Executive Officers

Angel Orrantia, 50 [Passed on 12/15/2024]
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Director

Since 2019, Angel Orrantia has served as the president of i2i, LLC (idea to IPO), a Corporate Strategy Services firm that provides business strategy and legal guidance to entrepreneurs, venture-backed startups and investors seeking to raise money or drive business expansion, and a Partner and Advisor at Advantary LLC, a full-service Management Accelerator that provides business leadership and legal counsel for clients across cloud computing, AI, semiconductor, enterprise software, IoT and agricultural markets. Previously, Mr. Orrantia served as the Founder and General Partner of Vonzos Partners, a venture capital firm providing strategic business growth and coaching from 2017 to 2019, and a Senior Director at SK Telecom Americas, a venture capital firm working with emerging technologies from 2013 to 2017. Mr. Orrantia’s diverse experiential pedigree also includes chip design at Intel in the Graduate Rotation Program, leading teams developing implanted medical devices for Medtronic, building a broadband division for Philips Semiconductor, negotiating numerous acquisitions for Cisco while at Fenwick and West, developing a materials division for Applied Materials, organizing and formalizing the Alliance Management Office for Applied Materials, founding and building a core technology accelerator for SK Telecom, and launching a $100 million VC fund focused on stressed and de-stressed startups in the medical device industry. Mr. Orrantia currently serves on the Board of Directors of Wembley Partners, a cyber-risk consulting and software products firm. Mr. Angel Orrantia has a BS in Electrical engineering from Stanford University, an MBA from Arizona State University and a JD from the University of Notre Dame.

Coco Kou, 41
Chief Financial Officer

She is a Certified Public Accountant and experienced finance executive with a demonstrated history of working in accounting and finance functions across industries. Since February 2022, Ms Kou has served as the interim Chief Financial Officer of Four Leaf Acquisition Corporation. Previously, Ms. Kou served as the Chief Financial Officer of Xynomic Pharmaceuticals Holdings, a research and development company, from 2019 through 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Kou served as Chief Financial Officer of Salion Food Condiment Limited, a food condiment research and manufacturing company, from 2017 through 2018. Ms. Kou also has over 10 years of experience in public accounting at Deloitte and Marcum LLP. Through her education and business experience, Ms. Kou has developed strong skills in Risk Management, Corporate Finance, Accounting, Venture Capital and Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance. Ms. Kou’s educational experiences include an EMBA-GLOBAL ASIA focused in EMBA from Columbia Business School, London Business School and Hong Kong University.

Robert de Neve, 62
Chief Strategy Officer

Since 2007, Mr. de Neve has served as the General Partner at NextPhase Ventures, a venture capital, private equity business advisory firm that provides solutions to technology companies. Starting in 2020, Mr. de Neve took on the additional role of Managing Director of Cooperate Strategy & New Ventures at Applied Manufacturing Group, an OEM level, product lifecycle-based company that provides engineering and manufacturing solutions to aerospace, defense, semiconductor, bio-med and automation industries. Mr. de Neve’s previously experience includes Founder & CEO at the accelerator/integrator BriteLab, EVP & General Manager at Brooks-PRI Automation, a semiconductor manufacturer, VP of Operations at robot maker Equipe Technologies, NPI Manager & Engineer at KLA-Tencor, a capital equipment company, Accelerator Technologist at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University, and a instructor/mentor at Draper University, Carnegie-Mellon, Thiel Foundation and UCSC. Robert is a six-time honoree of the INC. Fast 500 and a seven-time honoree of SVBJ’s Fast 50 achieving a #1 win in 1996. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Evolve Manufacturing Technologies Inc., Anybots Inc, Embolx Inc., Mettle Machine Inc. and Applied Manufacturing Group. and the Industrial Advisory Board of the US Department of Commerce’s Advanced Manufacturing Technology Work Force Development Initiative. Mr. de Neve has executive management experience supporting two significant exits valued at over $700M, a $240M sale of Equipe to PRI, and a $475M sale of PRI to Brooks. He is currently engaged in a series of academic research projects in Advanced Business and Productization Systems and is a graduate of the Project & Program Management Certificate Program at UC Santa Cruz and the Contemporary Optics & Lens Design Certificate Program at University of Rochester. Robert also studied Laster Technology at San Jose City College and Electronics Engineering Technology at Cogswell Polytechnic College.

