Engie Electro Power Systems (EPS), the energy storage subsidiary of France-headquartered energy group Engie, promoted its Italy-based chief of staff and head of new business, Giovanni Ravina, to chief innovation officer last month.
Prior to joining Engie EPS in March 2018, Ravina had spent four years as part of the founding team of Engie’s corporate venturing initiative, Engie New Ventures.
Ravina told Global Corporate Venturing: “I had the opportunity to lead a large range of activities in the venture capital cycle, from sourcing to investment management for a number of deals representing a great variety – geographically in Europe, North America and Asia; both direct and [limited partner] investments from series A to series C; and taking different roles at the board level [such as] director and observer.”
During his time at Engie New Ventures, Ravina led financing efforts for smart grid technology developer Opus One, geospatial data technology developer StreetLight Data, nanosilicon-based multigas analysis system provider Apix Analytics and electric scooter provider Gogoro.
Ravina said: “In the meantime, I was seconded to (venture capital firm) Enertech Capital Partner for one year (from 2015 to 2016) and I supported the creation of the Engie New Ventures’ office in San Francisco.”
Concerning his new post at Engie EPS, Ravina told GCV: “Being chief innovation officer at Engie EPS is exactly the challenge I was looking for – getting experience in a fast-growing, highly innovative but relatively small (approximately 100 people) company with a strong tech focus.
“This represents a great opportunity for me to learn from a highly skilled and driven management team, while testing myself to keep developing Engie EPS, leveraging the ingredients we have available.
“A clearly pivotal positioning into an industry in transformation, a global leading industrial partner, a unique and differentiating technology and an amazing team [that is] skilled, motivated and collaborative.”
– Photo of Giovanni Ravina courtesy of Engie.
