Renewable Energy Investor Forum

Who We Are

Founding principals:

Geoff Sharples brings expertise in project finance, experience financing commercial solar and a passion for renewable energy, providing valuable leadership to REIF. Through his previous company, SeventhGen Financial, and more recent work at Clipper WindPower and Google, Geoff assists with commercial scale solar and wind projects. Having project-financed power plants in North Africa and Europe, Geoff is intimately familiar with risk and return issues related to power projects.

His experience includes structuring and negotiating finance and project agreements, financial analysis and project management. Projects include the 471 MW Rades power plant in Tunisia as well as leading the first deal for delivery of turbines at Clipper 2007-2009. The transactions were structured to change the risk/reward profile of the counter party. He has also led some key supply chain transactions of critical components.

Through consultative sales engagements in the high-tech sector Geoff has created and analyzed business plans and financial models from a broad spectrum of industries. Geoff has trained and managed multi-disciplinary teams and managed the sales process for a high growth software company. Combining experience in renewable energy, business planning, consultative selling and project finance with analytical discipline and rigor, Geoff offers structure and surety to financing renewable energy projects.

Geoff holds an MBA degree from Cornell University in finance and marketing and a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. (return to top)

Daniel N. Robin brings more than 25 years executive/board, financial and business development experience to his partnerships, transactions and teaching with a background in venture finance, cleantech commercialization (In3inc.com), and international project finance (In3finance.com). Daniel is an investor/advisor of numerous cleantech companies, including WISE Solutions (wisesolutions.net), Carbon Drawdown Solutions (www.cdsbiochar.com), Blume Distillation (blumedistillation.com), FreshPower and many others.

Daniel is also adjunct professor of strategy and management at Fisher International MBA Program of Monterey Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA, one of the top-ranked business schools in the US, serves as faculty and former board member of the 501(c)3 Sustainability Academy, and co-founder of the Central Coast Commercial Sustainability Network (www.cccsn.net), where the need for a Bay Area project finance forum first originated.

Daniel has chaired biorenewables and renewable energy finance conferences, keynoted and conducted workshops at industry events and symposiums, including Small Hydro Latin America (2012), West Coast Green (on biomaterials innovation), Green Trade Network Summit (presenter and/or panel moderator 2008-2012), Sustainable Brands 2008 (workshop leader and presenter), Biopolymers Summits (speaker 2005-2009, workshop leader 2005-2006, conference chair 2006) and many others, on topics such as raising capital, development finance and the social side of sustainability.

Mr. Robin has published more than 150 articles, extensive curriculum on leadership, management, ethics & governance, and sustainable business practices. Current consulting involves de-risking, feasibility studies, lean/agile business planning, innovation models, venture, corporate and project finance, international technology transfer, and evaluation of financial opportunities.

Daniel received a bachelors in Computer & Information Science from UC Santa Cruz, completed advanced studies in Marketing and International Business (UC Berkeley), earned certificates in emergin market finance from Moody's Analytics, coaching (Coaches Training International in San Francisco), master's level/trainer certificates in neurolinguistics (NLP Colorado) and public speaking. (return to top)

Alan J. Bilinsky, In3 advisory board member, is President and Founder of Perfect Energy Solutions, whose mission is to provide energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions to residential, commercial, non-profit and government agencies.... He is the founding director of the Marina Small Business Incubator (MSBI), as well as having been a Silicon Valley software architect. Alan served as Director of Business Development for Kanisa, Inc. (www.kanisa.com) where he helped raise approximately $7M in venture capital, arranged licensing and strategic partnership agreements with F500 companies (such as IBM, etc.).

Alan has founded and successfully exited several businesses as well as done extensive early stage high-tech start-up work at the University of Michigan and with private clients. In these roles, Alan has helped raised private and venture capital. He is experienced in technology transfer, intellectual property, grant writing and licensing.

Alan is involved with a variety of community activities from testing the water that goes into the Monterey Bay to advising local arts organizations to promoting sustainability through the Central Coast Commercial Sustainability Network. (return to top)

Jay Brandeis brings a capital markets and business development background to his role at REIF. He has extensive sales and client management experience from his work in the technology and financial services industries.

Jay is currently a Business Development Manager at Broderick Associates, a sales and strategic marketing firm servicing the professional services community. At Broderick, Jay helps to launch messaging campaigns and lead generation programs that build brand awareness and generate new business for Broderick clients.

Before Broderick, Jay worked as an Account Executive with Thomson Financial, the world's leading provider of financial data to the investment community. There, he sold web-based applications and advisory services to Investor Relations Executives. Prior to Thomson, Jay honed his marketing and selling skills helping to land key accounts at eWork Inc., a technology company supplying human capital management services. Jay has also spent time at Robertson Stephens, working in the Private Client Services group, providing financial services to some of the country's leading executives and their organizations.

Jay holds a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Economics from Denison University in Ohio. He spent part of his undergraduate program studying in Australia at the University of Queensland, and has since continued his studies with extension courses at the University of California, Berkeley. (return to top)

This website is for information and facilitation purposes only and is not an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.