Tom Biegala

Tom has been working in frontier technology as an investor and engineer for 20 years. His passion for the space started with research on cutting-edge OLED and photovoltaic technologies as an engineering student at Cornell University. Since then, Tom has been involved in all phases of a company’s lifecycle, from newco formation and early R&D through scale-up and IPO.

Prior to co-founding Bison Ventures, Tom worked at Cascade Asset Management Company, which manages the assets of the Gates Foundation and Gates family members. There he worked on venture capital investments across a variety of frontier technologies.

Tom started his career at Intel Corporation as a manufacturing engineer, and later did work developing next generation solar photovoltaic technologies at two university spinouts. While completing his MBA, Tom transitioned from engineering to venture capital investing at Altira Group, an energy technology focused venture capital firm.

In his spare time,Tom loves to enjoy a good Howlin’ Wolf vinyl record along with his two hound dogs that occasionally sing along. He equates identifying the next once-in-a-generation technology company to finding the next great band before they make it big.

Tom received a B.S.in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Energy and Sustainability at Northwestern University, andhe is a member of the Investment Advisory Committee at Prime Coalition, a non-profit organization that provides catalytic capital for climate innovation.