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.

His expertise includes scaling up and launching startups. His main areas of focus include hard tech, IoT, construction and sustainable tech. 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. He is intimately familiar with American and Singaporean markets, but is currently exploring the potential of SEA, LATAM and MENA as they will be the key drivers for the future of humanity (from the standpoint of population and impact).

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 has its headquarters 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. Khosla Ventures and Bold Capital are among its investors. Core VC, Core VC, Core Innovation Capital, ArcTern Ventures and Core Innovation Capital are also among them. Mighty Buildings is also included in the top YC companies (5% of YC companies).

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 Buildings’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 it’s not an “either/or”. Mighty Buildings developed technology that can increase productivity and reduce construction-related emissions. It allows for near-zero waste construction, reduction of embodied carbon, and building cost-effective zero-net energy homes. These methods help the company get 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 great achievement of Slava is co-founding Ruvento Investments in 2012, which was a startup incubator as well as a seed capital company in Singapore. Slava started with the incubation of 12 IoT startups, some of which raised follow-on funding and two of which were later acquired.

Between 2015 and 2017, while he served as Managing Partner, Slava raised a private fund and made 17 seed-stage investments, two of which grew into unicorn companies and two more of which crossed $500M in valuation. 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.

These days, Slava continues to serve on the Board of Ruvento Ventures as a venture partner, and is helping the firm to pursue an ESG agenda in developing markets, such as Southeast Asia.

Early career background

Slava’s career path started at game development company G5 Entertainment, where he led projects for Sony, Disney, and Electronic Arts. Starting in 2007, he took on an active role in developing the startup ecosystem in Russia. He developed a variety of support measures, including tax incentives for tech project. These were later used to incentivize more than 1000 startups.

Education, community services, and eco-activism

Slava graduated from Nizhniy Novgorod State Technical University named after R.Y. Alekseev (NSTU) in 2004 with an MSc in Physics. He graduated from Imperial College London in 2007 with a MBA. There he also studied Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship. 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. He learned to speak Mandarin in Singapore and China, after which he chose “Si Lei ” (SiLei) as his nickname. He loves using this nickname in his interactions with people from all over the world.

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