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 Fellows
Read about each of our current and past HIT Fund MBA Fellows below. If you are interested in becoming a HIT Fund MBA Fellow, visit the MBA Fellow Program page for more information about the program and how to apply.
Weldon Walker, MBA'26
Weldon Walker is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to the GSB, he led global commercial strategy at Seagen, where he executed two billion-dollar oncology product launches and shaped early development strategy for three pipeline programs. During his tenure, Seagen was acquired by Pfizer for $43B, one of the largest transactions in biopharma history. Earlier in his career, Weldon worked as a strategy consultant, advising leading biopharma companies on clinical and commercial solutions to advance innovative medicines. Most recently, he interned with Novo Holdings, a leading life sciences investment firm, where he focused on next-generation nuclear technologies. View LinkedIn Profile
Derek Chou, MBA'26
Derek is a second-year MBA student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business passionate about reimagining our supply chain. He previously worked on the global supply chain for Apple’s iPhone battery operations, managing 250M+ units annually and pioneering sustainability and innovation initiatives. Most recently, he worked in venture capital with CDIB Capital in Taiwan, evaluating energy storage and semiconductor startups. At the GSB, he’s focused on finding new energy hardware solutions and unlocking innovation in the manufacturing and supply chain ecosystems.
Derek holds a B.S. in Business Administration from UC Berkeley, where he also served as the student commencement speaker. View LinkedIn Profile
Maria F. Campos, MBA'26
Maria Fernanda is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is an engineer with 4 years of work experience in the aerospace industry. She previously worked at Boeing as a manufacturing engineer and a systems engineer in the space and commercial airplane divisions of the company. She is interested in the intersection between engineering, business, and design concepts to develop new innovative technologies. Maria Fernanda has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Product Design from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. View Linked In Profile
Kai Loh, MBA'26
Kai is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where his interests focus on health technology and medical devices. He began his career as a medical doctor practicing in neurology and stroke medicine, with experience in intensive care and clinical data science. Kai also holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Neuroscience, complementing his clinical expertise with a strong research foundation. He is passionate about leveraging technology and data-driven solutions to improve patient outcomes and advance healthcare innovation. View LinkedIn Profile
Floriane Ngako Kameni, MD/MBA'26
Floriane is a joint MD/MBA candidate at Stanford's School of Business and School of Medicine where her interests span clinical medicine and medical innovation. While pursuing her degrees, she co-founded an immunotherapy venture where she drives cross-functional strategy to advance novel immune modulation approaches for solid tumors. She is a scientist by training, with research experience spanning systems neuroscience, regulatory genomics, computational biology and cancer cell therapy at Harvard University, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the University of Washington, and Seattle Children's Research Institute.
Floriane’s immigrant background shapes her drive to make healthcare systems more just and inclusive. At Stanford, in parallel to her entrepreneurial work, she has contributed to research and leadership efforts focused on expanding access to care and broadening participation in medical innovation.
At the fund, she brings these layered experiences to shape commercialization pathways for technologies with transformative clinical potential. Floriane holds a A.B. in Neurobiology from Harvard University. View LinkedIn Profile
Mehul Bhatia, MS/MBA (E-IPER)'27
Mehul Bhatia is an MBA and MS in Environment & Resources candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He began his career as an engineer with Schlumberger, where he led complex oilfield projects across India, the UAE, and Bangladesh, managing teams of over 80 people and driving multimillion-dollar operational turnarounds. His work ranged from designing and fabricating high-value fluid & well integrity systems to developing global digital transformation initiatives.
At Stanford, Mehul is exploring how technology and sustainability intersect to build scalable industrial solutions. He is passionate about decarbonizing heavy industries through electrified processes and AI-driven efficiency. As part of the HIT Fund, he applies his experience in operations, analytics, and commercialization to evaluate and support emerging climate technologies.
