We guide emerging clean technologies out of the valleys of death.
From first market traction to financed, full scale deployment.
The valleys of death
Most clean technology companies fail because they cannot evolve for the next phase of growth. We call these transitions the valleys of death, and they happen more than once.
Technology readiness levels, US Department of Energy
it gets harder as you scale
Founders come to us claiming funding for their technology is not available. It is, but with high expectations and little tolerance for risk.
Funders today look for teams and technologies with a right to win. Stronger proof, clearer traction, better execution.
The challenges clean technology firms face expand over time but their internal capacity does not. That is the gap we fill.
What we help with
Proving a technology, building the first one, and building it repeatedly are require different skillsets. Winning shifts from performance to repeatability to cost. Every valley asks the same three questions but each one needs different answers. We help companies make those pivots.
Commercialization
Does anyone actually want it?
Commercial strategy and market access
Offtake identification and negotiation
Warm introductions to decision makers
Market research, LOIs, TAM and SAM
Project development
Can it be built and deployed?
Project and manufacturing strategy
The contract manufacturing handoff
Pilots that iterate and prove
Project team, EPC and independent engineers
Fundraising strategy
Who underwrites, and how much is equity?
Non-dilutive, blended capital stack
Grants, project finance, and impact capital
Runway extended, so you scale sustainably
Underwritten on debt service coverage, not upside
We take on a limited number of clients.
Here is what we look for.
A technology that is already proven, with third party validation from a corporate partner, a national lab, or a university. We work between a working prototype and a validated market, roughly TRL 4 through 8. If the core IP is still being figured out, an accelerator will do more for you than we will.Strength in two of the three areas above. Most companies arrive solid on two and short on the third, and that gap is usually the engagement.A right to win: something that is not in the market today, or is meaningfully cheaper or better than what is.A market large enough to be worth the effort.Real environmental and social impact.A credible path to the growth capital or the strategic partner that gets you there.A team that can adapt, evolve, and persist long enough to reach the other side.
How we engage
Support to get you across the valleys and build momentum between them.
Workshops
One to five days, one hard decision, and the right people in the room. Months of learning compressed into days. Run for one company or for a cohort.
Project-Based Consulting
A defined engagement to close one gap in a crossing. We assemble the team around it and work as an extension of yours until it is done.
Strategic Advisory
Ongoing access to senior judgment for the climb between valleys. Regular check-ins, someone to call before the board meeting, and a bench to pull from.
Our Work
A green ammonia company out of California
They had an equity story and needed a project story. We rebuilt the pitch for debt and for joint ventures with much larger partners, and set the global project development strategy.
OpenStar Technologies, nuclear fusion, New Zealand
When the Department of Energy published its final Fusion Roadmap laying out a pathway to fusion energy in the mid 2030s, OpenStar’s uniquely capital-efficient approach was part of it. We worked on the US project development strategy: the policy path, site selection, and building the commercial ecosystem around a first build.
A sodium-ion battery manufacturer out of Switzerland
They wanted to list publicly in the US before the business had the history to support it. A workshop reset the plan toward market segmentation, product-market fit, and the manufacturing and supply chain work that has to come first.
A distributed hydropower company in Georgia
Manufacturing capacity had run out ahead of demand and nobody would fund the projects. We backed the plan up to smaller provable projects and repositioned the story around water conservation.
Experienced experts with you at every step
Founded by Michael Walton, Overmountain is a collective of senior advisors. We build the team around the valley in front of you, and the advisors in the room during the pitch are the ones on the engagement.
The journey needs different people at different points. Commercialization, project development, and financing are separate disciplines, and an independent consultant runs out of depth where they meet. Large firms cost more than an emerging technology company can justify and staff the work with people who have never done it.
Our collective covers the whole route.
