Three partners. Decades in the field.
The Lakefusion partnership is built on direct operating and scientific experience in agriculture, materials science, and industrial biotechnology.
Thomas Brennan
Thomas is a fourth-generation Illinois farmer who operated a 4,200-acre row-crop and dairy operation through 2014 — one of the largest privately-operated family farms in northern Illinois. The decisions he made daily — which inputs to buy, which agronomic practices to adopt, when to adopt precision technology — gave him a granular view of what actually works at field scale versus what looks good in a trial.
In 2014, he transitioned into building: he co-founded a Midwest precision-ag software company focused on field data integration and agronomic decision support. That company was acquired by a global ag chemicals company in 2018. He holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Thomas founded Lakefusion Partners in 2019 to back climate-tech and sustainable-materials founders from a Chicago base — close to the agricultural supply chain, the industrial Midwest, and the research university ecosystem that is producing the next generation of materials science spinouts.
Dr. Mei-Lin Zhao
Dr. Zhao holds a PhD in Soil Microbiology from Cornell University, where her doctoral research focused on rhizospheric microbial communities and their role in nitrogen cycling in row-crop systems. That research sits directly behind several of Lakefusion's investments in biological nitrogen fixation and microbial seed treatment companies.
She spent seven years as a senior scientist at a Bayer Crop Science research station, leading a team focused on microbial product development — from discovery through field trial validation and regulatory pathway. She has seen what it takes to move a biological input from lab to commercial scale, including the regulatory complexity that trips up many founders.
Mei-Lin joined Lakefusion in 2021 to lead diligence on biological-input and soil-carbon companies. Her scientific network across university ag extension programs and USDA research stations is a direct sourcing channel for the firm.
Anders Lindgren
Anders spent twelve years in product development for advanced materials at a global sustainability-focused chemicals company — working across bioplastics, bio-based foams, and engineered fibers. He understands how incumbent materials companies evaluate and adopt new bio-based feedstocks, which means he can stress-test whether a startup's product has a realistic commercial pathway or just a compelling technical story.
He holds an MS in Materials Science from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. His combination of European materials industry experience and deep technical grounding in polymer and fiber science is Lakefusion's anchor for its sustainable-materials thesis.
Anders joined Lakefusion in 2022 to build out the firm's sustainable-materials portfolio. Companies like MycoWorks, Cruz Foam, Modern Meadow, and Ecovative benefit directly from his network into the materials procurement and product development functions at global consumer goods companies — the exact buyers these portfolio companies need to scale.
Reach out to the team.
We prefer direct conversations over pitch decks. If you're building in climate tech, sustainable materials, or precision ag — send us a note.
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