Raising Money for an Oil & Gas Startup

Join Entrepreneurship Cell for a panel discussion about various forms of financing that are available to the O&G start-ups. This will be an interactive discussion with industry veterans who have dozens of years of experience raising funds and financing O&G start-ups.

Sponsorship Opportunity Available! Please contact the Entrepreneurship Cell Team.

Moderator: Matt Dawson, Investment Director, Statoil

Moderator Bio: Matt is currently an Investment Director with Statoil’s venture capital division as well as the Chief Technology Officer of a Statoil spin-out Reveal Energy Services, which is based on a breakthrough technology that he developed when he worked in Statoil’s Research & Technology group. He started his career as a researcher at ExxonMobil’s Upstream Research where he developed numerous technologies.  He has over 25 filed patents in the oil & gas space on more than 10 new technologies.  He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the age of 24 from MIT where he also launched his first successful start-up.

Panelist: Mario Portella, Investor and Managing Director, TPG ART

Panelist Bio: Mario Portela is an investor and Managing Director with TPG ART.  Prior to joining TPG in 2009, Mario held several senior management positions at Lyondell, where he was last an Officer and Vice President for Strategy and Corporate Development. Mario has a BS in engineering from IMPE, Lisbon, and has studied finance and marketing throughout his career at ESADE, INSEAD, IMD, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mario currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Advantek Waste Management Services LLC, Anuvia Nutrients LLC, ChemEor, Inc., and EBES S.A.

Panelist: Jim Sledzik, Senior Partner and President, Houston Office, Energy Ventures

Panelist Bio: Jim Sledzik, senior partner and president of the U.S. office of Energy Ventures, has more than 26 years of experience in the worldwide oil and gas industry.  Since 2002, Energy Ventures has raised $950 million in five funds that target technology-driven, high growth potential companies in the upstream oil & gas sector. Sledzik currently serves on the board of directors of three portfolio companies: Wireless Seismic, Hicor and Sagerider. He holds an MBA in International Business, Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh and a B.Sc. in Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University.

Panelist: Jim Lawnin, Board Member of Houston Angel Network

Panelist Bio: With over 35 years’ experience in the O&G industry, Jim started his career as a Petroleum Engineer for a major oil and gas company in the Gulf Coast area, later starting an independent O&G company of his own. After completing graduate school for an MBA and accounting designation, he has held Sr. Exec positions at major consulting firms. Jim is a Licensed Professional Engineer (PE), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), and Black Belt Six Sigma, Jim co-leads the oil and gas investment subgroup of the Houston Angel Networks and serves on the leadership board of Jubilee Prison Ministries.

Special notes: There is no parking validation, so event attendees will have to self-park.