Mehul holds a B.Tech. in Civil Engineering with a minor in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. View LinkedIn Profile
Amanda Tu, MBA'26
Amanda is a second-year MBA student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business with broad experience spanning digital health, medical device, and consumer health + wellness. She previously worked at Midi Health, where she led the launch of a new field sales program and supported go-to-market and operations for the company’s new direct-to-consumer supplements line. Amanda is currently developing and commercializing an early-intervention therapy for small bowel obstruction (SBO) through the Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign.
Amanda holds a B.S. in Product Design Engineering from Stanford University, where she focused on building healthcare solutions for under-resourced settings—from operating rooms in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to home-care environments in Madurai, India. View LinkedIn Profile
Sergio Mavridis, MBA'26
Sergio Mavridis is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he focuses on healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship. Most recently, he was a founding member of a pre-seed diagnostics company, where he designed and launched the company's first AI-powered triage application and secured the first pilot partnerships, while helping the company raise its $1M seed round. At Stanford Medical School, he worked on go-to-market strategy and contracting models for provider-led insurance initiatives.
Sergio graduated with distinction from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú with a B.S. in Industrial & Mechatronics Engineering and holds a Diploma in Anthropology. He also co-founded CrecePerú, an education platform that allowed adults to finish highschool. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Prior to Stanford, Sergio worked at McKinsey & Company in Lima, leading teams on strategy and operations projects. His work drove over $50M in impact through pricing optimization, cost reduction initiatives, and new business building for major clients across Latin America.
Aditi Mahajan, MBA'26
Aditi is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Her background lies in Healthcare AI Strategy and Consumer Packaged Goods. Most recently she was the Chief of Staff and Head of Marketing at Elucidata, an AI startup focused on drug discovery. At Elucidata, she led Go-to-market Strategy, Investor Relations, Fundraising and Business Operations. Prior to that Aditi was driving Digital Transformation initiatives at Unilever and have worked across R&D, Supply Chain and Marketing. She has a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. Aditi is passionate about the intersection of technology and business in Healthcare and the immense potential of disruptive solutions in a mainstream industry. View LinkedIn Profile
Ryan Davis, MBA'25 / MS ’26
Ryan is a joint MBA-MS candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Doerr School of Sustainability, where his interests include natural capital, nature conservation and restoration, as well as earth observation and remote sensing technologies. He began his career on BlackRock’s Sustainable Investing team, helping scale the firm’s climate and environmental research, tools, and investment funds. He later served in the Biden Administration as a policy advisor on the White House National Economic Council, where he oversaw economic policy communications, speechwriting, climate and industrial policy, and supply chain disruptions for the President. Ryan holds an A.B. in Economics with a secondary in History from Harvard University. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Policy Advisor, White House National Economic Council; Sustainable Investing Team, BlackRock
Isha Kulkarni, MBA/MS EIPER'26
Isha Kulkarni is a joint MBA/MS candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Prior to Stanford, she led thesis development and investment due diligence on startups in the transportation and electricity sectors for global climate tech accelerator, Third Derivative. Before that, at clean energy think-tank RMI, she advised Indian governments and financial institutions on electric vehicle policy, net-zero buildings, and financial regulation. Isha spent her most recent summer building climate adaptation startups with a San Francisco-based venture studio and learning about sustainability in the food industry with Kenya's largest specialty coffee roaster. She holds an MEng in Civil Engineering from University College London. View LinkedIn Profile
Navi Sidhu, MBA/MS ’26
Navi is an MBA/MS Biology candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He began his career at Deloitte Consulting, where he advised leading biopharma companies on portfolio strategy, market access, and launch planning. His work spanned therapeutic and functional areas, including shaping the strategic direction of a multi-billion-dollar immunology portfolio, supporting reimbursement and patient access for a CNS pipeline asset, and guiding a F100 corporate venture team’s technology-scouting efforts. Trained in psychobiology and public health at UCLA, Navi is passionate about translating science into scalable, equitable solutions. At the HIT Fund, he draws on his broad commercial experience to develop go-to-market pathways for cutting-edge Stanford technologies. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Strategy Senior Consultant, Deloitte Consulting; Employer Strategy & Portfolio Marketing Intern, Amgen; Research Assistant, UCLA Health
Previous HIT Fund MBA Fellows
Jack Shumway, MBA'25
Jack is currently pursuing an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where his interests include applications of genetic engineering, therapeutics development, -omics technology, and life science tools. He previously worked as a life science consultant with Deloitte, working on market access, go-to-market, and other strategic engagements for several of the world's largest therapeutics manufacturers and for Deloitte's life science leadership. Before the GSB, Jack also led a product-development effort for the pre-seed synthetic biology startup Wild Microbes. This past summer, he worked with the corporate venture capital group of the Japanese conglomerate Ajinomoto, developing development of the company's investment thesis for the cell and gene therapy space. Jack holds a B.S. in Genomics from Davidson College in North Carolina. View LinkedIn Profile.
