We’re energy business innovators
NineDot’s name derives from the classic mathematical puzzle for sparking out-of-the-box solutions. David, Adam and Nalin combined their skills and experiences in clean-energy analysis, science and entrepreneurship to build exciting and important urban energy projects.
Founded in 2015, based at the NYU Urban Future Lab in Brooklyn and backed by Carlyle, we’re committed to providing clean energy solutions to the New York area and beyond.
Our mission and vision
Mission statement
At NineDot Energy, our team of creative collaborators share a passion to design and execute innovative solutions that leverage technology, policy, and markets to support a sustainable future.
Vision statement
Climate change is the most critical issue of our time: as such, we aspire to have a positive impact on the environment and the society in which we live and work.
Our story – experience and expertise
When a chaos physicist, a finance professor and a clean-tech entrepreneur got together, good things happened.
The beginning - 2014
Before 2014, David creates SolarCity’s SolarLease®, driving a multi-billion $ industry; Adam joins the DOE after receiving his PhD in physics; Nalin publishes a breakthrough paper on residential solar risk.
So with a foundation in solar strategy, business, finance and physics, NineDot Energy’s co-founders (David Arfin, Adam Cohen and Nalin Kulatilaka) meet and begin their work together.
Meet NineDot Energy
NineDot Energy’s DNA is all about anticipating market changes in pursuit of creating businesses that serve the greater good. We combine an entrepreneurial willingness to do new things, a businessperson’s understanding of project economics, and a project developer’s capacity to get things done, to deliver results that make a difference.
Founders
David Arfin
David Arfin
CEO, co-founder
David is driven to create innovative finance offerings to accelerate the adoption of clean energy. David invented SolarCity’s SolarLease®, the game-changing solar financing program. He received the first-ever Innovation in PV Financing Award from the Solar Energy Industry Association. David is a co-founder of Ener-Pacte (France) and SolarNGreen (Mexico). Prior to SolarCity, David was co-founder and CEO of GlooLabs (acquired by Cisco Systems), and was the founder and CEO of CLE Group (acquired by PLI). He received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA.
Adam Cohen, PhD
Adam Cohen, PhD
CTO, co-founder
Adam is a physicist who thinks of our energy system as a complex, interconnected experimental laboratory. He seeks to uncover small technical, financial, and regulatory improvements that will cause tipping points for clean energy diffusion. Prior to NineDot, Adam was Science Team Lead for Split Technology, a smart transportation start-up (acquired by Volkswagen Group). Adam was a post-doctoral fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy where he launched a new research program applying social and behavioral science to scale up solar energy adoption. He earned a PhD from the Chaos Group at University of Maryland and a BS in physics from Bucknell University.
Nalin Kulatilaka
Nalin Kulatilaka
Chief strategy officer, co-founder
Nalin is Wing Tat Lee Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business where he also serves as the co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. Nalin’s current research interests include impact investing and financing distributed energy resources. Nalin has published extensively in top academic journals as well as influential managerial publications. His book, Real Options (HBS Press), has received wide acclaim. His honors include Bertil Danielson Chair (Stockholm School of Economics), Takang Chair (Tamkang University, Taipei), and the Association for Investment Management and Research’s Graham and Dodd Award. He has co-founded several companies including FirstFuel Software (energy data analytics), and NineDot Energy (community distributed generation for congested urban grids). He serves on the Board of Directors of Assette. Nalin holds a PhD from MIT
Team
Martin Versaille
Board of Directors
Adam Cohen, PhD
Adam Cohen, PhD
CTO, co-founder
Adam is a physicist who thinks of our energy system as a complex, interconnected experimental laboratory. He seeks to uncover small technical, financial, and regulatory improvements that will cause tipping points for clean energy diffusion. Prior to NineDot, Adam was Science Team Lead for Split Technology, a smart transportation start-up (acquired by Volkswagen Group). Adam was a post-doctoral fellow of the U.S. Department of Energy where he launched a new research program applying social and behavioral science to scale up solar energy adoption. He earned a PhD from the Chaos Group at University of Maryland and a BS in physics from Bucknell University.
David Arfin
David Arfin
CEO, co-founder
David is driven to create innovative finance offerings to accelerate the adoption of clean energy. David invented SolarCity’s SolarLease®, the game-changing solar financing program. He received the first-ever Innovation in PV Financing Award from the Solar Energy Industry Association. David is a co-founder of Ener-Pacte (France) and SolarNGreen (Mexico). Prior to SolarCity, David was co-founder and CEO of GlooLabs (acquired by Cisco Systems), and was the founder and CEO of CLE Group (acquired by PLI). He received an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the Claremont Graduate University, and a BA in Political Science from UCLA.
Nalin Kulatilaka
Nalin Kulatilaka
Chief strategy officer, co-founder
Nalin is Wing Tat Lee Family Professor of Management and Professor of Finance at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business where he also serves as the co-director of the Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. Nalin’s current research interests include impact investing and financing distributed energy resources. Nalin has published extensively in top academic journals as well as influential managerial publications. His book, Real Options (HBS Press), has received wide acclaim. His honors include Bertil Danielson Chair (Stockholm School of Economics), Takang Chair (Tamkang University, Taipei), and the Association for Investment Management and Research’s Graham and Dodd Award. He has co-founded several companies including FirstFuel Software (energy data analytics), and NineDot Energy (community distributed generation for congested urban grids). He serves on the Board of Directors of Assette. Nalin holds a PhD from MIT
