*This is a student-led event and is not affiliated with, sponsored, or hosted by the ESG Initiative at the Wharton School.
Join Penn Climate Ventures as a part of Energy Week at Penn for a discussion on the state of climate tech entrepreneurship with Shawn Xu and Eric Helfgott from Lowercarbon Capital, a multibillion dollar venture capital firm founded by Chris Sacca that's focused on backing startups fighting climate change. Their thesis revolves around unf*cking the planet – that means slashing emissions to zero, sucking carbon out of the sky, and buying more time to do both. Their venture funds have invested in everything from fusion to carbon removal. Shawn is Chief of Staff and an investor at the firm, and previously was a Partner at On Deck and an Investor at Floodgate. He graduated from Wharton / Lauder in 2019, where he also served as Managing Partner at Dorm Room Fund. Eric is an Associate at the firm focused on hard tech and synthetic biology investments. He was a consultant at McKinsey and is a graduate of Stanford Engineering and Penn M&T (Wharton / Engineering). This event is open to all students (undergraduate, graduate, PhD) who are interested in learning more about climate tech, but we especially welcome entrepreneurs thinking through their first steps in this space.
Speakers include the following:
- Shawn Xu is Chief of Staff and an investor at the firm, and previously was a Partner at On Deck and an Investor at Floodgate. He graduated from Wharton / Lauder in 2019, where he also served as Managing Partner at Dorm Room Fund.
- Eric Helfgott is an Associate at the firm focused on hard tech and synthetic biology investments. He was a consultant at McKinsey and is a graduate of Stanford Engineering and Penn M&T (Wharton / Engineering).