technology and product development. Dr. Acker is an active and influential voice for energy storage industry in New York State’s implementation of a zero emission grid and clean transportation.

Dr. Acker’s more than 30-year career in energy includes management and leadership roles with Optiwind, MTI and MTI MicroFuel Cells, Plug Power and Texaco. He serves as a member of New York State’s CLCPA Power Generation Advisory Committee and New York City Local Law 97 Carbon Accounting and Electricity Grid advisory committees. Dr. Acker also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Center for Future Energy Systems at RPI, the RIT Battery Prototyping Center, and the Southern Tier Clean Energy Incubator. He received a Ph.D, in Applied Physics and Engineering from Yale University and a B.S. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic University.

Heidi Knoblauch

Senior Director, Entrepreneurship Development

Dr. Heidi Knoblauch is Senior Director of Entrepreneurship Development at Empire State Development (ESD). She has held roles in the public and private sectors, and has worked with entrepreneurs from innovation to stabilization. In her role at ESD, Heidi coordinates efforts to accelerate emerging company growth by connecting entrepreneurs to NYSTAR’s program portfolio, which covers over 70 innovation ecosystem assets including Centers of Advanced Technology, Centers of Excellence, Innovation Hot Spots, Certified Incubators, Manufacturing Extension Partnership centers, and other programs. Her previous positions include Venture and Growth Banking Relationship Manager at a regional bank, where she worked with emerging technology companies to secure debt and equity financing. She is a specialist in government backed lending programs and mixing public and private capital sources to fuel growth. She is on the Finance Committee at the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region where she helps steward $100M of private capital. Heidi is passionate about helping underrepresented founders gain access to resources and is the Board Chair of the Hearst Media’s Women@Work. She teaches entrepreneurship in the School of Business at the University at Albany. Heidi holds a B.A. from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. from Yale University.