# Daniel Naim

> Daniel Naim is the founder and CEO of Fennel, a mobile investing app that hands everyday retail investors the ESG data and shareholder-voting power that big institutions usually keep to themselves. A former dark-matter physicist who grew up in Beirut and earned a physics PhD at UC Davis, Naim left the lab in 2020 - watching California burn and Engine No. 1 win an Exxon board fight - convinced that capital markets, not particle detectors, were the most pressing problem he could work on. Fennel refuses payment for order flow, won't lend out users' shares, became a certified B Corp, and was named one of Fast Company's most innovative companies in personal finance.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Fennel Markets
- **Organizations:** Fennel Markets, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Davis
- **From:** Beirut, Lebanon
- **Education:** PhD in Physics (dark matter detection, time series analysis, cryogenic systems), UC Davis, Master's in Physics, UC Davis, B.S. in Physics and Astrophysics, UC Berkeley, Physics & Economics coursework, UC Riverside
- **Known for:** Founded Fennel, the retail investing app that gives users digestible ESG data plus access to past and upcoming shareholder votes, Built a brokerage that refuses payment for order flow (PFOF) and does not lend out users' securities so they keep their voting rights, Led Fennel to B Corp certification

## Career timeline

- **2011-2016** — Undergraduate study at UC Riverside then UC Berkeley, earning B.S. degrees in Physics and Astrophysics
- **2017-2021** — PhD in Physics at UC Davis; graduate researcher working on dark matter detection, including work tied to Lawrence Livermore and Berkeley Lab
- **2020-09** — While working as a physicist in the Bay Area, questions whether dark matter is the most pressing problem; California wildfires and Engine No. 1's Exxon proxy fight spark the idea for Fennel
- **2021-06** — Becomes founder and CEO of Fennel Markets
- **2022** — Fennel publicly launches its ESG-data-driven investing platform for retail investors
- **2023-06** — Fennel raises a $3.5M seed extension; total funding reaches roughly $8.5M
- **2023** — Fennel earns B Corp certification; named to Fast Company's most innovative in personal finance

## Achievements

- Founded Fennel, the retail investing app that gives users digestible ESG data plus access to past and upcoming shareholder votes
- Built a brokerage that refuses payment for order flow (PFOF) and does not lend out users' securities so they keep their voting rights
- Led Fennel to B Corp certification
- Fennel named one of the world's most innovative companies in personal finance by Fast Company
- Raised over $8.5M, backed by the founder of Acorns, Capital Factory, and Temerity Capital Partners
- Earned a PhD in Physics from UC Davis researching dark matter detection

## Latest updates

- **2023-06** — Fennel raised a $3.5M seed extension, bringing total funding to about $8.5M
- **2023-07** — Fennel announced B Corp certification

## Links

- Website: https://fennel.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-naim-465002b2/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmMQaquwszo

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/daniel-naim
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-24