Antora Energy

Andrew Ponec studied energy systems engineering at Stanford University, where he researched advanced photovoltaics and co-founded Dragonfly Systems, a solar electronics startup acquired by SunPower in 2014. He co-founded Antora Energy in 2018 to commercialize thermophotovoltaic thermal energy storage. Ponec leads commercialization and strategy for the company's carbon-free industrial heat and power technology. He was named among Optica's Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2023, recognizing his work advancing thermophotovoltaics from laboratory curiosity to grid-scale storage product.

David Bierman earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from MIT, where he developed a solid-state energy converter and novel thermal storage concepts. In 2017 he founded Marigold Power, a thermal energy storage startup, which merged into Antora Energy at founding in 2018. As Chief Product Officer, Bierman leads product development for Antora's thermophotovoltaic blocks, which store energy as heat in carbon and convert it back to electricity when needed. His doctoral research on high-temperature selective emitters underpins the company's core conversion technology.

Justin Briggs holds a B.S. in physics from UC Berkeley and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford University, where he focused on high-temperature materials for energy generation and storage. Before Antora, he held research positions at MBio Diagnostics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and NOAA spanning 2007 to 2017. As COO, Briggs oversees manufacturing scale-up and operations for Antora's thermal storage blocks. His materials science background is central to developing the carbon-block heat stores at the heart of the company's product.