TF

Tom Ferguson

Managing Partner at Burnt Island Ventures

Brooklyn, New York

Overview 

Tom Ferguson is currently the Managing Partner at Burnt Island Ventures in Brooklyn, New York, where he specializes in ClimateTech/CleanTech investments at Series A and Seed stages. With a background in energy efficiency and environmental policy, Tom has served on the boards of companies like Ziptility and Daupler, and has been involved in notable investments such as Aclarity at the Series A stage. Tom's career highlights include holding leadership roles at Imagine H2O as VP Programming and serving as a Strategy Manager at Tamar Energy Ltd, demonstrating his expertise in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility within the environmental sector.

Work Experience 

  • Managing Partner

    2020 - Current

    Burnt Island Ventures finds, invests in, and supports the best entrepreneurs in water. To learn more, visit www.burntislandventures.com and follow us on twitter @BurntIslandVC

Burnt Island is deeply supportive, with an unbelievable network in the water sector and they respect the founder's vision for the company

  • Board Member

    2021

Ziptility is an asset management software for small utility teams.

Raised $1,272,000.00 from Indiana University Philanthropic Venture Fund.

  • Board Member

    2021

Daupler develops a response management system for utilities, public works, and other service organizations.

Raised $16,540,591.00 from AcceliCITY powered by Leading Cities.

  • Accelerator Judge

    2021

  • Advisory Board

    2020

120Water is a cloud-based system for water management, ensuring safety and compliance in organizations' water systems.

Raised $54,534,715.00 from Edison Partners, Allos Ventures, Allos Ventures, Heritage Group, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund and Revolution.

  • VP Programming

    2015 - 2020

    Ran programming at Imagine H2O - Running the experience of the companies in the accelerator - Partnership development - Policy & leadership development - Strategic planning & fundraising

  • Business Strategy

    2014 - 2015

    Business Strategy Manager for the Chief of Staff at a growth stage, non-traditional buildings company. • Preferred Installer Program strategy document for the Board, focusing on margin protection and value creation in the installer chain. Set up implementation requirements, timeline and initial marketing and project documents. • Go-to-market strategy for a data center aisle containment solution. • Conducted Time/Motion study on site with installer teams to develop scoping & estimation baselines.

Project Frog develops component buildings that assemble easily onsite for architects and builders to create energy-efficient buildings.

Raised $67,750,000.00 from Trinity Capital.

  • Student

    2012 - 2014

  • Strategy Manager

    2013 - 2013

    Strategy Manager with the Business Development and Technical Management teams of a £97m anaerobic digestion (AD) startup aiming to establish a 100MW generation network. • Conducted research, financial analysis, sourcing and logistics of non-traditional feedstock. Presented ROI impact of findings on the portfolio. Work contributed to new financial targets and significant capital deployment. • Assisted in revising the company business plan for the board, managing the feedstock strategy. Assisted the finance team in the adjustment of the financial model.

  • Project Manager

    2009 - 2012

    Member of the Sustainability Strategy and Transformation (SST) team within the Sustainability and Climate Change group. Promoted within six months of joining the company full time. Recipient of two company achievement awards. Value Creation Strategy Designed and commenced implementation of sustainability strategies for six clients. • Implemented a methodology for a multinational private equity firm to realize value from sustainability actions in new investments. The pilot project realized annual savings of over $250,000 per annum, and led to further projects on a range of investments with the client. Project Management Managed over twenty projects, of values ranging from $30,000 to $315,000, with project teams of up to fifteen consultants. Client sectors ranged from mining and metals to retail. • Designed the mining sector strategy for a major international development bank. Performed in-country analyses of the mining sector in 26 countries. Market growth potential for each assessed and specific project recommendations made. Strategy rolled out in 2012. Service Development Founding team member of the SST practice in 2011. Achieved sales of over $1.5m in first year. Personal business development contributed 10% of team sales. • Established the Water Sustainability practice in 2009. Led the creation of the first Water Sustainability Report for the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2010, analyzing water data from 150 multinational companies. Member of the company Green Team, working on ERM’s internal sustainability, and assisted on a number of pro-bono projects for the ERM Foundation. Member of the analysis team defining ERM’s 5-year strategy in 2011.

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