Donald Bunnell

Donald Bunnell is a Seattle-based entrepreneur, executive, and angel investor whose career bridges international energy, cleantech, and sustainable housing. He co-founded NODE (node.eco) in 2016 with Bec Chapin, a housing-systems company building a platform to deliver high-quality, turnkey, zero-emission homes — pitched as achievable in roughly one-tenth the time, with one-tenth the labor, and at about half the cost of conventional construction. NODE went through Y Combinator and Techstars, and in 2021 combined with Green Canopy to form Green Canopy NODE, where Bunnell serves as a Director on the board. Across NODE he held roles including CRO, President, Co-CEO, and board member.

Before NODE, Bunnell spent much of his career in international energy and heavy industry, largely based in Asia. He was a Vice President in charge of Enron Corporation's power group in China (joining Enron China in 1997, with roles spanning Senior Manager, General Manager, VP, and China Country Manager), and earlier worked as a manager with Coastal Power Corp in Beijing (1995–1997). He also served as Vice President for Business Development for BHP Billiton's Asian aluminum operations.

He later co-founded Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed clean-energy (gasification) company, where he was an executive and board member until 2014. He was chairman of Zenogen Pty, Ltd, a Sydney-based cleantech company, and founded the Harbor Foundation, a nonprofit focused on creating opportunities for refugees. Bunnell is a US-qualified lawyer who also practiced law in Hong Kong, giving him a cross-border legal and business-development background that informs his operating and investing work.

• Invests as an angel at the seed stage, drawing on his own operating experience as a cleantech and housing-tech founder.
• Strong tilt toward climate, cleantech, and environmental/sustainability companies — mirroring his work in zero-emission housing (NODE), clean energy (Synthesis Energy Systems), and water tech.
• Also backs B2B / business-productivity software and media-information services, per aggregator records of his portfolio.
• As a former Co-CEO who scaled a venture-backed startup through Y Combinator and Techstars, he is positioned to value founders solving hard, capital-intensive physical-world problems (construction, energy, water) with a technology and systems approach.