In the emerging clean economy, scale is the critical challenge. There are plenty of good ideas and proven technologies. But there’s a disconnect between entrepreneurs, investors, and large corporations in the market. Small companies need access to capital and global distribution channels. Large companies need more innovative approaches to address resource challenges. Investors need scalable commercial pathways to see a return. We founded Pure Energy Partners to connect these dots.
We’re veteran pioneers of the clean economy with decades of experience working at the highest levels of business, finance, and industry. As successful investors, entrepreneurs, and advisers we have started, grown, and sold multiple clean technology companies, raised and deployed many millions of dollars, and led the development of some of the most notable clean economy commercial initiatives.
Like a venture investor, we competitively select a portfolio of the most promising and impactful clean economy ventures. We then work intensively with our entrepreneurial, finance, and corporate portfolio companies to help them secure strategic customers, partners, and capital and drive more rapid growth. In turn, we earn a share of the value we create in helping them to achieve scale.
NICHOLAS EISENBERGER
Managing Partner
Nicholas Eisenberger is a pioneer of the clean economy. As a successful entrepreneur, investor, strategist, and highly regarded speaker and author, Nicholas has worked for two decades to ... read more.
SAMEER RASHID
Partner
Sameer Rashid is a clean economy entrepreneur, strategist, and evangelist with a nose for emerging opportunities, talent, and trends. Over the course of his career, Sameer has successfully ... read more.
NED HORNEFFER
Senior Analyst
Ned Horneffer has been working with clean economy projects and companies for six years. Ned joined Pure Energy Partners after graduating from the University of St Andrews with an MA (Honors) in Sustainable ... read more.
Sarah King / Senior Advisor
Alison Smith / Senior Advisor
Rodi Blokh / Alumnus
Ida Hempel / Alumna
Armelle de Vienne / Alumna
Vasilis Hrstidis / Alumnus
Silpa Kaza / Alumna
Josh Curry / Alumnus
Nick Turchak / Alumnus
Our network is broad and deep and includes leading organizations and individuals from across the clean economy and related energy, infrastructure, and information technology sectors. Depending on our clients’ needs, Pure Energy is able to tap the expertise of a broad variety of specialists in business strategy, marketing, finance, public policy, and technology who make up our extended team.
Nicholas Eisenberger
Managing Partner
Nicholas Eisenberger is a pioneer of the clean economy. As a successful entrepreneur, investor, strategist, and highly regarded speaker and author, Nicholas has worked for two decades to advance the clean technology industry. Nicholas is the founder and Managing Partner of Pure Energy Partners, a venture catalyst firm that invests in high impact, high potential clean economy companies, projects, and funds and actively works to accelerate their commercial success.
He is also a co-founder of GO Ventures, which invests in path breaking cleantech enterprises, a member of the board of directors of the American Council on Renewable Energy, the leading national umbrella organization for the industry, and a co-founder of The Cleanweb Initiative, a new industry association focused on growing the market place of information technology solutions that address our critical resource and environmental challenges.
From 2005-2009, Nicholas was Managing Principal of GreenOrder, which he and his partners established as one of the most influential corporate sustainability strategy firms and sold in 2008. Called one of the “go to guys” in sustainability consulting by Fortune, Nicholas is widely recognized for his groundbreaking work with global companies such as GM, DuPont, HP, and GE, whose multi-billion dollar ecomagination initiative Nicholas played a key role in guiding from its launch
Prior to that, Mr. Eisenberger was the founder and CEO of Ecos Technologies, an environmental management enterprise software company and a venture capital investor at Churchill Capital, one of the very first dedicated cleantech funds. In the mid-nineties, he also co-founded Mypoints.com, a pioneering public Internet marketing company that was purchased by United Airlines.
Nicholas is an honors graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and received a Certificate in Environmental Law from the University of California. He serves on numerous boards in the clean economy sector including the X PRIZE Foundation’s Energy & Environment Advisory Board, the President’s Advisory Council of the National Wildlife Foundation, the World Resource Institute’s Innovators Council, Scotland’s Saltire Prize Advisory Board for Marine Renewable Energy, the New York Council for Global Green USA, and the board of New York Sun Works, a science and sustainability non-profit. Nicholas lives by the Sound in coastal Connecticut with his wife, Robin, and their three young daughters.
