Kurt Zenz House is the Co-Founder and CEO of KoBold Metals, an AI-driven mineral exploration company backed by Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Andreessen Horowitz. A Harvard-trained earth scientist and serial energy entrepreneur, he built KoBold from the ground up to solve one of the most consequential problems of the energy transition: finding enough copper, cobalt, lithium, and nickel to power a decarbonized world. Under his leadership, the company discovered the Mingomba deposit in Zambia - potentially the most significant copper find in a century - and raised over $1 billion to develop it. Before KoBold, he founded C12 Energy (CO2-based enhanced oil recovery) and Phase Change Resources (natural gas asset acquisition), and held research and teaching roles at MIT and Stanford.
Connie Chan is a venture capitalist and technology writer who spent 12 years at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), becoming the firm's first-ever internally promoted General Partner in 2018. Known as 'Silicon Valley's China Whisperer,' she made her mark by translating Asian tech trends - super apps, social commerce, livestream shopping - into investment theses before Western founders even knew the terms. Her 2015 WeChat essay won the New York Times Sidney Award and predicted the app-consolidation wave that would reshape mobile over the following decade. She backed Pinterest early, championed Lime before scooters were cool, and holds board seats at Whatnot, KoBold Metals, and Cider. In January 2024, after 12 years at a16z, she stepped back from GP duties to pursue a new Asia-focused venture.