Founders

Ted Kniesche is founder and CEO of Zero Industrial. He has worked for the past two decades in clean energy development – with executive experience in business and project development, corporate and project finance, as well as government affairs. Ted was co-founder and VP of Business Development at Fulcrum BioEnergy for 13 years, where he led Fulcrum’s entire development program through the financing of its first commercial-scale project. Ted was most recently a Principal at Aiga Capital Partners where he helped invest development capital into sustainable infrastructure as part of Aiga’s inaugural fund.
Ted is a native Californian and is based in Charleston, SC with his wife and four kids.

Jim is a co-founder and the managing partner of Rusheen Capital Management, LLC ("RCM"). RCM is a Santa Monica-based private equity firm investing in energy, environment, and sustainability. Prior to forming RCM, Jim founded and ran US Renewables Group ("USRG"), a private equity firm focused on renewable power, clean fuels and energy infrastructure.

As an investor and entrepreneur, Jim has started, run and invested in over 35 companies. Examples include: Stamps.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) (Founder & CEO), NanoH2O, Inc. -- acquired by LG Chem (Founder & Board Member), Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. (Founder, Executive & Chairman), Moleaer, Inc. (Founder & Board Member), Carbon Engineering (former Board Member and sold Occidental), 1PointFive, Inc. (Founder and CEO -- sold to Occidental), Avnos, Inc. (Founder and Board Member), Carbon Ridge, Inc. (Founder and Board Member), and Zero Industrial (Founder and Board Member).

Founding Team