Team
Team
Emilie Mazzacurati
Founding Partner
Emilie is a climate tech entrepreneur and investor with 20 years of experience working at the intersection of climate change and capital markets. She was the founder and CEO of Four Twenty Seven, a climate risk analytics firm that pioneered the use of climate science in financial decisions and was acquired by Moody’s in 2019. Previously, Emilie was Head of Research at Thomson Reuters Point Carbon, where she directed research and modeling on carbon markets. Emilie is also a Board Member of Climate Resilience for All, a gender-focused climate adaptation nonprofit dedicated to the protection of people and livelihoods from extreme heat.
Arindam Bhattacharya
Managing Partner
Arindam brings over 30 years of global energy industry experience with SLB (formerly Schlumberger) in executive leadership roles covering operations, strategy, technology, innovation and corporate venture capital. In his most recent role as Managing Director for SLB Ventures Arindam led investments to scale innovation around industrial decarbonization, critical minerals and clean power to support the incubation of the SLB New Energy business portfolio. In prior roles, he led global and regional business units with responsibility for multi-billion$ P&Ls and several thousands of employees.
Osama Idrees
Investment Partner
Osama is a venture investor with 15 years of experience across industrials, manufacturing, energy and the built environment. He originated and ran Électrité de France’s (EDF) North America corporate venture capital arm to accelerate their net-zero transition, sourcing and leading investments totaling over $40M, across sectors including carbon capture, electrification, climate fintech and long-duration energy storage. Osama has a strong operational background, having managed projects ranging from $5M to $30M. Prior to EDF, he was next47’s Innovation Manager (Siemens’ Global VC) and invested in emerging technologies at Chevron Technology Ventures.
Natalie Ambrosio Preudhomme
Principal, Market Insights
Natalie leads Tailwind Futures’ thought leadership and communications. Previously, Natalie led climate-related thought leadership at Moody’s Commercial Real Estate business, empowering CRE investors and lenders to integrate climate risk and resilience information into their financial-decision making. She joined Moody’s through the acquisition of Four Twenty Seven, a pioneering provider of physical climate risk data, where she led editorial strategy and communications.
Brooke Zhang
Senior Associate
Brooke Zhang is a Senior Associate with Tailwind Futures. Brooke has expertise in developing climate adaptation investment strategies and advancing social equity within the climate tech space, including co-designing ESG accounting tools for B2B clients and managing partnerships for cleantech startups. She has supported accelerator programs like Urban Future Lab’s GROW + TOGETHER and contributed to public interest environmental law at Earthjustice.
Carson Mayo
Analyst
Carson Mayo joined Tailwind Futures directly out of his undergraduate studies at UC San Diego. Carson interned in project finance at First Citizens Bank where he evaluated debt financings for utility-scale battery energy storage systems and at RWE Clean Energy where he evaluated equity financings of solar photovoltaic developments. Previously he also assisted in accounting and unit economics at Pearson Fuels, California’s largest provider of E85 ethanol-based biofuel.
Venture Partners & Advisors
Katie MacDonald
Co-Founder & Venture Partner
Katie MacDonald is a climate activist, investor and innovation policy expert. Previously, Katie served as Director of Tech to Market at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) where she managed a $200M+ early-stage startup investment portfolio and spearheaded over $60M in funding programs focused on decarbonization, carbon removal and climate risk. Katie has also led Partnerships at climate tech incubator Greentown Labs, and served as the Executive Director of Cleantech Open Northeast, a regional climate tech accelerator. Katie is a Truman National Security Project Security Fellow and leads the organization’s Climate Affinity group.
Frank Freitas
Venture Partner
Frank M. Freitas is a seasoned entrepreneur, startup operator and corporate leader. He has led two startups to successful exits and brings extensive experience navigating complex integrations from both acquirer and acquired perspectives. Over the past eight years, Frank has focused on climate tech, serving as an advisor, board member and venture partner to companies advancing climate risk analytics, flood intelligence and environmental resilience. His background includes senior leadership roles in global financial services firms where he built and scaled product, operations and program management functions across large, distributed organizations.
Elle Hempen
Venture Partner
Elle is an entrepreneur, strategist and operator with experience scaling startups through acquisition, and deep expertise spanning the public and private sectors. She was CEO and Co-Founder of The Atlas, a 500 Startups graduate that was acquired by GovExec in 2020. There she stayed on to lead corporate strategy for the state and local government business. Elle started her career in the Obama administration at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, coordinating global resilient infrastructure partnerships and federal tribal grant programs.
Contact Us
