Renewable heat scale-up appoints Chair to propel international expansion
Naked Energy, the British renewable heat innovator, today announces the appointment of Martin Schwab as Non-Executive Chairman.
Martin brings over 25 years of international experience in the private capital market and a mission-aligned passion for sustainability to Naked Energy’s leadership. He has extensive experience in investing and building companies globally.
He will play a particularly pivotal role in setting the company’s strategic direction working with the board of directors and C-Suite leadership.
Beyond his role at Naked Energy, Martin is a Managing Partner at private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management where he and his team focus on investments in Europe and the United States, delivering highly flexible investment strategies across a broad range of asset classes in both public and private market situations.
He is also the founder and trustee of Ocean Born Foundation, a grant-giving organisation that is creating new sources of sustainable revenue against climate change by focusing on the health of the ocean.
His expertise will be integral to Naked Energy’s growth as the company continues to rapidly scale its global operations.
Naked Energy has developed its cutting edge Virtu solar technology over the past decade to become the world’s highest density solar collector. The technology is now being applied in several large-scale installations across the globe to generate renewable heat for commercial and industrial buildings.
In the next few years the market for renewable heat will undergo a significant shift - the IEA’s latest predictions state 30% of buildings globally will use solar heat systems by 2050. Naked Energy’s Virtu product range is perfectly positioned to play a leading role in the forecasted market expansion.
Over his career, Martin has executed over 50 transactions and has been in over 20 boards of directors. Prior to joining Pamplona, he was Vice President at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, responsible for financial sponsors and telecoms in equity capital markets. His experience also includes time as an Investment Executive at CapVest, specialising in acquisitions and portfolio company monitoring and development in Germany. Earlier still, he was an analyst in Merrill Lynch’s investment banking division.
Christophe Williams, the co-founder and CEO of Naked Energy, said: “At Naked Energy we’re at the next stage of our journey where we’re scaling quickly. We want the best people onboard to help us drive our ambition to build a new green energy landscape. Martin’s expertise in finance and business development will be pivotal in continuing this pace of growth. We’re delighted to have him onboard.”
Commenting on his arrival at Naked Energy, Martin Schwab said: “I’m very glad to be joining a team of such talented individuals at Naked Energy. The technology they have developed to decarbonise heat on a global scale is truly innovative. They have already achieved impressive milestones with this pioneering technology and I know this is only the start of what we’re going to achieve.”
