
Tom Baruch
Founding Advisory Board

Tom Baruch currently invests in early-stage companies focused on resource-scarce and climate-sensitive markets out of his family office, Baruch Future Ventures (BFV). Tom founded Formation 8 (precursor of 8VC) in 2011, and CMEA Capital, the first venture capital fund to integrate a corporate limited Partners in 1989 with New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and 3M Corp.
Tom managed a total of $1.2 billion of capital across seven funds at CMEA, where he personally led investments resulting in 18 IPO’s including, Aclara Biosciences, Codexis, Inc., CNano Technologies, Flextronics, Inc., Intermolecular, and Symyx Technologies, and 8 M&A transactions including Silicon Spice, acquired by Broadcom (BRCM). Ten (10 of 26) of Tom’s successful portfolio exits were at market capitalizations of greater than $1 billion (“unicorn” category).
Earlier in his career, Tom worked at ExxonMobil for 12 years and later founded Microwave Technology, Inc. where he served as CEO for 6 years. Currently, he serves on the boards of Windfall Bio, Alta Resource Technologies, EVLOH, and numerous other privately held companies and public service entities.
Tom was a founding member of Obama’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where he advised the U.S. Department of Commerce and the White House. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the U.S. Council of Competitiveness and a member of the Steering Committee of its Energy, Security, Innovation and Sustainability Initiative and the U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative.
Tom is a Senior Advisor to Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), a $3.5 billion venture capital fund founded by Bill Gates that is dedicated to investing in climate-impactful companies. BFV and BEV have co-invested in numerous companies, including: Aeroseal (high performance HVAC insulation), Fervo Energy (enhanced geothermal systems), Kobold Metals (AI for minerals exploration), Windfall.bio (transforming harmful methane emissions to rich organic fertilizer), and LuxWall (high thermal performance and transparent widows). Tom has an Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (where he currently serves as a Trustee) and a J.D. degree from Capital University and, is a registered U.S. Patent Attorney.