Fellowship Connects UChicago Students with Cleantech Startups: Meet Cohort 2

The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has announced Cohort 2 of the Resurgence Fellowship – a program connecting students with startups in its cleantech accelerator.

The program is supported by a Breakthrough Energy Fellows Ecosystem Grant and provides selected University of Chicago students with the opportunity to support innovation and business development in the clean energy and sustainability space.

“Breakthrough Energy believes the path to a sustainable future begins with bold ideas and the right support to bring them to life. Our partnership with the Polsky Center and the Resurgence Fellowship connects emerging cleantech ventures with sharp, ambitious MBA students who are ready to roll up their sleeves,” said Ashley Grosh, vice president, discovery program, at Breakthrough Energy.

“These Fellows have brought strategic insight and fresh energy to startups tackling some of the hardest climate and energy challenges. Programs like Resurgence are essential to transforming promising technologies into real-world solutions and shaping the next generation of climate leaders along the way,” she added.

The cohort of Resurgence Fellows is made up of MBA candidates at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. They will support the startups in key business development areas such as financial modeling and projections, customer discovery, market opportunity assessment, investor readiness, and product development.

Resurgence Fellows Cohort 2:

• Divya Agrawal // With experience in product management from Blackstone and Dendra, as well as venture capital experience at Starshot Capital, the DFC, and SOSV, Agrawal brings a unique skill set to the Resurgence program. As a Resurgence Fellow, she will support Materium in bringing to the market smart nanocomposite materials optimized using AI technology.
• Danay Kamdar // As a Resurgence Fellow, Kamdar is going to work with AGC Carbon to bring new grid energy storage and carbon capture solutions to the market. By supporting AGC Carbon, he aims to help scale impactful solutions, bridging the gap between financial rigor and environmental mission in one of the world’s most critical clean energy sectors.
• Rainie Li // With a strong background in environmental engineering, Li previously worked as an R&D engineer, commercializing novel water treatment technologies at a startup that successfully exited in 2022. As a Resurgence Fellow, Rainie will support Inertial in validating its product-market fit and developing a sustainable business model to advance innovation for extracting CO2 and water from industrial flue gases.
• Ching-Tse (C.J.) Tsai // Tsai has 6.5 years of experience from Tesla, where he contributed to the growth of its charging network. With a strong passion for green technology, he is focused on commercializing energy-efficient solutions to address critical challenges in the grid and transportation sectors. As a Resurgence Fellow, he will support Air Energy in commercializing solid-state lithium-air batteries.
• Jaime Yoon // Yoon is focused on early-stage venture investments in sustainability, including synthetic biology and sustainable food technologies, with prior experience in corporate development at SK Group. As a Resurgence Fellow, she will support Tanda Biotech in advancing cost-efficient and sustainable filtration technologies for large-scale bioproduction.

In addition to direct work with Resurgence’s cohort of cleantech startups, fellows have the opportunity to join Resurgence lectures, workshops, and events. Fellows also receive introductions to investors, innovators, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs working in industries relevant to cleantech.

// The Resurgence cleantech accelerator at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is offered in partnership with UChicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.