Slava Solonitsyn, a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is an ESG expert with over 17 years experience in the design and development of new products, mentoring, investing and community building in Europe and the US.
His expertise includes scaling up and launching startups. His main areas of focus include hard tech, IoT, construction and sustainable tech. Slava is passionate about tech startups with a long-lasting impact. He is currently pursuing his own impact goal by advancing the construction industry through automation and 3D printing, but is also helping select founders, who have their own high-impact missions as an angel investor and advisor. While he is familiar with the American and Singaporean markets, he is now exploring the potential of SEA and LATAM as key drivers of the future of humanity (from the perspective of impact and population).
Slava is a notable global expert who is frequently invited to present and speak at the most prominent startup and global business events, such as Collision, F.ounders, Web Summit, and the World Economic Forum. Slava’s unique experience in scaling complex startups and solving ESG issues, along with his VC background make him a sought-after angel investor.
Current occupation
Mighty Buildings
Slava is CEO and Co-founder of Mighty Buildings, a tech company that is revolutionizing the construction industry by creating beautiful, sustainable, high-quality homes by using advanced materials, patented 3D-printing technology, and robotic automation. Mighty Buildings has its headquarters in Oakland, California. The company was founded in 2017 by Slava and his business partner Dmitry Starodubcev, and later joined by seasoned executives Russ Atassi, Rene Griemens and Chris Murphy.
Mighty Buildings, under the leadership of Slava, has raised more than $100 million and established itself as a leader for sustainable 3D-printed housing. It counts among its investors such noteworthy names as Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital, Core VC, YCombinator, ArcTern Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, and others. Mighty Buildings is also included in the top YC companies (5% of YC companies).
As Solonitsyn describes Mighty Buildings: “We are working hard to find a solution for humanity to solve the double-edged climate and housing crisis. Once we have identified a path, our platform will be open to real estate developers so that they can unlock the production of sustainable homes on a large scale.
Mighty Building’s Impact
The construction industry and related building operations generate around 40% of annual global CO2 emissions, according to reports. But the world still needs more housing. Mighty Building believes that it is not an “either/or” choice. Mighty Buildings developed technology that can increase productivity and reduce construction-related emissions. It allows for virtually zero waste construction, a reduction in embodied carbon and the building of cost-effective zero net energy homes. These methods progress the company closer to its 2028 Carbon Neutrality goal.
Mighty Buildings is a member of ASTM International, Sustainable Brands, Housing Innovation Alliance, SME climate HUB, and other institutions which address climate change. Along with more than 300 other influential companies, it has committed to the Climate Pledge initiative of Amazon.
Ruvento Ventures
Another great achievement of Slava is co-founding Ruvento Investments in 2012, which was a startup incubator as well as a seed capital company in Singapore. Slava began with incubating 12 IoT startups. Some of these were later bought and others received follow-on funding.
Slava was Managing Partner between 2015 and 2017. He raised a private fund, made 17 seed-stage investments and two of them became unicorn companies. Two more were valued at over $500M. The fund he managed was able to bring in huge returns for investors (MOIC 3.7x). Two unicorn companies were among the ones he invested in: Boom Supersonic, which makes supersonic flight accessible in a sustainable manner, and Solugen, which brings clean, sustainable chemicals to all industries.
Slava is still a member of the Board at Ruvento Ventures and serves as a partner in ventures. He also helps the firm pursue an ESG agenda for developing markets such as Southeast Asia.
Background and early career
Slava started his career at G5 entertainment where he managed projects for Sony, Disney and Electronic Arts. Starting in 2007, he took on an active role in developing the startup ecosystem in Russia. He designed a number of support measures including tax incentives for tech projects, which were later incentivized across more than 1000 startup companies.
Education, community services, and eco-activism
Slava graduated from Nizhniy Novgorod State Technical University named after R.Y. Alekseev (NSTU) in 2004 with an MSc in Physics. In 2007, he earned an MBA from Imperial College London, where he studied Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital. He was a student and participated in many clubs. Slava worked closely with Imperial College scientists to complete feasibility studies for commercialization.
Slava is wholly committed to the mission of saving the planet, and this extends beyond his work. Moreover, he actively promotes this mission by launching eco-friendly initiatives, such as beach cleanups. Slava regularly shares valuable articles, research and personal insights via his Twitter account.
Slava is an avid kitesurfer, paraglider, surfer, and snowboarder. He learned to speak Mandarin in Singapore and China, after which he chose “Si Lei ” (SiLei) as his nickname. This nickname is a favorite of his in interactions with people from all around the globe.
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