James Lyons

Dr. James Lyons entered the venture capital business in 2008 after a 30-year technology career at General Electric. Jim currently serves as chief technologist for the venture investment team at Capricorn Investment Group focused on the creation and growth of clean/renewable energy companies.

Formerly, Jim was Chief Engineer for Electrical Technologies at GE Research, serving as technology leader and mentor for a 250-member global team. He was a leading advocate for renewables within GE and corporate champion behind the formation of GE Wind Energy in 2002 – which quickly grew to $8B annual revenues.

In 2000 Dr. Lyons was the technology leader during the creation of GE’s Digital Energy business unit. While at GE, Jim served on the board of directors of Powerex, the Electric Drive Trade Association, and the US Offshore Wind Collaborative, as well as becoming a principal company spokesperson for renewable energy. In 2006, Jim co-chaired the American Wind Energy Conference, initiating the AWEA/DOE 20% wind energy roadmap.

Dr. Lyons has led many additional technology and business initiatives, including waste gasification, electric vehicles, advanced batteries, power electronics, solid-state lighting, solar PV, rural electrification, and nuclear fusion. He currently serves on a variety of technical board assignments including: Curent ERC, Servato, Encell, Sunpreme, Kinestral, Helion, Norwegian Crystals, Navitas Semiconductor, and Rayvio.

Dr. Lyons is also a member of Servato’s Board of Directors and a reviewer for the DOE and the National Science Foundation. He holds 40+ patents and a BSEE degree from RPI, an MSEE from Virginia Tech, and a Ph.D. in EE & CS from Cornell University.