Ellery Buchanan, CEO & Chairman
Ellery has served as Founder and/or CEO of multiple technology based ventures. The core of his experience is based in nanotechnology and semiconductor equipment, though most recently he served as CEO of RenewData Corp. – an electronic discovery, email archiving and compliance company. Prior to that Ellery founded and operated as CEO of several companies including NanoVance, Inc. and Integrated Solutions, Inc., a manufacturer of lithography equipment for the semiconductor industry. Through the course of his various start-ups, Ellery has successfully raised more than $80 million in financing and has developed a track record of successfully commercializing technologies. Ellery began his career as a CPA with Price Waterhouse & Co. His formal education consists of a BA from Gettysburg College and a Wharton MBA.
Larry Thompson, Ph.D.
Dr. Larry F. Thompson is Managing Partner of the IPSS Consulting Company. He is a Bell Laboratories Fellow, has served on the Board of Directors of the American Chemical Society and is a member on the National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Thompson received a Ph.D. in Chemistry/Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri.
Beto Pallares, Managing Partner, Cottonwood Technology Fund
Beto has extensive domestic and international start-up experience as an entrepreneur and seasoned in conducting due diligence for both start-ups and late stage companies. His experience includes stints with FMCLA (telecom), CapitalIQ (banking software), Dalmex Business Technology Partners (software), Stax, Inc. (due diligence consulting), AT Kearney (strategy consulting), and as Executive Director of the TransPecos/El Paso Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (TPEP RCIC).
Bill Wood, Founder, Silverton Partners
Prior to founding Silverton Partners, Bill Wood began his venture career in 1984 as a founding partner of Austin Ventures which has since become one of the largest venture capital firms in the country. Bill is a past recipient of both the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur-of-the-Year Award and the Austin Technology Pillar Award, recognizing his lifetime contribution to the development of the Austin technology community. Bill received his BA from Brown University Phi Beta Kappa and his MBA from Harvard Business School. Bill sits on the board of Boundless Network, Javelin Semiconductor, Sailpoint Technologies, Silicon Labs, Tk20 and UnboundID.
James Wilson (Jim), Director, Energy Storage Solutions at SABIC Corporation
Jim brings an extensive background from the paper, film, and plastics industries where he has held a number of marketing and technology leadership roles at Scott Paper, Kimberly Clark, and GE. Since 1997, he has been responsible for GE Plastic’s (and later SABIC’s) Automotive Lighting Business, focused on delivering profitable growth. In 2011 he was appointed to lead SABIC’s Energy Storage Materials business. Jim received his B.S. in 1978 from the University of Rochester where he majored Chemical Engineering.
