Robert Trezona's guest appearances

Robert Trezona

Leaders in Cleantech

Greg Jackson

Jeff Bishop

Doug Campbell

Craig Evans

Dan Goldman

Robert Llewellyn

Matt Allen

Jigar Shah

Lukas Neckermann

Mike Hopkins

Joe Zhou

Gretchen Bakke

David Hunt

Ramya Swaminathan

Emily Reichert

OwlTail

Nicholas Hawker

What’s it all about?Cheap, abundant, low carbon energy. Looking at a Deeptech that has huge and literally game-changing capabilities. There has been much excitement, investment, and some key milestones in Nuclear Fusion in the last year. This week I have not one, but two guests, a Fusion founder and CEO, Dr Nick Hawker, and his investor, Dr Robert Trezona of Kiko Ventures. This is such an exciting space, and things are happening now that give rise to great optimism we can achieve Fusion power within a couple of decades. In the meantime, let’s get as much solar and wind in the ground as we can, but here could be cheap, abundant, safe, baseload.About Nicholas Hawker: Nicholas is the Co-founder and CEO of First Light Fusion. Nick’s research into fusion began in 2007 as part of his Master’s thesis, where he worked at the University of Oxford with Yiannis Ventikos. This work continued into a DPhil, where he performed hydrodynamic simulations of shock-driven cavity collapse. These simulations showed that cavity collapse leads to inertial confinement of the gas inside the cavity and revealed that extreme states of matter could be reached, possibly entering the regime for fusion. To explore the concept of energy generation via this process, Nick and Yiannis co-founded First Light Fusion Ltd in 2011. Nick also spent three years tutoring at Lady Margaret Hall during his studies. After finishing his DPhil in 2012, Nick joined First Light Fusion as CEO and CTO, and continues to oversee the technical vision of the company.About First Light Fusion: First Light Fusion was founded by Professor Yiannis Ventikos, Head of the Mechanical EngineeringDepartment at University College, London, and Dr Nicholas Hawker, formerly an Engineering lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.The company was spun out from the University of Oxford in July 2011, with seed capital from IP Group plc,Parkwalk Advisors Ltd and private investors. Invesco and OSI provided follow-on capital.The business has grown from a research-focused university project to a fully-fledged company that has developed not only a strategy for how to make fusion energy work, but also a sustainable business model based on the technology.The team comprises experts in relevant scientific and engineering fields plus the management experience necessary to address the challenges which lie ahead. The company has been able to attract a world class advisory board, meaning it can benefit from decades of relevant experience to help it streamline the path towards realising its visionSocial links:  Nicholas Hawker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-hawker-58a4ab75/Nicholas Hawker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FLF_Nick Nicholas Hawker Blog: Nick's Blog – A blog by Nick Hawker – First Light Fusion founder and CEOFirst Light Fusion on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-light-fusion/ First Light Fusion Website: https://t.co/j9WD61jKLMAbout Robert Trezona: Rob is the Founding Partner of Kiko Ventures, a £400m climate tech VC headquartered in London. Rob joined IP Group in 2011 to set up its cleantech division, and it has since become the leading early-stage cleantech VC in the UK. Rob has been in venture for over 15 years, starting his investment career at the Carbon Trust, where he was Head of R&amp;D. Prior to Carbon Trust, he was a strategy consultant at McKinsey, and he continues to partner with McKinsey’s Sustainability Practice in his investment&amp;

What’s it all about?Cheap, abundant, low carbon energy. Looking at a Deeptech that has huge and literally game-changing capabilities. There has been much excitement, investment, and some key milestones in Nuclear Fusion in the last year. This week I have not one, but two guests, a Fusion founder and CEO, Dr Nick Hawker, and his investor, Dr Robert Trezona of Kiko Ventures. This is such an exciting space, and things are happening now that give rise to great optimism we can achieve Fusion power within a couple of decades. In the meantime, let’s get as much solar and wind in the ground as we can, but here could be cheap, abundant, safe, baseload. About Nicholas Hawker: Nicholas is the Co-founder and CEO of First Light Fusion. Nick’s research into fusion began in 2007 as part of his Master’s thesis, where he worked at the University of Oxford with Yiannis Ventikos. This work continued into a DPhil, where he performed hydrodynamic simulations of shock-driven cavity collapse. These simulations showed that cavity collapse leads to inertial confinement of the gas inside the cavity and revealed that extreme states of matter could be reached, possibly entering the regime for fusion. To explore the concept of energy generation via this process, Nick and Yiannis co-founded First Light Fusion Ltd in 2011. Nick also spent three years tutoring at Lady Margaret Hall during his studies. After finishing his DPhil in 2012, Nick joined First Light Fusion as CEO and CTO, and continues to oversee the technical vision of the company. About First Light Fusion: First Light Fusion was founded by Professor Yiannis Ventikos, Head of the Mechanical EngineeringDepartment at University College, London, and Dr Nicholas Hawker, formerly an Engineering lecturer at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. The company was spun out from the University of Oxford in July 2011, with seed capital from IP Group plc,Parkwalk Advisors Ltd and private investors. Invesco and OSI provided follow-on capital.The business has grown from a research-focused university project to a fully-fledged company that has developed not only a strategy for how to make fusion energy work, but also a sustainable business model based on the technology. The team comprises experts in relevant scientific and engineering fields plus the management experience necessary to address the challenges which lie ahead. The company has been able to attract a world class advisory board, meaning it can benefit from decades of relevant experience to help it streamline the path towards realising its vision Social links: Nicholas Hawker on LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-hawker-58a4ab75/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-hawker-58a4ab75/</a>Nicholas Hawker on Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/FLF_Nick" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/FLF_Nick</a> Nicholas Hawker Blog: <a href="https://nickhawker.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Nick's Blog – A blog by Nick Hawker – First Light Fusion founder and CEO</a>First Light Fusion on Linkedin: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-light-fusion/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/company/first-light-fusion/</a> First Light Fusion Website: <a href="https://t.co/j9WD61jKLM" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://t.co/j9WD61jKLM</a> About Robert Trezona: Rob is the Founding Partner of Kiko Ventures, a £400m climate tech VC headquartered in London. Rob joined IP Group in 2011 to set up its cleantech division, and it has since become the leading early-stage cleantech VC in the UK. Rob has been in venture for over 15 years, starting his investment career at the Carbon Trust, where he was Head of R&amp;D. Prior to Carbon Trust, he was a strategy consultant at McKinsey, and he continues to partner with McKinsey’s Sustainability Practice in his investment&amp;

