Gary Schefsky is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of New Luna Ventures. He is also an investor, professor, educational writer and a leading proponent of sustainable impact metrics.

Leveraging his business acumen, creative problem-solving and strategic planning approach, he supports entrepreneurs with teamwork and long term solutions. His enhanced due diligence and risk assessment skills grew from twenty-five years of working within emerging startup sectors and seventeen years of experience as a family office fiduciary.

Always at the forefront of emerging market opportunities, Gary founded New Luna in 2006 with a focus on sustainable startups, long before the recent trend of impact venture capital.

Sector Analysts & Professional Affiliates

Ana Echaniz is a part-time technical science advisor to New Luna. Ana is currently Sr. Director, Bioprocessing at Ruby Bio.  She was Sr. Director, Process Development at Bolt Threads, where she worked to commercialize the company’s filamentous fungi based produces, Principal Engineer at The Every Company (formerly Clara Foods), innovator of an animal free egg white proteins using microbial fermentation. Previously, Ana worked in process development at Solazyme, a syn-bio company converting algae biomass and oil into food, feed, and industrial lubricants. She also consulted to bio-pharmaceutical, life sciences, and growth-stage alternative energy companies. Ms. Echaniz holds a Bachelor of Science, Chemical Engineering, from MIT and a Management Certification from the Institute for Generative Leadership.

McKenna Maxwell has a passion for sustainability and the future of food. She is an independently published writer on the cultured meat sector (Medium). McKenna has a BS in Environmental Science and Management from UC Davis. She spent three years co-directing plant-based education and outreach with the student organization PEACE, People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty through Education. McKenna collaborates from time-to-time with New Luna on the analysis and research of plant-based and clean meat market trends and clean food tech companies.

Adam DeVito  is an expert in consumer packaged food product innovation in both large organizations and new venture creation. He collaborates with New Luna in the Food Tech sector focused on innovation and intellectual property development; business, portfolio and brand strategy; and consumer research and human behaviors – all with a focus on positive social impact and human health. Adam is the founder and CEO of Monj and a C-level management consultant and principal of Glasgow Growth Partners. He has seven years of leadership experience with Kraft Foods, as Executive Chef and directing the New Concept Development Group, and was Managing Partner of Sterling-Rice Group where he started new practice areas including brand experience modeling, whitespace innovation & scenario planning. Adam holds degrees from L’Ecole Madeleine, DePaul University, and University of Colorado.

Kate Krueger, PhD Helikon Consulting, advises innovative organizations and individuals on cutting edge food technologies. Founded by her PhD in Cell Biology and time in the cellular agriculture industry, Kate brings deep disciplinary expertise in established and novel fields. Kate’s experience in protein biochemistry and bird’s eye view of the alternative protein and cellular agriculture sectors allows her to contextualize the science and ask the right questions. Kate provides consultative due diligence assessment to New Luna and is a valuable resource to New Luna portfolio companies.

Todd Thorner, MA is a start-up investor with a background in operating renewable energy power projects. He collaborates with New Luna in the area of shared deal flow, due diligence and market analysis within his fields of expertise. He has founded three companies and developed more than $350 million renewable power plants. He was a Senior Analyst and Executive Vice President in renewable industries. Todd holds an MA with distinctions in International Economics from John Hopkins University.

Burkland Associates accelerates dreams by giving startups smarter finance cover to grow with confidence through part-time CFOs and accountants. The company has over twenty strategic, on-demand CFOs and a group of accounting & tax professionals who provide expert guidance so that founders and CEOs can focus on product and growth.

Cary Krosinsky, sustainable finance educator, author, and advisor. Lecturer at Yale School of Management, Yale College, and Brown University. His next book, Modern China, Financial Cooperation for Solving Sustainability Challenges. Innovator, Impact measurement and tracking. Co-founder, the Sustainable Finance Institute. Strategic Advisor to State and Federal committees and task forces. Advisor to foundations, endowments, and asset owners on impact investing.