Meet the Team
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Michael Walton
FOUNDER AND CEO
Founding Partner, Precursor
Former GM Energy Transition Finance
Former White House EJ Advisory Council
Former CEO green|spaces
Architect, Board Member, Scoutmaster -
Steve Boyd
SENIOR ADVISOR
Founder & CEO, New City Energy
Principal, Boyd Strategies
Former Senior Advisor, DOE LPO
Former CEO & Co-Founder, Peloton Technology
Energy & Infrastructure Executive -
Bernie Yoo
SENIOR ADVISOR
FOAK Startup Builder and Advisor
Founding Partner, Precursor
Exited Founder, Former Cleantech Chief of Staff and Fundraiser, Former Morgan Stanley -
Jonathan Shieber
SENIOR ADVISOR
Editor at Large, Resilience Media
Senior Strategist, LaunchSquad
Co-Founder, Abstraction Industries
Former Venture Partner, FootPrint Coalition
Former Senior Editor, TechCrunch
Former Reporter, Dow Jones -
Goksenin Ozturkeri
SENIOR ADVISOR
Founder & CEO, GO Renewables
Former Chief Investment Officer, Relevate Power
Former Director, Renewable Energy Investment Banking, CIBC
Project Finance, Tax Equity & Capital Markets Leader -
Nicole Geneau
SENIOR ADVISOR
Founding Partner, Lightwave Capital
Top 100 Women in Greentech
Former CEO, Mark1
Former VP Commercial Development, Antora Energy
Former SVP, AlphaStruxure
Director of Development, NextEra -
Priya Swamy
SENIOR ADVISOR
Senior Director, Business Development & Regulatory, Aether Fuel
Former Federal Project Engineer, DOE Loan Programs Office
Former Operations Supervisor, DOE Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Technologies Office
Advanced Energy & Industrial Decarbonization Leader -
Austin Smith
SENIOR ADVISOR
Principal, Clean Growth Advisors
Product & Program Leader
Former Director, Nielsen
Clean Energy Operator -
Kate Howling
SENIOR ADVISOR
President, Howling Engineering Resources
Former Senior Consultant, DOE Loan Programs Office
Former Senior Director of Engineering, GlidePath Power Solutions
Former Senior Storage Engineer, Invenergy -
Jonathan Siskin
SENIOR ADVISOR
Co-Founder, Georgia Cleantech Innovation Hub
Strategic Growth & Transformation Leader
Former SVP, Equifax -
Jerri Negash
SENIOR ADVISOR
Strategic Merger and Acquisition Advisor
Former Investment Banking Analyst, Goldman Sachs
Power & Digital Infrastructure Specialist -
Jon Okafor
SENIOR ADVISOR
Investment Officer, DOE LPO
Former Investment Banking Associate, Credit Suisse
Former Co-Founder, Zenith Futbol Academy -
Joseph Batir
SENIOR ADVISOR
Managing Director, Geothermal Industry Advisor, BatirWeGo Holdings
Geothermal Technical Advisor, Precursor
Podcaster, O&G Global Network
Former Geothermal Development Manager, Teverra -
SVEN MERTEN
SENIOR ADVISOR
Founder, spacepiglet venture advisory
Operating Partner, Beverly Ridge Capital
Former Managing Director & CEO, COMATCH US
Former Circular Economy Secondee, World Economic Forum
Former Senior Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company
Sustainability and Resource Productivity Fellow -
ONGELEIGH UNDERWOOD
SENIOR ADVISOR
Founder, Appalachian Carbon Exchange
Former Managing Director, Circular Carbon Network
Former Founder, Temperate Clothing
Associate Director, North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy
Common questions
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No. We do not raise private capital on a client’s behalf. We build the strategy, the roadmap, and the materials, we prepare the team for the conversations, and we tell you honestly where the money is and is not.
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Less dilution, not more. The work shifts as much of the next phase as possible onto grants, project finance, and other non-dilutive capital, so the equity you already hold funds less of it. That extends runway and takes the pressure off bridge rounds. We do not raise private capital on a company’s behalf, so we are not competing with your process. Most investors come to us because there is a gap in the team that hiring cannot close quickly enough.
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An intro call about the technology and the problem, which runs in both directions, and then a proposal. Typically 30 to 60 days from first conversation to a signed scope.
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Coming soon.
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Coming soon.
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Coming soon.
Which valley are you in?
A first call covers the technology, the timeline, and what a good outcome looks like. If we are the right fit, we will tell you where we would start. If we are not, we will say so and point you toward someone better.