Jigar Shah is an entrepreneur and visionary committed to leveraging the next economy, or "impact economy," by solving the challenging issues of our time. At Inerjys, Jigar is pioneering a new investment model that provides both growth equity and project finance to clean technology companies. This effort is helping unlock $5 Trillion into the impact economy by 2020.

From 2009 to 2012, Jigar was called on by Sir Richard Branson to serve as CEO of the Carbon War Room. The Carbon War Room seeks to harness the power of entrepreneurship to cause proven climate change solution technologies to be deployed at scale. Jigar’s leadership was instrumental in helping build the organization into one of global importance.

Prior to the Carbon War Room, Jigar was founder and CEO of SunEdison, today the world’s leading solar services company. SunEdison simplified solar as a service through the implementation of the power purchase agreement (PPA) business model. SunEdison’s groundbreaking business model catalyzed the revolution that turned solar PV into a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide.

Jigar sits on the boards of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy, SolarNexus, KMR Infrastructure, the Prometheus Institute and Greenpeace USA. He is also author of the upcoming book: "The Impact Economy."

Vincent Martel, a Partner at Inerjys, has 11 years of experience in M&A / Corporate Finance, nine years acting as strategic investor within large international corporations and two years providing advice to clients undertaking strategic investment.

Vincent has a proven track record of generating investment opportunities, developing, negotiating and executing corporate combinations (acquisitions, divestments, JVs) on an international level, most recently with AREVA in Paris where he led acquisitions for AREVA Renewables’ rapid growth in the renewable sector. Most notably, Vincent led the 49% buyback of Multibrid (an offshore wind turbine OEM that became AREVA Wind), the acquisition of PN Rotor (an offshore wind rotor blades manufacturer that integrated AREVA Wind) and the acquisition of Ausra (a solar thermal technology that became AREVA Solar).

Vincent graduated in 2000 from HEC Montreal with honours (“Profil Mercure”) and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) charter since 2004.

Eric Ouaknine brings to Inerjys over a decade of experience in international sales and a keen understanding of world markets. His unique perspective, having been integrally involved at both the start-up and established stages of company development, gives Eric exceptional business acumen. As a Partner at Inerjys Ventures, he plays an active role in selecting Inerjys’ key portfolio companies including seeking out infrastructure projects and developers.

Prior to joining Inerjys, Eric was a founding member of Blueslice Networks, a telecom leader in subscriber data management. As Blueslice's VP Sales, Eric's dedicated leadership was vital to its seamless expansion into European markets. During this period, Eric successfully managed agreements with over twenty high-profile customers and channel partners including British Telecom, Vimpelcom Russia and Alcatel-Lucent. He also played a central role in Blueslice's acquisition in 2010 by Tekelec (NASDAQ: TKLC).

Eric’s extensive negotiation background and tactical approach serves his conviction that with the right combination of efficient solutions, renewable energy can and will attain grid parity allowing renewables projects to be highly profitable without relying on government subsidies.

Raphael focuses on technical due diligence initiatives and on sourcing new deals. As resident expert on renewable energy and clean technology, Raphael leads the initial review of the majority of funding opportunities presented to Inerjys. He manages a number of key academic, industrial and public sector relationships, and leads press relations activities for the firm.

Before joining Inerjys, Raphael worked in research, with major interests in laser design and experimental solid state physics. Before entering academia, he worked for several years as an HPC expert and software developer for organizations ranging from small businesses and research groups to multinational corporations.

Raphael is an avid player of contract bridge, and has chaired major tournaments for the ACBL. He has served as expert commentator on renewable energy topics for several newspapers and industry publications.

Raphael holds a B.Eng. in electrical engineering from McGill University and an M.Sc. in physics from the University of Toronto.

Max, an Associate at Inerjys, leads a number of the firm’s investor relations and business development efforts. His responsibilities include building and maintaining relationships with investors, as well as forging strategic partnerships with national and international organizations. He is also tasked with identifying and assessing new investment opportunities, as well as marketing and communications for the firm.

Prior to Inerjys, Max co-founded Startupifier, an organization that bridges the gap between students and entrepreneurship. Before Startupifier, Max was a member of the founding teams of several startups in Canada and the United States, focused on sales, marketing, and fundraising. He also consulted for a pulp and paper company trying to enter the wood-composite sector.

