Slava Solonitsyn, a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is an ESG expert with over 17 years experience in the design and development of new products, mentoring, investing and community building in Europe and the US.
He has extensive expertise in launching and scaling up startups. His primary areas of interest include IoT, hard tech, and construction. Slava is passionate about tech startups with a long-lasting impact. He is currently pursuing his own impact goal by advancing the construction industry through automation and 3D printing, but is also helping select founders, who have their own high-impact missions as an angel investor and advisor. While he is familiar with the American and Singaporean markets, he is now exploring the potential of SEA and LATAM as key drivers of the future of humanity (from the perspective of impact and population).
Slava is a well-known global expert and is often invited to speak at the most important startup and global business events such as Collision and F.ounders. His unique experience in scaling complex startups, solving ESG problems, as well as his VC background, make him a highly sought-after angel investor.
Current occupation
Mighty Buildings
Slava is the CEO and co-founder of Mighty Buildings. This tech company is changing the construction industry by building beautiful, sustainable homes using advanced materials and patented 3D printing technology. Mighty Buildings is headquartered in Oakland, California. The company was founded in 2017 by Slava and his business partner Dmitry Starodubcev, and later joined by seasoned executives Russ Atassi, Rene Griemens and Chris Murphy.
Under Slava’s leadership, Mighty Buildings has raised over $100 million and established the company as a leader in sustainable 3D-printed housing. It counts among its investors such noteworthy names as Khosla Ventures, Bold Capital, Core VC, YCombinator, ArcTern Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, and others. Mighty Buildings is also listed in the top 5% of YC businesses.
Solonitsyn describes Mighty Buildings as: “We are hard at work to find a solution to humanity’s double-edged climate crisis and housing crisis. Once we have identified a path, our platform will be open to real estate developers so that they can unlock the production of sustainable homes on a large scale.
Mighty Building’s Impact
The construction industry and related building operations generate around 40% of annual global CO2 emissions, according to reports. However, the world still requires more housing. Mighty Building believes that it is not an “either/or” choice. Mighty Buildings has developed technology with the potential to unlock productivity to address the housing crisis while also reducing construction-related emissions. It allows for near-zero waste construction, reduction of embodied carbon, and building cost-effective zero-net energy homes. These methods progress the company closer to its 2028 Carbon Neutrality goal.
Mighty Buildings is a member of ASTM International, Sustainable Brands, Housing Innovation Alliance, SME climate HUB, and other institutions which address climate change. It has also committed to The Climate Pledge initiative by Amazon alongside more than 300 of the world’s most influential companies.
Ruvento Ventures
Another of Slava’s great achievements is co-founding Ruvento Ventures, a startup incubator and a seed capital firm in Singapore in 2012. Slava began with incubating 12 IoT startups. Some of these were later bought and others received follow-on funding.
Slava was Managing Partner between 2015 and 2017. He raised a private fund, made 17 seed-stage investments and two of them became unicorn companies. Two more were valued at over $500M. The fund he managed was able to bring in huge returns for investors (MOIC 3.7x). Two unicorn companies were among the ones he invested in: Boom Supersonic, which makes supersonic flight accessible in a sustainable manner, and Solugen, which brings clean, sustainable chemicals to all industries.
Slava is still a member of the Board at Ruvento Ventures and serves as a partner in ventures. He also helps the firm pursue an ESG agenda for developing markets such as Southeast Asia.
Early career background
Slava started his career at G5 entertainment where he managed projects for Sony, Disney and Electronic Arts. He was active in the development of Russia’s startup ecosystem since 2007. He designed a number of support measures including tax incentives for tech projects, which were later incentivized across more than 1000 startup companies.
Education, community services, and eco-activism
Slava graduated from Nizhniy Novgorod State Technical University named in R.Y. Alekseev ( NSU) graduated from Nizhniy Novgorod State Technical University named after R.Y. in 2004 with a MSc in Physics. In 2007, he earned an MBA from Imperial College London, where he studied Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital. As a student, he launched several university initiatives and participated in various clubs. Upon earning his MBA, Slava focused on commercialization of technology, working closely with Imperial College scientists on commercialization feasibility studies.
Slava is wholly committed to the mission of saving the planet, and this extends beyond his work. Moreover, he actively promotes this mission by launching eco-friendly initiatives, such as beach cleanups. Via his Twitter account, Slava frequently shares useful articles, research, and personal insights on sustainable business, climate crisis response, and impact in proptech.
Slava is a keen kitesurfer and paraglider. After learning Mandarin in China and Singapore, he adopted the nickname “Si Lei” (SiLei). This nickname is a favorite of his in interactions with people from all around the globe.
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