Kevin Graetz leverages decades of venture capital experience as a consultant and private equity investor in Connecticut. Over this career, Kevin Graetz has worked closely with Silicon Valley executives. To date, he has raised and allocated more than a billion dollars for early-stage startup firms that include Raza, Iskoot, and Bloom Energy.Bloom Energy, an innovative provider of on-site electric power solutions, has worked to provide reliable, sustainable electrical power since its founding in 2001. The San Jose, California-based company shipped its first commercial products to Google in 2008, and since that time has helped customers generate millions of kWhs of power through its high-tech Energy Server Platform.The Energy Server Platform provides constant power through a distributed generation system. A customizable solution, the Energy Server Platform leverages technology rooted in NASA fuel cell concepts that used electric solar panels to produce air and fuel on other planets. By leveraging this technology, Bloom Energy’s platform offers one of the most efficient energy generators for corporate applications in the world. Moreover, the platform provides customization options for customers. For additional information on the Energy Server Platform, visit bloomenergy.com.
A private equity executive in New Canaan, Connecticut, Kevin Graetz has raised in excess of $1 billion for technology-focused companies over the course of his career. Away from work, Kevin Graetz is a sportfishing enthusiast and has angled for marlin and other game fish in locations such as Jamaica and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.While game fishing offers anglers a wide range of targets, including tarpon, shark, and mahi-mahi, few fish offer the thrill and challenge of the blue marlin. According to a recent ranking of the top 100 game fish by Sport Fishing magazine, the blue marlin is officially the number-one game fish in the world. In compiling its rankings, the magazine considered many factors, including the speed and stamina of the fish and the aerobatics that add to the beauty and excitement of the catch. The blue marlin also received points for becoming increasingly rare. Due to illegal fishing practices and environmental degradation of its habitats, the blue marlin is now a relatively threatened species.
Kevin Graetz is an experienced tech industry and real estate development consultant based in New Canaan, Connecticut. Away from work, Kevin Graetz enjoys staying active by playing golf. He is a member at the Woodway Country Club in Stamford.Stamford’s Woodway Country Club features an 18 hole championship golf course occupying 184 acres of scenic greenery interspersed by the twisting Noroton River. There is perhaps no greater testament to the course’s natural beauty than the National Audubon Society’s recognition of Woodway as a bird sanctuary, the first golf course to receive such a distinction.Designed by golf course architect Willie Park, Jr., Woodway is regarded as a challenging shotmaker’s course which measures 6,901 yards from the back tees. The course has hosted Connecticut Open Championship events in 1964, 1983, 1995, and most recently in 2016. In addition to the course itself, Woodway Country Club provides group clinics and individual training sessions, an active junior program, and a number of year round member tournaments.
A respected Silicon Valley technology consultant and investor, Kevin Graetz seeks out positions in early- and late-stage growth companies with the potential to disrupt. Kevin Graetz has made impactful investments in companies including Raza Microelectronics (now RMI Corporation), which achieved a high-profile 2009 exit through a $184 million acquisition by NetLogic Microsystems. Established in 2004, RMI Corp. raised more than $150 million in financing over a five-year period through venture capital firms such as Kodiak Venture Partners, Benchmark, and DAG Ventures. Establishing a niche as a fabless semiconductor company, RMI Corp. developed a suite of low-power, high-performance processors that met industry needs for converged IP networks.Built to function on 3G/4G mobile wireless infrastructures, the firm’s multi-threaded, multi-core processors provided advanced “data in flight” capacities that met consumer needs in the enterprise, infrastructure, and consumer media markets. Its high-performance “system on a chip” solutions were augmented by ultra-low-power processors designed to meet high-volume application requirements. The merger was described as enabling a significant expansion of NetLogic’s product and intellectual property portfolio, as well as bolstering its core OEM customer capacities.
Kevin Graetz is a longtime technology investor who has held leadership and investment positions in a variety of startups, including Amyris and Quantum Fuel Systems. Companies for which Kevin Graetz has raised significant money include Bloom Energy, which is rooted in K. R. Sridhar’s work to design a NASA fuel cell that would take the electricity produced via solar panel and direct it toward air and fuel generation. Though the NASA project ended in 2001, the core research continued, with a venture-financed focus on generating reliable and clean energy from any location worldwide. As reported in Green Tech Media, Bloom Energy’s efforts are integral to the overall mission of Home Depot, which has earned Energy Star recognition over the past six years and been honored by the Environmental Protection Agency through supply chain and water awards. Beginning in 2014, the nationwide chain initiated a partnership with Bloom Energy that resulted in nearly 200 two-hundred-kilowatt fuel cell system projects being installed at Connecticut, New York, California, and Massachusetts retail locations. The 27 projects that were completed in 2018 also featured newly introduced battery storage capacities. This sustained effort sets Home Depot comfortably on track to achieve its goal of 135 megawatts in offsite and onsite renewable capacity by 2020. With approximately 130 megawatts already in place, projections are that the goal will be attained as early as mid-2019. Renewables also figure prominently into Home Depot’s retail strategy, with $50 million in solar panel systems sold annually and wind turbines also available to consumers.
