The engineer leaving Venture Capital to save the planet
Finance has a tendency to bring in the brightest minds, but for those with a higher calling, it can't always keep them for long. Such is the case with Paige Omura, an engineer that has seen herself drift between finance and climate technology.
Omura joined ClimateTech startup Lydian as its head of business operations. She says the company is developing reactor systems for "manufacturing sustainable fuels and chemicals from CO2." Lydian's team is small but plans to grow, according to Omura.
Prior to this, Omura spent the last three and a half years in venture capital. First, she joined science focused VC fund Rhapsody Venture Partners, then left for YCombinator as an operations and program manager.
This isn't the first time she has left finance for ClimateTech. She began her career as a Morgan Stanley intern and was a founding venture partner of community focused VC firm Contrary Capital, but left for a role at air quality-focused startup Plume Labs.
She's not the only finance alumnus, either. Co-founder and CEO Joe Rodden started his career at Blackrock before moving to BNPL fintech Affirm.
Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: +44 7537 182250 (SMS, Whatsapp or voicemail). Telegram: @SarahButcher. Click here to fill in our anonymous form, or email editortips@efinancialcareers.com. Signal also available.
Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)