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
Priyanka Seegobin, MBA'25
Priyanka Seegobin is an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Priyanka is a pharmacist with five years of experience in clinical drug development, specializing in medical and regulatory affairs. At Novo Nordisk, she played a key role in bringing Wegovy (GLP-1) to market, securing regulatory approval and helping millions of patients worldwide manage obesity. Since then, she has led projects and served as the primary FDA contact for multiple products across therapeutic areas. As part of the HIT Fund, she leverages her expertise in drug development, product-market fit and go-to-market strategies to craft impactful commercial pathways for cutting-edge life science technologies. She holds a Master’s degree in Pharmacy from University College London. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Clinical Drug Development, Novo Nordisk | Clinical Pharmacy, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Tushar Krishnan, MBA'25
Tushar is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Previously, he managed new product innovation projects for the medical business at Leica Microsystems, driving cross-functional teams to launch digital microscopy tools to help improve neurosurgery outcomes. At Duke University, he led the design and development of an inexpensive and portable smartphone-based device to detect disease biomarkers. Tushar is passionate about leveraging the nexus of healthcare and technology to improve lives. Tushar holds a bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati and a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University. View LinkedIn Profile .
Previous Work Experience:
Project Manager Software Solutions at Leica Microsystems; Associate in Research at Duke University
Avis Chan, MBA'25
Avis is an MBA candidate at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Before GSB, she worked at Bain as a management consultant, developing and implementing corporate strategies for medtech companies, healthcare payors, and healthcare private equity. She also externed at Viatris, working as the Senior Corporate Strategy Manager at the pharmaceutical company. This past summer, Avis worked on her consumer health startup and interned at the largest real estate company in Japan. Avis holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from The University of Hong Kong. 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.)
Paige Frank, MBA/EIPER'26
Paige Frank is currently an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. As an undergraduate, Paige studied biomedical engineering and computer science at Johns Hopkins University. She then joined McKinsey & Company as a management consultant where she supported large US corporations on technology strategy and digital transformations. After spending a few years working with McKinsey in the US, she transferred to Nairobi, Kenya where she worked on healthcare strategies across the African continent. While pursuing her MBA, Paige has completed internships in impact investing and product management. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous work experience:
Growth Equity Summer Associate, Generation Investment Management; Product Manager, SIRUM; Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company
Elliot Nell, MBA'25
Elliot is currently in the MBA program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His career began as an intelligence officer and technical manager in the US Marine Corps where he designed intelligence products and led teams in high-stakes, international intelligence operations. Following his military service, Elliot worked as an early team member of a climate tech startup prior to arrival at Stanford. While at the GSB, Elliot has worked at a Series-A vertical AI company supporting competitive research, marketing, and investor outreach. Most recently, Elliot interned at NVIDIA as a Technical Product Manager building AI infrastructure tooling within NVIDIA’s autonomous driving platform. As an OTL HIT intern, Elliot creates strategic business opportunities for groundbreaking technologies, drawing on his expertise in product management, market research, go-to-market strategy, and business operations. Elliot holds a B.S. in Operations Research from the Department of Mathematics at the US Naval Academy and conducted undergrad research in machine learning and applied game theory at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. View LinkedIn Profile
Saman Siddiqui, MBA'25
Saman is an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business class of 2025, she is also a Chemical Engineer by training with a deep passion for leveraging technology and innovation to uplift communities. Born and raised in India, she began her career at Procter & Gamble, where she led new product development in the menstrual hygiene division, driving impactful solutions for women’s health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Saman transitioned to disaster relief, managing $20 million in disaster response and climate adaptation initiatives across India. Most recently, she worked as a founding member of a hydrogen startup, spearheading the development of a first-of-a-kind advanced alkaline hydrogen facility. View LinkedIn Profile
Kripanshi Jindal, MBA'25
Kripanshi is an MBA candidate at Stanford Graduate School of Business. At Cisco, she led key initiatives to modernize supply chain operations and product portfolios, driving the company’s evolution in a competitive technology landscape. She also represented Cisco’s supply chain interests in India, successfully securing its multi-billion-dollar portfolio.