Financial consultant Kevin Graetz has been involved in private equity and venture capital for decades. Outside of his professional life, Kevin Graetz enjoys fishing, and once caught a 600-pound marlin at Hudson Canyon off the East Coast. Blue marlins are some of the largest fish in the world. They can grow up to 14 feet long and weigh up to 1,985 pounds. Aptly named for their cobalt-blue appearance, these marlins love deep blue waters and are often found far out at sea in the Atlantic and Pacific. Blue marlins are carnivores, feeding on smaller fish such as mackerel and tuna, many of which are found on the warmer ocean surface. However, they have been known to go deeper to hunt squid. Marlins have a long, sharp upper jaw that they use as spears to slash through their prey before coming back to eat them. In the fishing world, marlins are famous for putting up fights when hooked. Given how big, long, and heavy they are, it is a very impressive feat to catch one. Most marlins caught weigh between 200 and 400 pounds. Some of the largest ever caught weighed over 1,000 pounds. The International Game Fishing Association’s record for the biggest marlin was a 1,402-pound fish caught in Brazil in 1992.
Kevin Graetz leverages nearly two decades of experience as a venture capitalist and private equity investor as a consultant and silicon valley investor. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, Kevin Graetz has successfully raised more than a billion dollars for investments in companies that ranged from early stage startups to late-stage private equity transactions. In his free time, Mr. Graetz regularly fishes for big game and has caught a 600 pound Marlin in addition to big eye tuna and yellowfin tuna. Yellowfin tuna are a large, torpedo shaped fish that can often be found close to the surface of tropical and subtropical oceans worldwide. The fish, which grow as large as 400 pounds, can be identified by their bright yellow dorsal fin and metallic blue color on the back. Catching a yellowfin tuna can be challenging. To increase the odds, sports anglers recommend dropping lures deeper where the fish spend most of their time feeding. In addition, putting more distance between the fishing boat and the lure can increase the likelihood of a bite. Other recommended tips include “chumming,” dropping large amounts of baitfish in order to lure yellowfin close to the boat, and kite fishing, which involves pulling along live bait suspended by an airborne kite behind the boat.
Connecticut-based consultant and private equity specialist Kevin Graetz has more than 15 years of experience raising capital for some of Silicon Valley’s most innovative technology firms. As an investor, Kevin Graetz adheres to a personal philosophy of supporting companies whose innovations can be used to achieve a positive social impact. More broadly, disruptive technologies such as cloud capabilities, smartphones, and social networking have completely altered how individuals make donations to charitable causes. Below are some of the most striking ways that philanthropy has been improved by technological innovations. Access - The plethora of mobile payment options facilitate the ability for donors to contribute smaller amounts with one click. Organizations can also advertise their work in front of a wider audience by using social media outlets and encouraging people to share the information with others in their network. Accountability - Today, potential donors can easily access an organization’s financial information as well as charity watchdog ratings through a web search. This increases transparency for donors and holds nonprofits to a higher level of accountability, bringing special attention to groups which divert the highest percentage of donations to effective programs. Organizations can also use infographics to clearly demonstrate how funding is allocated and the impact of their services. Engagement - Organizations can interact with their donor base through SMS messaging, social media, video, and email. Multiple contact points make it easier for nonprofits to convey updated information to their donors and keep them engaged with their work.
For more than 15 years, Kevin Graetz has raised venture capital for firms such as Bloom Energy through his strong relationships with prominent Silicon Valley figures. To prepare for his career in private equity and venture capital, Kevin Graetz earned a BA in economics from Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU).For more than 175 years, OWU has been providing students with a rigorous liberal arts education in Central Ohio. Today, the University features small classes led by prominent faculty members who encourage critical thinking, creative problem solving, and clear communication through dozens of majors and minors. Among other well-respected programs, OWU offers a bachelor’s degree in economics.Economics majors at OWU participate in a dynamic, challenging curriculum that incorporates the traditional study of economic principles with a sound understanding of the role of economics in larger society. To further enrich the experience, economics students have access to the Woltemade Center for Economics, Business, and Entrepreneurship.Launched in 1985, the Woltemade Center maintains a range of fellowships, speaking events, internships, and other holistic programs that help economics and business students at the University put their academic studies into real-world practice. Among other programs, the Economics Management Fellows Program at the center accepts 15-20 incoming freshmen students annually for focused mentoring, travel opportunities, and other perks that will help them develop their careers.
