Shaping the Next 50 Years of Science & Technology.

Hod Lipson is a roboticist who works in the areas of artificial intelligence and digital manufacturing. As a professor at Columbia University, he teaches his students about the principles of designing and building robots that do what you’d least expect robots to do: Self replicate, self-reflect, ask questions, and even be creative. Lipson’s research asks questions such as: Can robots ultimately design and make other robots? Can machines be curious and creative?  Will robots ever be truly self-aware? Answers to these questions can help illuminate life’s big mysteries.

Brannon is a Principal on AlleyCorp’s Deep Tech investing team, specializing in early-stage robotics companies. Previously, he served as a Lead Manufacturing, Automation, and Integration Engineer at SpaceX, where he contributed to the development of propulsive systems for reusable launch vehicles and Starship’s Raptor concept engine. Brannon led a team in conceptualizing, acquiring,and commissioning a multi-million-dollar robotic factory with cutting-edge production capabilities.

Although born in California, Brannon grew up in Denver and calls Colorado home. He holds a degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, where he designed and built an air-hockey-playing robot for his thesis work. During his time at Princeton, Brannon played Division-1 football, winning two Ivy League championships. He later received his MBAfrom Harvard Business School.

Abe is a General Partner leading Deep Tech investments at AlleyCorp, one of the most active early stage investors in NYC. Abe has more than 20 years of engineering experience, having spent time as a product and engineering leader in various roles at Alphabet, where he launched Play Books and Magazines at Android, built the Verily Life Science product teams and Boston office, and shipped several AI/ML and computer vision products across Google while building the Google Research product management team. Before that, he founded a Web 2.0 startup and worked on unmanned aerial vehicles in the defense industry.

Abe holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Rhode Island.

Prior to all of this, he dropped out of high school to run fishing boats and factories in the family aquaculture business.

Joseph Krause is the co-founder and CEO of Radical AI, which combines AI and robotics to accelerate the design, development and discovery of novel materials. A US Army National Guard veteran and materials scientist, Joseph pioneered neuromorphic semiconductor research in the Army DEVCOM research lab and led deep tech investments as an investor at AlleyCorp before founding Radical. 

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Guillaume Verdon is a Canadian mathematical physicist, quantum computing researcher, entrepreneur, and writer who is a key contributor of Google's quantum machine learning software, Tensorflow Quantum. He is also a co-founder of the effective accelerationism movement and the start-up company Extropic AI which operates at the intersection between physics-based computing and artificial intelligence.

Danielle Strachman is a co-founder and general partner at 1517 Fund, where she leads investment strategy, portfolio development, and founder engagement. Previously, she was the founding director of the Thiel Fellowship, identifying transformative talent for companies like Ethereum, Figma, Longevity Fund and OYO. Before that, she founded Innovations Academy, a student-led learning charter school serving 400 students.

Kunal Sinha is the Co-Founder and CEO of Valor, a deep-tech startup redefining separation and refining of critical minerals. Valor is developing a breakthrough technology platform capable of processing complex and unconventional feedstocks, to isolate high-purity critical and strategic metals like copper, cobalt, nickel, precious metals, PGMs, gallium, germanium, REEs, etc. 100x cheaper, cleaner, faster, smarter.

Raquel Schreiber is the founder of Gearworks, an operations and strategy firm that builds and partners with bold climate-tech, defense/aero-tech, and women-led missions. Before launching Gearworks, Raquel spent her career bringing some of the world’s most challenging climate technologies to inception or to market, including at Tesla, Base Power, C16 Biosciences, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and Aigen Robotics. At Tesla, she led Engineering Programs for both the Model 3 battery and Solar Roof—taking technologies from concept to high-volume production.

Micheál Ganley is the CEO of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, a modern steel and advanced-materials company. He is building highly automated U.S. steel mills while launching an R&D program focused on rapidly scaling next-generation materials.

Packy McCormick is an investor and author of the “Not Boring” newsletter, providing in-depth analyses of the tech and startup landscape to over 200k subscribers every week.

Jeff Thornburg is the CEO of Portal Space Systems. Thornburg started his career in the U.S. Air Force and has since held key roles in some of the most prominent commercial space companies, including VP of propulsion engineering at SpaceX, director of mechanical engineering and manufacturing for Amazon’s project Kuiper, VP of propulsion engineering at Stratolaunch, SVP of engineering at Agility Robotics, and chief of engineering at Commonwealth Fusion Systems. 

As SpaceX’s second-ever head of propulsion engineering, he architected and developed the Raptor Engine for the Starship and Starship Booster programs. He also oversaw the successful launches of six Falcon 9s and streamlined certification processes with government agencies like NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

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J. Scotch McClure is the Founder, CEO & Chairman of Maxwell Biosciences. Scotch leads a team of the world's top pharmaceutical, artificial intelligence, infectious disease and bioengineering talent including scientists, clinicians and executives. 

An engineer with over 20 years of experience as a CEO and 10 years of experience as a corporate board director, a graduate of the USAF Academy and a veteran of high tech warfare, Scotch has been a leader of tech companies for over 20 years and has created multiple category-first companies. A pioneer in the field of plasma proteomics, AI computation and biomimetic drug discovery, he has a wide ranging interest in physics, theory of mind and consciousness, information theory, nanobiology, and reversing disease and aging by restoring rejuvenative homeostasis.

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Isaiah Taylor is the founder and CEO of Valar Atomics, an advanced-nuclear company developing high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) using TRISO fuel, helium coolant, and graphite moderation to deliver reliable, inherently safe, low-cost heat for clean fuels and abundant power. Under his leadership, the team built its full-scale non-nuclear thermal prototype, Ward Zero, in ten months; signed a first-of-its-kind Coordinated Research Project with the Philippines Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI); and, with Utah’s San Rafael Energy Lab (USREL), broke ground on its first test reactor.

Josie Zayner is a biohacker, artist, and scientist best known for her self-experimentation and work making hands-on genetic engineering accessible to a lay audience, including CRISPR.