Andrew Chung
How Gordon Moore Helped Shape My View on ...

Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel Corporation, has died at 94. It's hard to express Gordon’s impact in ushering in an era where microchips are in everyday devices everywhere, from laptops to phones to children’s toys. A talk with Gordon years ago helped shape my view on innovation. Read my perspective on how predictable experience curves (like Moore’s Law) united in novel ways can create unpredictable outcomes and wildly successful products.

How Gordon Moore Helped Shape My View on Innovation
Andrew Chung
1955 Reinvests in Nature’s Fynd's $350M Series C

Congrats to 1955 Capital’s portfolio company Nature’s Fynd for raising $350 million. I’m grateful and humbled that Thomas (CEO) and Matt (CFO) chose 1955 as their Series A lead investor back in 2018, and we remain strong supporters, with $50 million invested to date. We are thrilled to partner with Softbank, Blackstone, Hillhouse, Balyasny Asset Management, Hongkou, EDBI, and SK in this round. The founders’ incredible vision is unchanged, and they continue to show tremendous progress toward achieving their goal: to build the next great sustainable food company and impact the lives of millions around the globe.

1955 Reinvests in Nature’s Fynd's $350M Series C
Kathy Chen
Fortune Op-Ed: Andrew Chung on The American ...

From Fortune raceAhead, by Ellen McGirt, March 23, 2021

Today, we turn this space over to Andrew Chung, a first-generation Asian American and founder and managing partner of 1955 Capital. He shares his experience with racism, his anguish over the murders in Atlanta, and issues a very specific call to action.

The American Dream at Risk

…My father dutifully wore a mask in a local pharmacy and was harassed by a patron who yelled, ‘Nobody’s wearing a mask in here, you’re scaring everyone with this whole China Virus!’ Dad was scared for his life and took off his mask, putting his health at risk... I had to call my parents and ask them to give up their cherished freedoms, because our collective voice has been too soft to drive the change that would keep them safe. Asian Americans and other minorities have taken steps backward because of failed leadership, and people need to express their anguish over events like those in Atlanta... Take a stand against bigotry and encourage your organizations to do the same... It’s time to speak up and take collective action.

Posted on Fortune and on Medium

Fortune Op-Ed: Andrew Chung on The American Dream at Risk

Gridtential

Batteries Int'l: Gridtential Wins Innovation Award at BCI 2018

Batteries Int'l: Gridtential Wins Innovation Award at BCI 2018

1955 portfolio company Gridtential won the 2018 Sally Breidegam Miksiewicz Innovation Award for its silicon joule technology at this year’s BCI convention in Tucson, Arizona on April 30. The bipolar technology replaces the lead grids used as current collectors in traditional lead-acid monoblocs with silicon wafers. The associated boost in performance and reduced need for lead means that silicon joule enabled batteries can compete with lithium in emerging 48V automotive and other applications, the company says.

Gridtential Stacks the Deck as SunEdison's John Barton Joins as CEO

Gridtential Stacks the Deck as SunEdison's John Barton Joins as CEO

1955 portfolio company, Gridtential, an innovator in low-cost, high-performance energy storage technologies, announced today that it has appointed John Barton, former President of Global Asset Management for SunEdison, as Chief Executive Officer of Gridtential. The company also announced that Bob Gruenstern, former Johnson Controls Global Vice President for Product and Advanced Engineering, joined its Technical Advisory Board. Both Barton and Gruenstern bring decades of critical operations and product development expertise as Gridtential accelerates plans for the commercialization of its patented Silicon Joule® battery technology.

Techcrunch: New battery technologies are getting a charge from venture investors

Techcrunch: New battery technologies are getting a charge from venture investors

Venture capital investors once again are getting charged up over new battery technologies…. One of the latest to raise new money is Gridtential, a battery technology developer pitching a new take on a classic battery chemistry… the centuries old lead acid battery. Gridtential’s innovation, for which it’s filed several patents, is to use silicon plating instead of non-reactive lead plating in the battery.

The company’s novel approach has won it the backing of four big battery manufacturers, in an earlier $6 million round of funding in January, and now the company has raised another $5 million to continue to build out the business from new investor 1955 Capital.