The rest of the 50 (in alphabetical order): Conor Clifford, investment principal, Eon Scouting and Co-Investments (SCI)
Konrad Augustin, investment director and US head of Eon Scouting and Co-Investments (SCI), the corporate venturing unit of the Germany-headquartered energy firm, said in his nomination of Conor Clifford, an investment principal: “Conor has been instrumental in broadening the reach of Eon SCI further in the US and has also earned a great deal of respect within Eon Group and the wider VC community through his active role as director in Sight Machine as well as investor in a number of other portfolio companies.
“He went through a great deal of deal sourcing, investing and also exiting of portfolio companies in his years at SCI and SCI US and is well-respected with co-investors and other players in the energy start-up space.”
SCI invests in early and mid-stage companies, where there is a strong strategic opportunity to drive growth for both companies. Since joining the team in 2015, Clifford has focused on investments in business-to-business energy solutions and smart grid, including manufacturing software developer Sight Machine, wireless lighting control system developer Organic Response, industrial internet-of-things developer SpaceTime Insight and energy management platform developer Autogrid.
Clifford said he felt it was a natural step for him to join corporate venture capital (CVC). Having started out in R&D and then moving into a group innovation role at Eon, he had already been working closely with external partners and startups for a number of years.
Prior to joining SCI, Clifford jointly established Eon’s global smart grid innovation unit based in Sweden, where he then spent four years as head of strategy, which initiated, funded and coordinated hundreds of development projects across the group.
Clifford holds a master’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the University of Bristol and a PhD in power systems from Imperial College London. Having grown up playing competitive sports, he is passionate about any sport he has the time to play – outside of work and family time.
