# James Plante

> James Plante, also known as Jim Plante, is an entrepreneur, inventor, and investor who co-founded SmartDrive Systems and served as its first CEO. His earlier career included executive work at Beltronics and co-founding E-Band Communications. His vehicle-recording inventions address memory, illumination, power management, and web access. He also founded Thynk Capital.

- **Role:** Founder at Thynk Capital
- **Organizations:** SmartDrive Systems, E-Band Communications, Beltronics, Thynk Capital
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Southern Illinois University
- **Known for:** Co-founded SmartDrive Systems and led its early operation as CEO., Led SmartDrive at the time of its November 2007 $46 million Series D announcement., Co-founded E-Band Communications and served as vice president of technology.

## Career timeline

- **Before 2004** — Served in an executive role at Beltronics and co-founded E-Band Communications.
- **2004** — Co-founded SmartDrive Systems; became its first CEO.
- **2005** — Filed the US application for multi-stage memory buffers and automatic transfers in vehicle event recording systems on December 8.
- **2006** — Identified as E-Band co-founder and vice president of technology in an August report; SmartDrive announced its Caltrans contract in December.
- **2007** — Led SmartDrive as co-founder and CEO when it announced a $46 million Series D round in November.
- **2008** — SmartDrive CEO tenure ended; Greg Drew became CEO.
- **2015-2018** — Served on a U.S. Industry Trade Advisory Committee.
- **2019** — Named inventor on US patent 10,404,951, granted September 3 for vehicle event recorders with an integrated web server.

## Achievements

- Co-founded SmartDrive Systems and led its early operation as CEO.
- Led SmartDrive at the time of its November 2007 $46 million Series D announcement.
- Co-founded E-Band Communications and served as vice president of technology.
- Named inventor or co-inventor on multiple SmartDrive vehicle-recording patents and applications.
- Founded investment firm Thynk Capital.

## Latest updates

- **2019-09** — US patent 10,404,951 was granted with James Plante listed as inventor and SmartDrive Systems as assignee.

## Links

- Website: https://thynkcapital.com/about/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimplante

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-plante
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23