Steve Crane (entrepreneur)
| Steve Crane | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Stephen E. Crane[1] 1953[2] |
| Residence | Berkeley, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology |
| Occupation | Businessman, entrepreneur |
| Title | CEO of LightSail Energy |
Stephen E. Crane is an American businessman, video game developer and entrepreneur.[3] He is the CEO of LightSail Energy, a compressed air energy storage startup which he co-founded with Danielle Fong.[4]
Education and video games
Crane attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he studied physics,[5] eventually earning a geophysics Ph.D.[6] In the 1980s, he was director of software development for the graphics company Cubicomp.[7] He was later senior vice president and chief technology officer for the game company Activision,[8] where he helped develop games such as X-Men: Mutant Academy[9] and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.[10] Before founding LightSail, he was the Chief Creative Officer at Midway Games in San Diego.[11][12]
LightSail Energy
In 2008, Crane left the video game industry to start an energy company with Danielle Fong, investing $100,000 in seed capital.[13] The company was initially focused on using compressed air to power a scooter, but later pivoted to energy storage for the electrical grid.[14] LightSail's technology could allow it to achieve up to double the efficiency of previous compressed-air systems.[15] According to Crane, he aims for LightSail's system to be cheap, durable, and fit inside a standard shipping container.[16] As of 2015, LightSail had approximately 55 employees,[13] and had raised $70 million in venture capital investment.[17]
References
- ↑ "Compressed air energy storage system utilizing two-phase flow to facilitate heat exchange". Google Patents. Google. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Gies, Erica (January 25, 2012). "Greening the Grid: LightSail Aims To Make Power Cleaner By Making Energy Storage Cheap". Forbes Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Gage, Deborah (November 5, 2012). "Peter Thiel, Bill Gates, Khosla Get Behind Energy Storage Start-Up LightSail in $37M Deal". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Temple, James (March 11, 2014). "LightSail Adds Two Execs as It Looks to Ramp Up Sales". Re/code. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Cook, John (November 6, 2012). "Bill Gates, Vinod Khosla and Peter Thiel bankroll energy storage startup LightSail". GeekWire. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Garling, Caleb (July 2, 2012). "World's Most Wired Steam Punk". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Burns, Diane (July 10, 1984). "CS-5 Adds Depth To PC Graphics". PC Magazine.
- ↑ "Annual 2000 Report" (PDF). Activision. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "Activision Brings the Most Popular Comic of All Time To Life With The Release of X-MEN: Mutant Academy". Activision. PR Newswire. July 14, 2000. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Holt, David (October 2014). "Reaching for the moon". Progress Media. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Feldman, Curt (October 23, 2003). "New Midway boss talks the talk". GameSpot. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "AIIDE 2006 Speakers". AAAI. Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- 1 2 Okyle, Carly (September 15, 2014). "Top 30 Startups to Watch". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Roberts, Seth (April 14, 2013). "How Things Begin: LightSail Energy". Seth's Blog. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Markham, Derek (November 7, 2012). "New Compressed Air Energy Storage System Could Deliver Double the Efficiency". Treehugger. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Fehrenbacher, Katie (November 7, 2012). "In the post-Solyndra era, still some (rare) big bets left for cleantech". GigaOm. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Haislip, Barbara (February 21, 2016). "Energy-Storage Startup LightSail Plots Long-Term Game Plan". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 April 2016.