Laurel Buckner will be the vice president of ventures at BHP Ventures where she will lead investments in the decarbonisation and green energy sectors.
Laurel Buckner has been hired by BHP Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Australia-based mining and metals production company BHP.
Buckner will now become the vice president of ventures after previously serving a year as the managing director of Riverstone Holdings, a financial services company.
“Laurel will lead the BHP Ventures team in its role to invest in game-changing emerging companies, technologies and management teams to help drive our growth and decarbonisation efforts for BHP, and provide us with a portfolio of ‘green growth’ options for the decades ahead,” said John van Jarrsveld, chief development officer of BHP, in a release.
Buckner was a board member and chair of the compensation committee at TeraGo for five years and was also the vice president of corporate venture investments, mergers and acquisitions at GCI Communication Corporation, a US-based telecommunications company.
Founded in 2018, BHP Ventures has 16 companies in its portfolio and has invested in 22 startups such as Boston Metal, Ceibo and Plotlogic. The firm also oversaw the exit of clean energy services provider Carbon Engineering, which was acquired by Occidental Petroleum in 2023.