Outside of his work experience, Max led fundraising efforts for the Ghetto Shul in Montreal, spoke at the inaugural TEDxMcGill on the value of student entrepreneurship, and was a featured columnist for NextMontreal. He is an enthusiast of chess and poker, and has been described as a compulsive networker.

Max holds a B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from McGill University in Montreal.

Dominique is passionate about environmental sustainability, and motivated to strengthen the renewable energy industry. At Inerjys, she is responsible for researching technological innovations and investment opportunities in the biofuels sector worldwide. Her previous experience allows her to evaluate projects’ long-term potential from a scientific and economic perspective.

Dominique earned a B.A. in biology from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City, where she completed her thesis on the economic future of algae biofuel. Her past research includes a microbiological study on green roofs in New York, with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of urban areas. She also completed a project on the impacts of the palm oil industry on climate change. Dominique’s experience also includes internships at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and the Cape Eleuthera Institute in Cape Eleuthera, Bahamas, where she worked on multiple sustainability projects. Most recently, she interned at a renewable energy finance company in New York, where she conducted market research on several renewable power industries.

Chairman & Principal, G&G Global Solutions, a firm pursuing business development in the global cleantech sector. Mr. Smitherman is a trailblazing advocate for renewable energy and a noted expert on energy and infrastructure policy. During a 12-year career in politics, Mr. Smitherman has held several key positions in the Ontario government, from Minister of Health to Deputy Premier. His tenure as Ontario Minister of Energy & Infrastructure was distinguished by the seminal Green Energy Act, arguably the most significant renewable energy legislation in Canadian history. Most recently, he was a candidate for the mayoralty of Toronto.

Director, Grand Technion Energy Program, Technion University, Israel. Dr. Grader is pioneering the development of non-carbon fuels and has been engaged in advanced ceramic materials for energy applications. Over a 25 year career in ceramic technology, Dr. Grader has served at Bell Labs, headed the Israeli Institute of Chemical Engineers, and served on numerous international committees and boards. He is also an experienced entrepreneur, with 10 patents to his name, and having founded Cellaris, a firm producing ultralight ceramics for industrial applications.

Scientific Director, IREQ (Institut de recherche d'Hydro-Québec). In his role at IREQ Dr. Lantagne is responsible for the scientific direction of 300 researchers and plays key roles in Hydro-Québec’s energy efficiency and renewable energy research activities. Among other roles, he is currently chair of the Hydro-Québec steering committee on wind energy. Dr. Lantagne is additionally vice-president of the board of directors of C3E, the Centre of Excellence in Energy Efficiency, and a member of the NSERC focus group on energy technology.

Dr. Sargent is a renowned leader in nanotechnology, photonics and solar energy research, having been honored with numerous accolades, most recently the 2012 Clean50 award for research and development. He is also founder and CTO of InVisage, a venture-backed company that is developing the quantum-dot imaging-sensing technology QuantumFilm for high-resolution digital cameras.

Dr. Nathwani is the Ontario Research Chair in Public Policy and Sustainable Energy at the University of Waterloo, in the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Environment. He has been a key advisor to the Ontario Power Authority and holds board memberships and directorships in several academic, industry and government organizations involved in energy policy and innovation.

Dr. Perez is a leading expert in solar energy technology, having published over 200 journal articles, conference papers, technical reports and patents on grid-scale solar energy systems. His research has been recognized by several national and international organizations, such as the Velux Foundation, the AEE, the DOE and ISES. Dr. Perez has served on the boards of the American Solar Energy Society, the George Washington Solar Institute, as well as several conferences and IEA taskforces.

As the Administrative Assistant at Inerjys, Ekaterina is responsible for ensuring that things run smoothly on a day to day basis. She also contributes her skills in graphic design to create and update visual communication materials for the company.

In the past, Ekaterina has produced and directed several short films and animations, including a short documentary broadcast on the CBC. In addition to her experience in production administration and filmmaking, Ekaterina has also been involved in producing an awareness campaign to increase community involvement at the Centre Communautaire de Loisirs Côte-des-Neiges where she has been a volunteer for many years.

Ekaterina holds a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communication Studies and a minor in Psychology, from Concordia University.