BOSTON, Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Clean Energy Ventures (CEV), a leading venture capital firm funding climate tech startups to slash carbon emissions at the gigaton-scale, today announced the appointment of Girish Nadkarni to its Strategic Advisory Board (SAB), joining the former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz, along with Dr. Ellen Williams, former Chief Scientist for BP and Director of the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program, and J. Michael McQuade, former CTO of United Technologies Corporation. In this role, Mr. Nadkarni will advise the firm on fund investment strategy, portfolio company technology commercialization, emerging technology evaluation and industry trends to support CEV’s long-term vision and expansion plans.
Over the last two decades of driving investments in critical climate technologies, Mr. Nadkarni notably served as the President of TotalEnergies Ventures, President of ABB Technology Ventures and Director of OGCI Climate Investments. With a deep background as an operator and investor, Mr. Nadkarni brings an insightful perspective on building global venture capital groups and scaling early-stage climate technologies for material impact.
“It is an honor to work alongside CEV’s esteemed Strategic Advisory Board and to have a hand in supporting the world-changing technologies with real, gigaton-scale impact,” said Mr. Nadkarni. “I’ve been impressed with the values of the CEV team, who understand and embrace the need for investments in hard technology challenges required to transition to a decarbonized global economy. I look forward to joining my SAB colleagues and helping the firm and its portfolio companies to innovate and lead the rapidly emerging climate technology investment sector where trillions of dollars will be deployed in the coming decades.”
Today, Mr. Nadkarni remains an active advisor to a number of funds, including Siemens Energy Ventures and OGCI Climate Investments. He is on the board at Gentari, the clean energy solutions arm of Malaysian state oil company, Petronas; led the creation of Hy24, the $2B hydrogen infrastructure fund; and sits on the Advisory Committee at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Institute for Carbon Management. He brings critical experience in many sectors that CEV operates in, including renewable energy, green hydrogen and derivative fuels, and grid technology.
“Girish has long had his finger on the pulse of the ecosystem – playing a role in many successful climate tech exits – and brings a critical market perspective that will help us to grow and scale decarbonization technologies globally,” said CEV’s Strategic Advisory Board Chair Ernest Moniz. “Ahead of expansion plans for CEV, we’re excited to widen the bench to continue pinpointing the most impactful climate solutions.”