Leaders In Cleantech #116 - Dr Nicholas Hawker & Dr Robert Trezona - First Light Fusion

What’s it all about?I first met Robert and the IP Group team as we were both pitching at EcoSummit in Berlin. An event that brings together the best investors, VCs, CVCs and corporate venturing teams, with the best cleantech start-ups across Europe. IP Group are a bit different from most investors, making very early bets, often with university spin-outs. Robert and his team are deeply embedded in early cleantech start-up ecosystem.About our guestRobert is Head of Cleantech at IP Group, which over the last seven years has become the largest cleantech venture capital investor in the UK. Building on IP Group’s relationships with universities, the focus of the portfolio is deep technology solutions based on scientific breakthroughs. Most companies are developing distinctive, IP-protected hardware solutions, and aim to achieve scalability – and put a dent in climate change – by partnering with large corporates committed to the energy transition. Technologies range from fusion energy to off-grid solar in emerging markets. In addition to his work at IP Group, Robert serves as a Commissioner for the Energy Transitions Commission, a diverse, global group of leaders from industry, finance and public life who are working to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon energy, industry and transport.About IP GroupIP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group aims to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges through the companies we back, allowing us to generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.GUEST LINKS IP Group Website - https://www.ipgroupplc.com/IP Group on Linked In - https://www.linkedin.com/company/ip-group-plc/IP Group on Twitter - https://twitter.com/IPGroupplcRobert Trezona on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-trezona-12b0b86/Robert Trezona on Twitter - https://twitter.com/trez97 EPISODE LINKS Principles: Life and Work - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021Follow us online, write a review (please) or subscribeI'm very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter. If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.Twitter https://twitter.com/weekincleantech Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/

What’s it all about?I first met Robert and the IP Group team as we were both pitching at EcoSummit in Berlin. An event that brings together the best investors, VCs, CVCs and corporate venturing teams, with the best cleantech start-ups across Europe. IP Group are a bit different from most investors, making very early bets, often with university spin-outs. Robert and his team are deeply embedded in early cleantech start-up ecosystem.About our guestRobert is Head of Cleantech at IP Group, which over the last seven years has become the largest cleantech venture capital investor in the UK. Building on IP Group’s relationships with universities, the focus of the portfolio is deep technology solutions based on scientific breakthroughs. Most companies are developing distinctive, IP-protected hardware solutions, and aim to achieve scalability – and put a dent in climate change – by partnering with large corporates committed to the energy transition. Technologies range from fusion energy to off-grid solar in emerging markets. In addition to his work at IP Group, Robert serves as a Commissioner for the Energy Transitions Commission, a diverse, global group of leaders from industry, finance and public life who are working to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon energy, industry and transport.About IP GroupIP Group is a leading intellectual property commercialisation company which focuses on evolving great ideas, mainly from its partner universities, into world-changing businesses. The Group aims to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges through the companies we back, allowing us to generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. The Group has pioneered a unique approach to developing these ideas and the resulting businesses by providing access to business building expertise, capital (through its 100%-owned FCA-authorised subsidiaries IP Capital and Parkwalk Advisors), networks, recruitment and business support. IP Group has a strong track record of success and its portfolio comprises holdings in early-stage to mature businesses across life sciences and technology. IP Group is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange under the code IPO.GUEST LINKS IP Group Website - <a href="https://www.ipgroupplc.com/IP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ipgroupplc.com/IP</a> Group on Linked In - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/ip-group-plc/IP" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/company/ip-group-plc/IP</a> Group on Twitter - <a href="https://twitter.com/IPGroupplcRobert" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/IPGroupplcRobert</a> Trezona on LinkedIn - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-trezona-12b0b86/Robert" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-trezona-12b0b86/Robert</a> Trezona on Twitter - <a href="https://twitter.com/trez97" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/trez97</a> EPISODE LINKS Principles: Life and Work - <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021Follow" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Life-Work-Ray-Dalio/dp/1501124021Follow</a> us online, write a review (please) or subscribeI'm very keen to hear feedback on the podcast and my guests, and to hear your suggestions for future guests or topics. Contact via the website, or Twitter. If you do enjoy the podcast, please write a review on iTunes, or your usual podcast platform, and tell your cleantech friends about us. That would be much appreciated.Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/weekincleantech" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/weekincleantech</a> Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/thisweekincleantech/</a> Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/davidhunt2013/</a>

Robert Trezona, IP Group – Episode 40