2024 Speakers

Po is passionate about reconceptualizing complex challenges into more elegant forms, to broaden understanding and highlight priorities. He’s been at IndieBio SF since 2018. Po is a longtime science journalist honored with nine national awards, and author of seven bestselling books that are available in 28 languages worldwide. His work has been cited in 185 academic journals and 503 books. His background is in Economics. He learned finance at Credit Suisse and consulting at a division of Arthur Andersen. Prior to IndieBio he spent four years as a Futurist with Attention Span Media, consulting corporate innovation efforts for globally-recognized brands. Most recently, Po is the author of Decoding the World: A Roadmap for the Questioner, published by Twelve Books, a division of the Hachette Publishing Group.

Cat Clifford is Cipher's senior science and economics correspondent, based in New York City. She has been a journalist for almost two decades and for more than half of that time, she has reported on the startup, entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. Most recently, she has focused her reporting on the new technology being developed to respond to and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Before joining Cipher, Cat helped launch the climate desk at CNBC.com, where she was the climate technology and innovation reporter. In that role, Cat was best known for explaining the science behind a new technology or innovation in uncomplicated and precise language. She pairs her rigorous scientific reporting with an uncompromising economic lens, explaining the costs and benefits associated with a new technology or innovation being deployed and potentially operated at scale.

In November, Cat received the Darlene Schmidt Science News Award, given to her by the American Nuclear Society, for her leading coverage of the nuclear industry, both fission and fusion. Other climate technology topics Cat has covered include the burgeoning clean hydrogen economy and related policy, transmission lines and the grid’s importance in the deployment of clean energy resources, the debate over deep sea mining for minerals used in clean energy manufacturing, the development of carbon removal and sequestration technologies, battery technologies and the evolving sentiment around various solar geoengineering strategies, among other topics.

Cat completed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Clean Air Task Force's extended education course on nuclear energy in 2021, participated in the Columbia Energy Journalism Initiative in 2022 and was a member of the first cohort of the Climatebase fellowship in 2022. She holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia University.

Hampus Jakobsson is a general partner at climate venture fund Pale blue dot. Prior to starting the fund he was an angel investor with 100+ investments over Europe and the US, and before that he built and scaled two startups. As one got acquired by Blackberry, Hampus worked there running M&A for EMEA.

Deniz Kent, PhD is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Prolific Machines, the photomolecular biology innovator ushering in a new era of biotechnology using light. Prolific harnesses light to produce everyday essentials more efficiently, from food and lifesaving drugs to novel biosolutions. The Bay Area company’s first-of-its-kind platform delivers unprecedented molecular control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, Prolific’s technology unlocks direct and dynamic control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. The company enables innovators across pharmaceuticals, nutritional and therapeutic protein production, and cellular agriculture to unlock robust efficiency, quality, reproducibility, and sustainability advantages.

During his PhD, Deniz first conceived of the idea to use light to build the future of biomanufacturing. Soon after, he brought in the expertise of co-founders Declan Jones and Max Huisman, and the trio founded the company in 2020. Inspired by the burgeoning field of optogenetics, the team then set out to commercially harness light — an abundant, safe, and versatile input — to control cellular behavior with unparalleled precision and optimize this over time using AI technology.

Deniz cultivated expertise in biological systems through academic research and professional innovation. Deniz earned his PhD in the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King's College London, where he co-discovered a new human liver stem cell population and conducted the world’s first high throughput small molecule screen using IPS-derived hepatocytes. Prior to his PhD, Deniz had worked in a cancer immunotherapy lab at the University of Bristol and worked on a single-dose cure for Asthma at GlaxoSmithKline.

Deniz also received his Master’s degree in biomedical and translational science from King’s College London and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Bristol.

Gabriel Kra co-founded Prelude Ventures in 2013 after almost 25 years as an investor, entrepreneur, scientist, activist, and ski-bum. Before launching Prelude Ventures, Gabriel spent four years as an investment banker with Deutsche Bank in its solar and semiconductor groups. He also was an early employee at venture-backed telecommunications and semiconductor start-ups, where he was instrumental in raising money, launching products, developing technology, and getting acquired. Gabriel’s early experience working a summer at Yellowstone National Park and for Greenpeace sparked his lifelong commitment to fighting climate change.

Gabriel holds MBAs from the Columbia Business School and the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, an MS in atmospheric chemistry from SUNY Stony Brook, and a BA in philosophy from Columbia College. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Ebb Carbon, Electric Hydrogen, Form Energy, Lightship, Meridian Clean Energy, Post Script Media, Renew Financial, Ripple Foods, Sense, and Trove. Gabriel also serves on the Board of Directors of Activate and The CREO Syndicate and the Advisory Board for Prime Coalition and Carbon180.

Gabriel is still an avid skier and spends as much of his free time as possible in the mountains with his wife and four children. Gabriel now roots for the San Francisco Giants after years as a New Yorker, and his favorite guilty pleasure, much to his wife’s chagrin, is Clash of Clans.

Bob Mumgaard leads the strategic vision and direction of Commonwealth Fusion Systems, the world's leading, largest, and best capitalized fusion energy company. Under his leadership, Commonwealth Fusion Systems is paving the way for clean, abundant fusion energy to drive the energy transition.