Sameer Rashid
Partner
Sameer Rashid is a clean economy entrepreneur, strategist, and evangelist with a nose for emerging opportunities, talent, and trends. Over the course of his career, Sameer has successfully identified and executed efforts to develop innovative markets, partnerships, and strategies in different sectors including CO2 capture and recycling, organic waste, and the cleanweb.
In 2005, Sameer co-founded Think 21, a start-up focused on commercializing an organic waste recycling technology. Sameer led Think 21 and its market development efforts throughout the US. After Think 21 was acquired by Kleiner Perkins- and Waste Management-backed Harvest Power, a leader in next generation organics management, Sameer was a catalyst for Harvest’s market leadership in the east coast and Canada.
Sameer joined Pure Energy Partners in late 2010 shortly after its launch. Before his foray into the clean economy sector, Sameer was a credit trader at Deutsche Bank, with a focus on energy and industrial sectors. Sameer is a graduate of The George Washington University, where he studied Economics. Sameer lives in Brooklyn with his wife Kate.
Ned Horneffer
Senior Analyst
Ned joined Pure Energy Partners after graduating from the University of St Andrews with an MA (Honors) in Sustainable Development. At Pure Energy, he leads project management and a broad variety of portfolio project research activities.
During his time at University, Ned initiated a Jatropha biofuel cooperative in Botswana and successfully completed a charity car rally from London to UlaanBaatar, Mongolia using vegetable oil for fuel. Ned’s senior thesis examined Masdar City as a model for sustainable urban planning in the Middle East.
Ned’s professional interest in clean technology began early on when he worked for Acidophil, LLC, a life sciences- and green chemistry-focused venture creation firm founded by Philip Goelet, PhD and Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner, MD PhD. Ned researched metabolic pathways in plants and bacteria which produce high-value polymers commonly derived from petroleum. Ned also assisted with the launch of ZuvaChem Inc., a company based around a novel technology to synthesize isoprene (natural rubber) from genetically engineered cyanobacteria.
In his free time, Ned is an avid squash player, sailor, and horseback rider.
Mark LaVine
Business Development Associate
Mark is a business development and communications professional who has worked with some of Silicon Valley’s most successful brands. Mark has experience guiding companies across a variety of stages, including established, venture-funded, and boot-strapped startups.
In 2009, Mark began his career at The OutCast Agency, named one of six “Insurgent Agencies of 2010″ by ADWEEK, a mid-size communications and digital/marketing firm that represents technology industry leaders and disruptors. In his role there, he developed and executed communications programs and launch campaigns for AdMob (acquired by Google), Benchmark Capital, Netflix, Nike, OpenTable, Palm, Quicken, VMware, Wealthfront, Yahoo! and Zimbra (acquired by VMware). Then, Mark ran communications for the Firefox suite of products at Mozilla, where he was responsible for driving communications strategy, writing product announcements and coordinating launch logistics.
Mark joined Pure Energy Partners after founding his own communications consulting firm, which provides communications and PR services to startups in the cleantech / clean energy space. Mark graduated from University of Denver with a BA in International Studies (Honors) and enjoys soccer, cycling, skiing, and adventure travel.
Accessing capital remains difficult for clean economy innovators. Leveraging a diverse, global network of investors, we help our portfolio companies develop and execute smart capital formation strategies to secure financing from strategic and entrepreneurial sources including family offices, super angels, corporates, institutional investors, and others.
Clean economy market conditions are constantly shifting. As experienced strategy advisors to some of the world’s most senior business leaders, we help develop and execute disciplined commercialization strategies that have a single-minded focus on leapfrogging barriers and dramatically accelerating growth.
Commercial success depends on customers, revenue, and effective channels to market. With deep expertise in sales and an extensive network of corporate relationships, we assist our portfolio companies to identify and develop strategic commercial partnerships that can fuel breakthrough growth.
Marketing innovative clean economy solutions, often against conventional incumbents, is a complex challenge. Building on decades of missionary marketing for companies large and small, we develop creative branding, marketing, and communications strategies that present a differentiated, customer-focused, emotionally-resonant value proposition to key audiences.
Pure Energy Partners is headquartered in New York City, but you can also often find us in San Francisco, London, Toronto, and other global cities where we have significant business.
+1.212.920.7244
info [at] pure-energy-partners [dot] com