Since joining Stanford, Kripanshi has deepened her focus on the semiconductor industry, exploring the future of AI infrastructure technology. As Co-president of Stanford GSB Women in Management, she is dedicated to fostering collaboration and advancing opportunities for women in business. She also serves as an Associate with Stanford Women on Boards, advocating for greater diversity in corporate leadership.
Kripanshi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Manipal Institute of Technology, where she excelled academically and co-founded a non-profit dedicated to advancing education for women. She is passionate about empowering mission-driven organizations to innovate and thrive, leveraging her expertise to create meaningful impact. View LinkedIn Profile
Jack Strauss, MBA/MPP'25
Jack Strauss is a dual MBA and MPP Candidate at Stanford University. He previously served as Director of Product and Business Development at Xwing, an early-stage startup building an AI aircraft pilot. There, he worked alongside a team of 150+ brilliant engineers to develop Xwing's autonomous aviation technology and deploy it to commercial and government customers. Jack began his career at Bain & Company, where he advised clients in aerospace, utilities, and semiconductor manufacturing. Jack holds a BA in Chinese and a BBA from the University of Southern California. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Director, Product & BD -- Xwing; Chief of Staff -- Xwing; Senior Associate Consultant -- Bain & Company
Elizabeth McNally, MBA'25
Elizabeth is currently pursuing an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. She brings experience building and scaling technology through he experience in product management,, data analytics, consulting and venture capital. At Applied Predictive Technologies (acquired by Mastercard), sheled product management for Test & Learn, a global B2B SaaS analytics platform. She also consulted for Global 1000 companies across diverse industries, helping them leverage data to make better, faster decisions. Since coming to Stanford, Elizabeth has gained insight into identifying promising early-stage opportunities and securing funding for impactful ventures through her roles as an investor on the Stanford GSB Impact Fund and at Gigascale Capital, an early-stage climate tech VC firm.
Elizabeth holds an A.B. in Neuroscience from Dartmouth College, where she also studied engineering, computer science and human-centered design. She is excited to bring her passion for scaling mission-driven companies to the HIT Fund, where she aims to make a meaningful impact by empowering innovative businesses to grow and thrive. View LinkedIn Profile
Pengpeng Wang, MSx'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. View LinkedIn Profile
Previous Work Experience:
Healthcare VC, Decent Capital; Corporate Innovation/Strategy/Marketing/BD, Pfizer; Healthcare Consulting, Bain & LEK
Brendan Kim, MBA/M.S. '26
Brendan is pursuing a joint MBA & M.S. from the Stanford GSB and Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Before school, he was an early employee at fungi-based protein company Nature's Fynd, helping scale this business to over 200 employees. As the first strategy/marketing employee and then Chief of Staff, he helped raise $430M in our Series B and Series C from top climate investors like BEV and Generation. He also launched 3 consumer products nationally into Whole Foods and Sprouts. Before that, he started his career at Bain & Co in SF. Brendan holds a B.S. in Commerce concentrating in Finance from the University of Virginia.
Previous work experience:
Chief of Staff at Nature's Fynd (Chicago, IL), Senior Associate Consultant at Bain & Co. (San Francisco, CA)
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.
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
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
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
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
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.
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 LinkedIn 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)
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
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)