HIT Fund Team
Meet the HIT Fund Team
The High Impact Technology (HIT) Fund aims to accelerate the commercial delivery of Stanford-based innovations, out of the lab and into the world. We provide seed funding along with strategic and advisory support to faculty, students, postdocs, and staff to help transform innovative, advantaged, and scalable Stanford technologies into new products, services, or companies.
Meet the team below or learn more about the HIT Fund!
HIT Fund MBA Interns
Read about each of our current HIT Fund MBA Interns below. If you are interested in becoming a HIT Fund MBA Intern, visit the MBA Intern Program page for more information about the program and how to apply.
Jasmine Kaur, MBA'24
Jasmine Kaur is an MSx student at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, drawing upon her experience in bio-pharmaceutical industry in diverse disease areas – Oncology, women’s health, cardiovascular. With an undergraduate background in Aerospace Engineering from India, she has researched on meso-scale combustion before pivoting to the healthcare sector as a management consultant at ZS Associates. She has worked with Fortune 100 cos like Gilead, BMS, Allergan in the US focusing on new-asset development, product growth strategies, and sales and marketing optimization to drive both short-term and sustained growth. She joined Novartis in 2020 on the launch team of a cholesterol drug and was instrumental in driving 50% of the multi-billion $ revenue for the product. She then started her consulting co. to help early stage health tech cos. in areas such as go-to-market strategies, data strategy for AI enablement, and AI integration in products. At GSB, she is researching applications of generative AI in clinical settings to improve patient outcomes at scale and plans to start a company post-GSB in this space. Outside of her professional life, she's a health tech enthusiast, using Oura ring to inform her daily wellness routine for over three years. View LinkedIn Profile
Alexander Lubkin, MBA'25
Alex is currently pursuing an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He previously served as a Navy Officer at Naval Reactors, which maintains full lifecycle responsibility for the propulsion plants on all nuclear-powered US Navy submarines and aircraft carriers. Alex began his Naval Reactors career as a technical program manager in the Reactor Materials Division. He later served as the Naval Reactors Chief Technologist, leading the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program’s (NNPP) new, cross-disciplinary technology development and investment organization, the Advanced Technology Innovation Pipeline (ATIP). ATIP targets the NNPP’s toughest challenges through development of emerging technology capabilities. Alex holds a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering with Honors in International Security Studies and an M.S. in Management Science & Engineering, both from Stanford University. View Linked In Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Chief Technologist and Head of the Advanced Technology Innovation Pipeline | Reactor Materials Engineer and Technical Program Manager, Naval Reactors (Washington, D.C.)
Yoo Eun Kim, MBA '24
Yoo Eun is an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to the GSB, Yoo Eun served as a classroom teacher and manager at Teach For America. She majored in economics at Smith College, a women's liberal arts school in Northampton, MA. Following graduation, she plans to join an AI company in a growth role. View Linkedin Profile.
Krish Mehta, MBA'24/MS'25
Krish Mehta, from Mumbai, is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar pursuing a joint MBA and MS at Stanford. From a young age, Krish was determined to tackle climate change after witnessing its devastating impact on vulnerable communities in India. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, earning dual degrees in Business and Engineering with a focus on renewable energy. After graduating, Krish became an Engagement Manager at McKinsey’s Sustainability practice, where he successfully influenced clients like the United Nations and World Economic Forum to invest in carbon offsets and natural climate solutions. He later joined Tesla where he combined his business acumen with engineering expertise to manage the Model 3 P&L and save Tesla $50M annually. Post Stanford, Krish plans to start a company that lowers carbon emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous work experience:
Tesla Model 3 finance and operations; McKinsey Sustainability Manager
Pengpeng Wang, MBA'22
Pengpeng has 10+ years of healthcare experience across management consulting at L.E.K. and Bain, corporate strategy/innovation/marketing/BD at Pfizer and early stage healthcare VC investment at Decent Capital. She received her Bachelor degree from Duke University and recently a Master degree from Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is experienced in healthcare commercial strategy, stakeholder alliance building, policy shaping, business model innovation and early stage investment. She is also an active mentor and community builder for many startups, accelerators and founders communities.
