Wondering about ways to fund your climatetech startup beyond conventional venture capital?

Join us for our July Investor Speaker Series on non-dilutive funding, featuring speakers across from state, federal, and private organizations that are deeply embedded in the non-dilutive funding landscape. The panelists will discuss how grant funding can be a highly beneficial way to scale your company without giving away equity.

Speakers:

• Steven Konsek – Program Director, SBIR/STTR at National Science Foundation
• Katie MacDonald – Assistant Director Technology to Market at NYSERDA
• Spencer Irvine – Program Manager – Sembler Office at Draper
• Max Tuttman – Technology-to-Market Advisory at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)

Steven Konsek:

Steven Konsek joined the National Science Foundation in September 2012 as a Program Director in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Prior to joining the NSF he was the Chief Technology Officer at Illumitex, a venture-backed company developing light emitting diode chips, packages and fixtures for general illumination. He previously served as Chief of Technical Staff at Glo, recognized as one of Europe’s top LED startups. Prior to Glo Steven was the Director of Device R&D at Nantero, a memory startup. Throughout his career, Steven has developed innovative, game-changing technologies across a range of semiconductor applications. He has a PhD in Physics from the University of Washington and a BS in Mathematics from Purdue University. He holds numerous patents and publications in LEDs, memory, process integration and nanoscale devices. At the National Science Foundation he has served as a program director in the SBIR/STTR and I-Corps programs.

Katie MacDonald:

Katie is an entrepreneurship enthusiast and climate leader with experience in international development, business acceleration, and strategic partnerships within the ClimateTech sector. Katie joined NYSERDA in February 2020 where she serves as the Assistant Director of Technology to Market supporting and launching programs that can help the state of New York address ambitious climate and energy goals through innovation and entrepreneurship.

Katie comes to NYSERDA from Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the United States, where she was Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships responsible for corporate partnerships and industry accelerator programs. At Greentown, Katie designed and scaled the ‘Greentown Launch’ model for corporate / startup partnership development and ran first- of- a- kind programs in energy storage, hydrogen, solar materials, circular economy, and distributed energy resources.

Before Greentown Labs, Katie served as Executive Director of Cleantech Open Northeast, the region’s premier cleantech business accelerator. Under Katie’s leadership, the accelerator saw record-breaking application numbers, a 100% recommendation rate from startups, and the first national prize in the Northeast chapter’s history. In 2016, Katie also represented Cleantech Open at the White House for World Water Day. Katie has worked for organizations including the World Bank, 350.org, and Amherst College to build innovation programs, organize communities,and drive climate impact. Katie sits on the Board of 501CTHREE, a first of a kind non-profit dedicated to catalyzing social and entrepreneurial action on climate.

Spencer Irvine:

Spencer Irvine joined Sembler, Draper’s Office for Startups, in June 2015. Currently, he is the Program Manager, helping to support and partner with startup companies across multiple technical domains. Prior to joining Sembler, Spencer was the Founder and CEO of AirVentions, a startup that focused on collision avoidance systems for airport ground support equipment (GSE). AirVentions was also one of Greentown Labs’ early member companies. He has an MBA from MIT Sloan and both a BS and MS in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. At Sembler, he also serves as a Senior System Engineer in the Autonomous Systems Group.