Alexander “Hap” Ellis III
Mr. Hap Ellis is a General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. Ellis has extensive operating experience in electric power and renewable energy. He was a member of the management team at Kenetech Corporation from 1991-1995, where he was responsible for expanding the portfolio of wind generation opportunities and introducing wind into utility systems across the country. He later was a partner in several electric-related companies, including Casco Bay Energy Company, LLC, which developed a 520MW gas-fired electric generating station operating in ISO-New England, and Acadia Bay Energy Company, LLC, which developed a 638MW gas-fired electric generating station in ERCOT and sold it to Allegheny Energy. In 1998 Mr. Ellis joined RockPort Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the energy and environmental sectors and helped form RockPort Capital Partners in 2001.
He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Catalytic Solutions, Inc.(AIM:CTS), Comverge, Inc. (NASDAQ:COMV), Powerspan Corporation, PPT Research, Inc., Southwest WindPower, ISE Corporation, and Eka Systems. He is also a member of the Finance and Administration Committee of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, as well as a Council member.
Mr. Ellis received a BA from Colorado College and an MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Janet Burrows James
Janet Burrows James is a General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners. She also acts in the role of Chief Financial Officer.
Ms. James has both finance and operating experience in the energy business. She previously was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Citizens Corporation, a diversified group of energy marketing and trading companies, and later President of Citizens Gas Supply Corporation, one of the nation's first independent natural gas marketing companies. She has extensive commodity and energy finance experience from positions held at Banque Paribas, Citibank and Bank of America.
She is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Perkins School for the Blind and is a co-founder and member of the Executive Committee of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital.
Ms. James received a BA in Government from Dartmouth College and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University.
William E. "Wilber" James
Wilber James is a Managing General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners.
In 1998 he co-founded RockPort Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the energy and environmental sectors and in 2001 co-founded Rockport Capital Partners, the venture fund. Until October of 2000, he was the Chairman of Citizens Power LLC, which he co-founded in 1988 as the nation’s first electric power marketing company. Mr. James co-founded Citizens Energy Corporation and its for-profit holding company, Citizens Corporation, of which he was the Chairman and CEO, which engaged in international oil trading, natural gas marketing, electric power marketing, international oil and gas exploration and overseas investment. He is a co-founder and serves on the Department of Defense’s “Defense Venture Catalyst Initiative” (DeVenCI), which brings emerging commercial technologies to the DoD to support the war on terrorism, specifically in the IT, Energy and Advanced Materials sectors.
Mr. James currently serves on the Board of Directors of MicroSeismic, Think Global, Th!nk North America and Peabody Energy Corporation. He is also the acting President of Th!nk North America . Mr. James is a Trustee of the African Wildlife Foundation and The Cape Ann Historical Association, and serves on the advisory board of The National Peace Corps Association. He is also a co-founder and serves on the Executive Committee of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital.
Mr. James is a graduate of Colorado College.
Charles J. “Chuck” McDermott
Chuck McDermott is a General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. McDermott began working in the energy and environmental area in 1984, when he joined Citizens Energy Corporation as Manager of Project Development, helping to pioneer the creation of the nation's first bulk electric power trading company. He later served as Campaign Director and then as Chief of Staff for a U.S. Congressman from 1986-1990, directing all political, constituent, and legislative matters. In 1990, Mr. McDermott joined the government relations staff of Waste Management, Inc., the world’s largest environmental services company, and was made Vice President and officer of the corporation in 1993 responsible for the company’s federal advocacy before the White House, U.S. Congress, and other federal agencies. He relocated to Boston in 1998 and helped form RockPort’s merchant bank in that year and the venture fund in 2001.
He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Advanced Electron Beams, Renaissance Lighting, Soliant Energy, and Tioga Energy. He is also a Member of the Board of Directors and President of the CEO Coalition to Advance Sustainable Technologies, a Member of the Board of Advisors to the Cleantech Venture Network, a Board Member of the Gridwise Alliance, a Board Member of the New England Energy Innovation Collaborative, and a Board Member of the Flax Trust, a business incubator in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Mr. McDermott studied at Yale University before becoming a producer, performer, writer and music company executive, recording three albums, and founding Homecoming Records with John Stewart in 1982.
David J. Prend
David Prend is a Managing General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. Prend began his career in the energy industry as an engineer at Bechtel where he worked in the area of advanced energy technologies. From 1984-87 he worked at Amoco in the Treasurer’s Department, and in the chemical and upstream oil and gas subsidiaries. He later joined Shearson Lehman in their Natural Resources Investment Banking Group where he advised companies in the energy, mining and forest products industries. In 1990 he joined Salomon Brothers where he was promoted Managing Director and headed the Global Energy Investment Banking Group. In 1998 Mr. Prend co-founded RockPort Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the energy and environmental sectors and in 2001 he co-founded Rockport Capital Partners, the venture fund.
He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Achates Power, Aspen Aerogels, Aspen Products Group, Hycrete, Lilliputian Systems, and SatCon Technology Corporation. He is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Venture Capital Association, the NREL National Advisory Council, and the Board of Trustees of Exeter Health Resources Inc.
