Benjamin Stanzl

Benjamin Stanzl has roughly a decade of experience across the energy and industrial-technology ecosystem as an entrepreneur, operator, and investor, having launched several businesses and served on more than a dozen company boards. He earned a BS in Chemistry and an MBA from Stanford University, and a Master's in Chemistry from Harvard University. While at Harvard he co-founded Trophos Energy, a developer of microbial fuel cells. Early in his career he worked in BMW North America's Aftermarket Engineering group and as an associate at infrastructure firm AECOM, before spending roughly four years at Chevron Energy Solutions — Chevron's renewable-energy division — where he led the strategic alliances group and helped establish its renewable-energy tax-credit investing effort.

Stanzl joined Energy Innovation Capital (EIC) at its inception in 2016, originally as a Managing Director based in the San Francisco Bay Area and later as Venture Partner for Europe. At EIC he led or participated in investments spanning energy storage, smart home, advanced manufacturing, industrial IoT, and digital technology, taking board seats at portfolio companies including FreeWire Technologies and Titan Advanced Energy Solutions.

In 2020 he founded Stanzl Investment Advisory, headquartered in Zurich with roots in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a mission to connect the global entrepreneurial, investment, and innovation communities around the challenges and opportunities of climate change. The firm provides climate-tech advisory services to startups and investors across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Most recently, Stanzl became a co-founder and CFO of Reshape Energy, a Munich-based startup founded in May 2024 that delivers integrated energy-upgrade services for commercial real estate. His Reshape co-founders include energy-sector veterans such as Gerard Reid, with the broader founding team drawing on experience from Octopus Energy's German division and price-comparison platform Verivox.

• Invests at the intersection of energy transition and climate tech, with stated interests in sustainability, venture capital, and decarbonization.
• Sector emphasis on energy storage, e-mobility/EV charging, smart home, advanced manufacturing, industrial IoT, and digital energy technology.
• At EIC, backed early- and growth-stage companies "serving the energy industry," typically participating in or co-leading Series A/B rounds and taking active board roles.
• Stanzl Investment Advisory's mission is to "connect the global entrepreneurial, investment and innovation communities focused on the challenges and opportunities created by climate change."
• On the commercial-buildings opportunity behind Reshape Energy, he frames the problem bluntly: "Why isn't enough happening?" and "The biggest threat is definitely the 'do nothing' option," while acknowledging "the complexity of executing these projects is unbelievably high."