Previous Work Experience:
Healthcare VC, Decent Capital; Corporate Innovation/Strategy/Marketing/BD, Pfizer; Healthcare Consulting, Bain & LEK
Joseph Kao, MSx'24
Joseph is currently in the MSx program at Stanford Graduate School of Business, drawing upon a rich background as an engineering manager with a decade of experience in optical materials R&D and AR/VR product development at Dow Chemical, Apple, and Meta. His leadership has driven the successful commercialization of more than four groundbreaking inventions within the realm of consumer electronics. Notable among these achievements are the flexible hardcoat cover window for LG foldable phones and lens coatings for Apple Vision Pro. Recently, Joseph's passion for bridging disruptive technologies with commercial impact brought him to Stanford. As an OTL HIT intern, he channels his expertise in R&D, product-market fit, go-to-market strategies, and product development to craft impactful commercial pathways for cutting-edge hardware technologies. Before venturing into industry leadership, Joseph earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from UC Berkeley. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience
Technical Program Manager, Meta Reality Labs; Engineering Manager, Apple; Associate R&D Manager, Dow Chemical
Madison Freeman, MBA 2024/ MS 2025
Madison Freeman brings climate technology experience spanning policy, investing, and startup operations to the HIT fund. She served in the Biden administration as a senior advisor on innovative technologies to Climate Envoy John Kerry, invested in breakthrough climate technologies at Energy Impact Partners, and has contributed in operational roles to climate startups Via Separations and Verne. She is an active alumni of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute, where she founded the New York chapter. Madison is pursuing an MBA and an MS in Energy and Resources from the School of Sustainability as a Knight Hennessey Scholar. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Senior Advisor on Innovation to Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry; Investor and Strategist at Energy Impact Partners; Innovation policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and energy policy at the Atlantic Council; Chief of Staff at Verne.
Bennett Johnson, MBA '24
Before pursuing his MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Bennett spent three years as a management consultant designing emissions reduction strategies for Fortune 100 companies and deploying sustainable innovations at scale. In his role he frequently worked with engineers and scientists to introduce cutting-edge practices and innovations to large corporate partners. Since starting his MBA, Bennett has advised and invested in early-stage hard-tech start-ups focused on solving the biggest climate challenges. At the Fund, Bennett brings his experience building partnerships with large corporate partners, developing go-to-market strategies for early-stage companies, and investing in climate start-ups to help accelerate the next generation of climate innovations to the market. View LinkedIn Profile.
Previous Work Experience:
Early-stage climate investor at Gigascale Capital; Management consultant at Kearney
Min Jae Yoo, MBA'24
Min Jae is an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He was inspired and has since been aspiring to make a difference through healthcare after serving in the United Nations Mission In South Sudan as part of his military service. After graduating from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Health Care Management., he began his career at Merck as a Policy Specialist then joined MINT Venture Partners, a healthcare venture capital/company builder, as a founding member, focusing on biotech, medical device/tech, and healthcare tech. Post-MBA, Min Jae plans to pursue entrepreneurship in healthcare by translating a scientific innovation and breakthrough into a disruptive solution and application. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Founding Member/Healthcare VC, MINT Venture Partners; Policy Specialist, Merck & Co
Ben Collins, MBA ‘23
Ben has spent the last four years working in technology commercialization focused on applied sciences and engineering. Before earning his MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, Ben was an investor at Rhapsody Venture Partners, where he focused on early-stage investments across autonomous vehicles, electronics, building materials, agriculture and more. At Rhapsody, he frequently assisted scientists/academics spinning out technologies from university and national labs. Working on behalf of portfolio companies, Ben negotiated several joint development agreements with multibillion-dollar industrial partners. Prior to investing, Ben worked in strategy consulting largely focused on the telecommunications industry. View LinkedIn Profile
Education:
Ben holds an MBA from Stanford and an SB in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.