Mr. Prend received a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Stoddard M. “Todd” Wilson
Todd Wilson is a General Partner of RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. Wilson began his career at AT&T, where he held technical, sales and marketing positions. In 1990 he joined Wilbraham & Monson Academy, a 200-year old private secondary school located in central Massachusetts, where he was Director of External Affairs and held positions in Admissions, Development and Financial Assistance. He later joined Montague Corporation, a manufacturing business where he was a general manager involved in all aspects of the business. In 1998 Mr. Wilson joined RockPort Partners, a merchant bank specializing in the energy and environmental sectors and helped form the venture fund in 2001.
He currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Davidson Instruments, EcoSMART Technologies, Hydropoint Data Systems and Pionetics Corporation, and is an observer to the Boards of Directors of NeoPhotonics Corporation and NanoGram Corporation.
Mr. Wilson received a BA in History and Economics from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Abe Yokell
Abe Yokell is a Senior Associate at RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. Yokell rejoined the RockPort team in February 2004 after a summer internship and has helped to establish RockPort’s Menlo Park office, where he is based. He is actively engaged in all aspects of RockPort’s diligence process including research, financial and technical analysis, intellectual property evaluation, and structuring. Mr. Yokell is also a member of the Screening Committee and assists in portfolio company monitoring activities which include work with ISE Corporation, Hycrete, Inc., and HydroPoint Data Systems, Inc., among others.
Prior to joining RockPort, Mr. Yokell worked as an Analyst at Analysis Group, Inc., an economic and management consultancy where his activities included designing and implementing transfer pricing and valuation analyses used for corporate planning purposes, regulatory compliance, and litigation support. Mr. Yokell was also a Business Development intern at a venture-backed biotechnology company working to commercialize advanced aptamer-based diagnostic arrays.
Mr. Yokell graduated from the University of Pennsylvania where he studied Economics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Daniel Hullah
Daniel Hullah is an Associate at RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. Hullah joined RockPort in May 2006. He is actively engaged in all aspects of RockPort’s diligence process including research, financial and technical analysis, intellectual property evaluation, and structuring. Mr. Hullah is also a member of the Screening Committee.
Prior to joining RockPort, Mr. Hullah worked as a Manager at ZS Associates, a sales and marketing strategy consultancy. He was a member of the founding team that opened ZS’s Boston office in 2001, where he helped develop a diverse new client base in the healthcare and financial services sectors. He worked on a wide range of issues including product launch strategy, customer segmentation / value proposition development, sales force resource allocation, and incentive compensation plan design.
Mr. Hullah holds an MBA with distinction from INSEAD, and a D.Phil. (Ph.D.) in Physical Chemistry from Oxford University.
Dhiraj Malkani
Dhiraj Malkani is an Associate at RockPort Capital Partners.
Mr. Malkani joined RockPort in July 2006. He is actively engaged in all aspects of RockPort’s diligence process including research, financial and technical analysis, intellectual property evaluation, and structuring. Mr. Malkani is also a member of the Screening Committee.
Mr. Malkani began his career at Lucent Technologies as a product-development engineer working on optical MEMS products. He has received U.S. Patents for his inventions in MEMS technology. He has also worked with the Photonics Center, a business incubator at Boston University, where he helped design and establish a state-of-the-art center for Optoelectronics Packaging. While at the Photonics Center, he also screened early-stage photonics/life-sciences companies for their incubator program. During business school, he worked as a Summer Associate at Deutsche Bank’s Technology Investment Banking group.
Mr. Malkani holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management, an MS, with honors, in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and a BS, with Distinction, in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.
Bettina Metais
Bettina Metais is an Analyst at RockPort Capital Partners.
Ms. Metais joined the RockPort team in January 2002. She is responsible for the firm’s financial reporting and Investor Relations. In addition, Ms. Metais coordinates all marketing activities and is responsible for structuring and monitoring RockPort’s deal flow and screening process.
Prior to joining RockPort, Ms. Metais held the positions of Market Intelligence Analyst and Manager for Sales Reporting and Logistics at HomePortfolio.com, an Internet company in the home design industry, and Project Manager in Business Development at an International Trading Company.
Ms. Metais earned her graduate degree in Business Administration from Martin Luther University in Halle, Germany. She also attended the Business School at University of Minnesota.
Diane H. Yung
Diane Yung is the Vice President, Finance at RockPort Capital Partners.
Ms. Yung joined RockPort in September 2007. She began working in the energy area in 1988, when she joined Citizens Corporation, a holding company with commercial subsidiaries involved in energy marketing and trading, where she held the position of Controller. In 1994 Ms. Yung joined Citizens Power LLC, the nation’s first independent power marketer, where she was Senior Vice President, Finance & Administration. She was responsible for managing finance and operations, including accounting, tax, trading risk management, information systems and human resources. She was instrumental in developing the company’s trading system and implementing controls over financing and trading activities.
Prior to joining Citizens, Ms. Yung held various audit and tax related positions with KPMG in Boston and Hong Kong.
Ms. Yung received a BS in Business Administration from Boston University, and is a licensed CPA.