thermal-energy-storage
(3)
James Macnaghten
James Macnaghten is the co-founder and CEO of Caldera, a Hampshire-based climate-tech company turning cheap renewable electricity into stored industrial heat using blocks of volcanic rock and recycled aluminium. A Cambridge-trained mechanical engineer with 25+ years in business and 20+ patent families to his name, he spent a decade running grid-storage pioneer Isentropic before founding Caldera in 2017. He also owns Scudamore's Punting Co, Cambridge's largest tourist business. In 2025 Caldera closed a Series A backed by Germany's GEA Group and landed its first major order, a 10 MWh storage boiler for an NHS hospital.
Ted Kniesche
Ted Kniesche is the founder and CEO of Zero Industrial, a Charleston-based startup decarbonizing industrial heat by deploying commercially available thermal energy storage systems and selling clean heat and steam under long-term Heat-as-a-Service contracts. After two decades in clean energy development - including 13 years co-founding and building business development at Fulcrum BioEnergy - he launched Zero Industrial in 2024 with Jim McDermott and closed a $10 million Series A in April 2025 led by Evok Innovations.
Enrico Carbone
Enrico Carbone is a Brazilian-born General Partner at Reaction, a Palo Alto-based impact venture fund co-founded by 150+ Stanford alumni across 45 countries, focused on improving one billion lives within a decade through health technology and climate innovation. After a 22-year career in global investment banking at firms including Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, and BR Partners, he transitioned to venture capital and now also serves as Founding Managing Partner of Irukandji Capital (IKJ Capital), an early-stage healthcare technology fund. He is a Stanford Executive Program (SEP '18) graduate, a recognized GSB Centennial Alumni Catalyst, and a board member of Health in Harmony, an NGO serving indigenous communities in Indonesia, Madagascar, and Brazil.