Since co-founding Commonwealth Fusion Systems with a mission to commercialize the high-field approach to fusion, Mumgaard has grown the company to 800 employees and raised more than $2 billion from the world’s leading climate investors including Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, The Engine, oil majors including Eni and Equinor, and long-term strategic investors including Temasek and Tiger Global, among others.

Mumgaard performed his PhD work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he contributed to the design of several small superconducting tokamaks for a variety of physics missions using high temperature superconductors (HTS). Prior to co-founding Commonwealth Fusion Systems, as an MIT fellow, Mumgaard focused on how entrepreneurship, risk-retirement strategies, and partnerships could increase the speed of fusion from laboratory to market. He organized and led a team identifying strategies to utilize private finance and traditional academic resources to speed the path to fusion energy resulting in a collaboration model with MIT and the launch of Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

Mumgaard holds a PhD in Applied Plasma Physics and a MS in Nuclear Engineering from MIT, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering and BS in Engineering Physics from the University of Nebraska.

Janos Pasztor has close to 5 decades of work experience in international organizations working on energy, environment, climate change and sustainable development.

During 2016-2023 he was Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and the Executive Director of the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative (C2G). During 2015-2016 he was UN Assistant Secretary-General for Climate Change in New York under Senior Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Earlier, he was Acting Executive Director for Conservation (2014) and Policy and Science Director (2012-2014) at WWF-International. He directed the UNSG’s Climate Change Support Team (2008-2010) and later was Executive Secretary of the UNSG’s High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (2010-2012). In 2007 he directed the Geneva-based UN Environment Management Group (EMG). During 1993-2006 he worked, and over time held different responsibilities at the Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC), initially in Geneva, Switzerland and later in Bonn, Germany.

His other assignments included: in the Secretariat of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit ’92); Stockholm Environment Institute; United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Secretariat of the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland Commission); the Beijer Institute; and the World Council of Churches.

He has BSc and MSc degrees in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). High-school diploma from the Nairobi School in Kenya.

Andrew Ponec is co-founder and CEO of Antora Energy. Antora Energy is unlocking zero-emissions industrial heat and power, cheaper than fossil fuels. Antora’s thermal batteries convert low-cost, intermittent renewable electricity into reliable industrial energy. Prior to founding Antora, Mr. Ponec founded the solar energy company Dragonfly Systems. Dragonfly, which was acquired by SunPower in 2014, developed and commercialized novel power electronics for utility-scale solar power plants. Mr. Ponec received his B.S. in energy systems engineering from Stanford University, where he researched advanced photovoltaics and power electronics.

Akshat Rathi is an award-winning senior climate reporter for Bloomberg News. He is the host of Zero, a weekly climate podcast for Bloomberg Green and writes a weekly newsletter on climate solutions.

He has a PhD in chemistry from the University of Oxford, and a BTech in chemical engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. He has worked for Quartz and The Economist. His work has been cited in widely read global publications, including New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

Akshat lives with his wife in London, UK. You can follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Kendra Rauschenberger is General Partner with Siemens Energy Ventures. Since 2020, she has been responsible for building the venturing unit for Siemens Energy which sits at the heart of the company’s innovation strategy. Its mission is to identify, pilot and invest in startups that can drive innovation and deliver tangible impact within the energy industry. Kendra’s commercial economics background combined with her extensive experience in the energy industry has already led to some notable successes in the areas of clean energy, carbon tech and long-duration-energy-storage. She is passionate about corporate venturing and the difference it can make when utilized effectively. She also holds an MBA in New Venture Creation from the University of Louisville.

Duncan is a General Partner at SOSV, and the Global Managing Director of HAX, the world’s first and largest VC-backed program for hard tech, based in Newark, NJ. He has invested in over 100 hard tech companies and serves on multiple boards in the climate, industrial and healthcare sectors. Duncan has an extensive entrepreneurial background and deep experience fundraising and growing businesses across the globe. He has taken numerous technologies to market in various industries. Before joining SOSV, he led design and engineering strategy projects for Fortune 500 companies at the global innovation firm IDEO. Duncan obtained his Master’s from the Royal College of Art & Imperial College. His design and engineering work has won multiple awards and is included in the permanent collection at The Museum of Modern Art. He has a deep passion for new technologies and engineering breakthroughs that can benefit our planet.

Pae is a General Partner at SOSV and CTO at IndieBio, where she is responsible for portfolio management and technical oversight. Prior to joining IndieBio, Pae served as the Scientific Director of Telefónica’s moonshot factory, Alpha (in Barcelona). She was Science Director at the US Office of Naval Research – Global (out of Singapore), and technical consultant at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Her whole career, Pae has been investing in high risk solutions to intractable problems for national defense, humanity, and the planet. Pae earned her PhD at Duke in Electrical Engineering and her BSE from Princeton.

Kim is the CEO and Co-founder of Sightline Climate, the market intelligence platform bringing clarity to the new climate economy. Sightline Climate provides data, tools, and frameworks to help investors, corporates, and governments build and finance the new climate economy and powers CTVC, the industry-leading free newsletter trusted by 60,000 climate leaders. She was previously a climate tech investor at Energy Impact Partners, a $3B AUM venture capital firm investing in a sustainable future backed by a coalition of 40+ energy & industrial companies. Prior to joining EIP, Kim was an investment banker at JPMorgan and graduated from Johns Hopkins University.