# Alexander “Zander” Isaacson

> Alexander “Zander” Isaacson co-founded Xeal and served as its CEO until July 2025. A 2018 Penn State Smeal graduate, he founded Happy Valley VC, managed a portfolio in the Nittany Lion Fund, and worked at Citi Global Markets and Torreya before building an EV-charging business with Nikhil Bharadwaj. He shared recognition in the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 Transportation & Mobility class; current professional listings identify him as a partner at Cold Start Ventures.

- **Role:** Partner at Cold Start Ventures; Co-Founder at Xeal
- **Organizations:** Xeal, Cold Start Ventures, Happy Valley VC, Torreya Partners, Citi Global Markets, Nittany Lion Fund
- **Education:** Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIENT), Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business
- **Known for:** Founded Happy Valley VC at Penn State., Served as a Nittany Lion Fund portfolio manager., Co-founded Xeal and led it through its 2021 Series A and 2022 Series B.

## Career timeline

- **2017-2018** — Founded and served as president of Happy Valley VC during his senior year at Penn State.
- **2018** — Graduated from Penn State and joined Torreya Partners as an M&A investment banking analyst, following a Citi Global Markets sales and trading summer analyst role.
- **2019** — Launched the EV-charging business that became Xeal with Nikhil Bharadwaj in California; an April 2019 speaker biography identifies him as CFO of EVE Energy Ventures.
- **2021** — Xeal introduced its Apollo protocol and announced an $11 million Series A.
- **2022** — Xeal announced a $40 million Series B led by Keyframe Capital.
- **2025** — Recognized with Bharadwaj in Forbes 30 Under 30, Transportation & Mobility.
- **2025-07** — Publicly announced his transition out of Xeal’s CEO role after more than six years.
- **2026-04** — Crunchbase lists the start of his partner role at Cold Start Ventures; Cold Start’s public LinkedIn page also lists him among employees.

## Achievements

- Founded Happy Valley VC at Penn State.
- Served as a Nittany Lion Fund portfolio manager.
- Co-founded Xeal and led it through its 2021 Series A and 2022 Series B.
- 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in Transportation & Mobility, alongside Nikhil Bharadwaj.

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — In a public post, reflected on Forbes recognition and reported Xeal’s 2024 ARR growth, reduced burn and first technology licensing deal.
- **2025-04** — Featured with Benjamin Birnbaum and Diallo Powell on a live Dare to Disrupt episode about EV infrastructure.
- **2025-07** — Announced his departure from Xeal’s CEO role and said he was reflecting and exploring what came next.
- **2026-04** — Professional directory lists a partner role at Cold Start Ventures, whose public LinkedIn page lists him as an employee.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderisaacson/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/alexander-isaacson
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-15