Director of Investments · Overlay Capital · Waste & Materials Fund
"What we call waste is really just misallocated feedstock waiting to be cycled back into new products."
— Elizabeth Blankenship-Singh, Sustainability In Your Ear
The U.S. is simultaneously the world's leading exporter of scrap aluminum and its number one importer of finished aluminum. That paradox isn't an anomaly — it's the thesis.
Every company in this portfolio must be better, faster, and cheaper than what it replaces — using the feedstocks everyone else discards. That constraint isn't a limitation. It's the moat.
AI-driven robotics applied to materials recovery facilities unlocks purity, volume, and margin across the entire downstream value chain.
The best raw material is the one you don't have to mine. Chitin, cellulose, CO₂ — abundance from what others discard creates durable pricing power.
Every portfolio company must reach price parity with its incumbent — without subsidies. Sustainability alone doesn't close deals.
The Waste & Materials Fund backs both early-stage materials innovators and later-stage recycling operations. Patient capital across the curve captures the full value chain.
Novel molecules and processes need to be manufacturable at industrial scale. We invest when the science is de-risked and the scale-up path is visible — not just theorized.
The best deals carry both a regulatory tailwind and a paying commercial customer. One without the other is fragile.
AI-driven robotic sortation for materials recovery facilities.
Compostable packaging foam made from chitin — a scalable alternative to EPS.
Biodegradable soft goods from cellulose via 3D molding. Zero-cut, zero-waste.
Low-carbon cement using waste-derived feedstocks. $124M Series B.
Director of Investments
Overlay Capital · Atlanta, GA
Leading the Waste and Materials Fund across early- and later-stage companies in circular materials.
Investor
Two Early-Stage Climate Tech VC Funds
Deployed capital across materials, energy, and the built environment. Built diligence frameworks for hard tech and manufacturing-scale companies.
MBA — Innovation for Sustainability
UVA Darden School of Business
Lee R. Johnston Entrepreneurial Scholar · 1st Place, UVA Entrepreneurship Cup 2022 · Kathryne Carr Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.