Energy Seminar: Building Enduring Companies for Planetary Health, Arvind Gupta

Abstract: Climatetech refers to companies trying to reverse climate change using technology. We explore the key factors that drive long term success for companies that wish to make a positive impact on climate change and how startups can incorporate these learnings into their strategic plans. By using the physics of business, sectors with venture returns vs other asset classes can be elucidated.

Bio: Arvind Gupta is a partner at Mayfield, focusing on investments in Human & Planetary Health, where his mission is to invest in founder-driven companies that could change history. Focusing on reversing climate change and curing disease, Arvind was the inception-stage investor in breakout companies such as NotCo, Mycoworks, Upside Foods, and Doloromics.

As Founder of IndieBio, Arvind redefined the pace and possibilities of early stage biotech, investing in over 136 companies in five years, defining human and planetary health, and growing the IndieBio portfolio into billions of dollars in value. Under his leadership, IndieBio expanded to New York and grew to fifteen investment professionals with a world renowned adjunct partner board. He now serves as Venture Advisor at IndieBio.

Published in 2020, Arvind is also a co-author of Decoding the World: A Roadmap for the Questioner, published by Hachette Publishing Group, the first book of a trilogy documenting the most critical decade in the fight against climate change. He was honored with the F50 Global Award for Impact in HealthTech Innovation. He is a frequent speaker at TechCrunch Disrupt, Slush, TedX and Future FoodTech. His work has been profiled in major global media outlets. Arvind has been a guest lecturer at Stanford, UCSF, MIT and Harvard and is a judge at the annual BIO conference startup stadium.

Prior to founding IndieBio, Arvind was Design Director at IDEO in Shanghai where he earned 7 international design (IDSA) awards and presented his work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

He was also a BASE jumper, big wall climber and is currently a BJJ brown belt. Arvind received his B.S. in Genetic Engineering from UCSB. He holds 8 patents.

Arvind is married to an Icelandic artist and has two daughters.