Bala Padmakumar, 61 [Appointed CEO]
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Bala Padmakumar is a broad based entrepreneur and technologist with a strong background in strategic partnerships, product and business development, technology and operations, private equity, and venture capital environments. Since August 2020, Mr. Padmakumar has been a partner at Advantary LLC, where he specializes in business development and advises on strategic matters. Since September 2021, Mr. Padmakumar has also served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Monterey Capital Acquisition Corporation, a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a business combination, which is intended to on businesses in the clean transition sector. From July 2016 to December 2021, Mr. Padmakumar also advised on deal flow and provided operational support to portfolio companies for a fund set up to support SK Telecom Co., Ltd.’s strategic interests. From 2011 to October 2020, Mr. Padmakumar was the Chief Executive Officer at Amperics, Inc., a developer and vendor of high energy density ultracap hybrid storage systems. Mr. Padmakumar also has extensive experience in the clean energy sectors, having been an advisor to Lionrock Batteries Ltd., which creates flexible batteries and high performance separator technology since 2019, an advisor to the board and CEO of Hyperscale Data Center Company, a company focused on energy usage efficiency in hyperscale data centers from 2018 to 2020, and an advisor to the chairman of Advanced Systems Automation Limited in Singapore, where he advised on issues surrounding urban transportation, High Energy Density Li Ion battery (NMC technology) and 3D printing technology from 2017 to 2019. Mr. Padmakumar also has broad experience advising on capital raising and corporate strategy, serving as a mentor to OneValley Inc., a global entrepreneurship platform for individuals, startups, and corporations seeking innovation and accelerated growth, and as an advisor to several early stage companies from audio technologies to SaaS products. Mr. Padmakumar has a Bachelor’s Degree in Technology from the University of Madras in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University.

Board of Directors

Alvin Wang, 43
Director Nominee

Since 2019, Alvin Wang has served as a Managing Director of FocalPoint Partners LLC, a Los Angeles based investment banking firm. Mr. Wang has developed extensive transaction and valuation experience across a wide spectrum of industries including TMT, retail, healthcare industrial and renewable energy. Prior to joining FocalPoint Partners LLC, from 2017 to 2019, Mr. Wang was a Managing Director at VSA Capital, a London, UK based investment banking firm which specializes in energy and renewable energy investment banking business. Prior to his time at VSA Capital, Mr. Wang also held positions at Duff and Phelps and Houlihan Lokey, both of which are U.S. headquartered, global financial advisory and investment banking firms, providing service in connection with merger and acquisition, joint ventures, fairness opinions and going private transactions. Mr. Wang has a Master of Science in Finance from Boston College and a Master’s Degree in Economics from Northeastern University.

Stephen Markscheid, 68
Director Nominee

Stephen Markscheid is currently Chairman Emeritus of KX Power, a UK-based renewable energy developer. He also serves as an independent non-executive director of five publicly listed companies: Fanhua, Inc., the largest technology and insurance agency group in China, Jinko Solar Inc., a solar panel manufacturer, ZZ Capital International Ltd., a global alternative investment firm, Monterey Capital Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, and UGE International, a solar energy company. Mr. Markscheid is also a trustee emeritus of Princeton-in-Asia. From 1998-2006, Mr. Markscheid worked for GE Capital, the financial services division of General Electric. During his time with GE Capital, Mr. Markscheid led GE Capital’s business development activities in China and Asia Pacific, primarily acquisitions and direct investments. Prior to GE Capital, Mr. Markscheid worked with the Boston Consulting Group throughout Asia. Mr. Markscheid earned a BA in East Asian Studies from Princeton University in 1976, an MA in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University in 1980, and an MBA from Columbia University in 1991, where he was class valedictorian.

Rahul Mewawalla, 44
Director Nominee

Rahul Mewawalla is a product, technology, digital and business leader. He has extensive strategic and operational leadership expertise with technology, internet, software, telecommunications, financial services, media, digital, consumer and enterprise companies. Since 2021, Mr. Mewawalla has served as a Board Director, Chairman of the Compensation Committee, the Member of the Audit Committee of NASDAQ-listed Phunware Inc. (NASDAQ: PHUN), a software, technology and blockchain company. Previously, Mr. Mewawalla served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Board Director at NASDAQ-listed Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. (NASDAQ: RMCF), an ecommerce, consumer and retail company in 2021, as Chief Executive Officer and President of Xpanse Inc., a fintech, software and technology company, and concurrently as Executive Vice President, Platforms and Technology Businesses and Chief Digital Officer at Freedom Mortgage Corporation, a financial services company, from 2020 to 2021, as Chief Executive Officer and President at Zenplace Inc., a software-as-a-service (SaaS) and technology platforms company from 2014 to 2020, as Vice President at Nokia Corporation from 2010 to 2012, as Vice President at General Electric Company’s NBCUniversal from 2008 to 2010, and Senior Director at Yahoo! Inc. from 2005 to 2008. Mr. Mewawalla has served as a board member, investor and advisor to various public, private and philanthropic companies with experience as Chairman of the Board, Board Committee Chair, Board Director, Chair of the Compensation Committee, Audit Committee Member, Governance and Nominating Committee Member, and Special Committee Member and also served as former Board Director and Governance and Nominating and Committee Member at SOS Children’s Villages USA. He has also served as Senior Advisor to the San Francisco Mayor’s Office on Innovation, as Advisor to Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab and as Committee Chair of the VC TaskForce SIG on Systems and Services. Mr. Mewawalla earned an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BBS from the University of Delhi.