Cristobal Maturana, MBS '23/MS E-IPER '24
Cristobal is a joint MBA and MS in Environment and Resources (E-IPER) student at Stanford, specializing in the clean energy sector. Before Stanford, Cristobal completed his undergrad studies in Industrial and Electrical engineering and went on to work for BCG as a management consultant. Over his four years at BCG, Cristobal led operational and strategic projects for various companies in the mining and pulp & paper industries. During this time, he also collaborated with a startup that developed a plasma reactor for water purification, providing advice on go-to-market and IP strategy. Currently, Cristobal is focusing on electrification and distributed energy resources. At the fund, he collaborates in Go-to-market, Strategy and Commercialization for deep tech hardware with substantial decarbonization potential. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous HIT Interns
Misha Baitemirova, MBA Candidate '23
Misha Baitemirova, from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, is pursuing a master’s degree in biomedical informatics with a focus on artificial intelligence at Stanford School of Medicine, and an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in bioinformatics. Misha aspires to advance healthcare in underserved communities to help bridge the healthcare gap. Her startup Clinicai is developing tools for continuous health tracking and chronic disease detection at home. She worked at Memomi Labs developing AR/AI digital mirrors and underwent entrepreneurial training at Singularity University. She has done research on the microbiome, DNA damage response, and gene modification using CRISPR-Cas9 at Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine, NIBR, and the University of St. Thomas. She received scholarships from the Open Society Foundation, Google, and Genentech. View Stanford Profile
Previous Work Experience:
CEO/Co-founder at Clinicai Inc; Director of Partnerships at Memomi Labs (acquired by Walmart)
Varun Mahesh, MBA '24
Varun is an MBA student at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. He is a mechanical engineer by background, and an alumnus of BITS Pilani. Varun started his career in the oilfield with Schlumberger (now SLB) as a field engineer on drilling rigs in both offshore and onshore locations in India. He grew into an ops role here, overseeing drilling operations on the field as a Wellsite Leader, before moving to business-facing positions within Schlumberger's Digital product line. In this role, Varun gained experience in launching software and automation tools in the Indian O&G market. Since arriving at Stanford, he has spent his time identifying customer needs and conducting market research for remote health monitoring technologies in the industrial safety space.
Varun is excited by technologies which lie at the intersection of hardware and software, where tangible and meaningful impact can be felt. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Engineering, Operations and Tech Sales at Schlumberger (Now SLB)
Bharti Singhla, MBA ‘24
Bharti Singhla is a passionate cleantech entrepreneur and operational leader, currently an MBA + MS (EIPER - Clean Energy) student at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Before coming to Stanford, Bharti was the co-founder and COO of Chakr Innovation, a VC-backed startup, where she spearheaded the deployment of a patented device that captures 80-90% of black carbon emissions from diesel engines. Bharti's strategic and operational acumen helped the company create a profitable business line, build a thriving global customer base and secure multiple rounds of funding. An alumnus of IIT Delhi with a degree in Chemical Engineering, she kick-started her career at The Boston Consulting Group, India, where she excelled in strategic transformation and sales improvement projects. Beyond the boardroom, Bharti is recognized for contributing to the climate tech space, including by UNIDO, Govt. of Finland, YourStory Media, and Reuters. She is also the recipient of the 'Women Entrepreneur of the Year' award from TiE NCR in India. In her role at the Fund, Bharti brings her entrepreneurial expertise and profound understanding of sustainable business strategies to nurture and guide the next generation of climate tech innovators. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
COO/Co-founder at Chakr Innovation; The Boston Consulting Group, India
Yutong Zhu, MBA Candidate '23
Yutong is pursuing an MBA and an MS in Environment and Resources at Stanford. He is passionate about commercializing cutting-edge technologies to solve climate challenges. Prior to Stanford, he had five years experience working in Australia's federal research organization, CSIRO, developing and commercializing technologies in climate, sustainability, mineral processing, and advanced materials. He holds one utility patent and twelve design patents. Yutong holds a bachelor and master of chemical engineering from the University of Queensland in Australia. View Stanford Profile
Previous Work Experience
Five years technology commercialization and business development experience at Australia's federal research organization focusing on mineral processing, advanced materials, and chemical engineering.
Sophia Lugo, MBA Candidate '23
Sophia Lugo is currently in her second year at the Graduate School of Business. She has worked in VC and tech policy; in product strategy in the Precision Health Solutions Incubator at one of China's largest biotech companies; as a consultant in life sciences and healthcare at BCG; and in health financing, supply chain, and product delivery at the Gates Foundation. She holds a BA in Philosophy of Science and Biology from Harvard University and an MA in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing (Schwarzman Scholars Program). View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Associate Strategy Officer at Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Consultant at BCG; Product strategy at BGI Genomics (Shenzhen, China)
Catherine Berner, MBA '22
Catherine is dedicated to bringing new climate technologies to market. She designed and built award-winning factories while leading the product division at a waste-to-energy startup. Then, at the private equity firm Azimuth Capital Management, she invested in the energy transition with a focus on carbon capture. Now she is helping launch new climate ventures. Catherine holds a degree from UC Berkeley College of Engineering, where she graduated with honors in environmental and energy engineering, and earned her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2022. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Commercialization at Trofx (Palo Alto, California); Azimuth Capital Management (Mountain View, California); Head of Product at Sanivation (Kenya)