Alexander Girau
Senior Venture Partner @ Pioneer Fund
New Orleans, United States
Alexander Girau is a angel investor at Pioneer Fund in New Orleans focused on Battery and Manufacturing. Pragmatic Strategist/Visionary. PhD-drop-out. Founding CEO of two battery material and technology companies based on core technology spun out and licensed (30+ patents) from two R1 research institutions and a major corporation: Tulane University, University of Texas at Austin, and Sharp Corporation Japan. Named Inventor on 17 granted battery,material, and process patents. Raised over $30M in VC. Still looking to leave the world better than I found it.Alexander Girau is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in battery materials, chemical engineering, and technology commercialization. He is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Group1, where he leads operations, fundraising, and business development, with significant contributions to Intellectual property strategy, material development, and cell development.Before founding Group1, Alexander founded Advano, an advanced material company specializing in nano silicon-based anode materials to enhance the energy density of lithium-ion batteries for consumer electronics, mobility, and stationary storage. The core technology of Advano stemmed from his Ph.D. research at Tulane University, using silicon nanoparticles as non-viral transfection agents for gene therapy. He spun out and pivoted the material technology into the battery field. Alexander grew the team from 1 to over 40 people, closed over $21M in funding, expanded its footprint from a small 2000sqft lab to a 40,000sqft facility, and built an IP portfolio of over 30+ patents.As a named inventor on 17 granted patents across battery materials, processes, and cell design, Alexander has an established reputation as an innovator and thought leader. He was a Visiting Scientist at Tulane University, where he spearheaded collaborations surrounding battery materials and processing technology. He is currently an Energy Transition Fellow at the Energy Institute, UT-Austin.In addition to his work in the battery materials industry, Alexander has provided his expertise as a chemical process engineer to Fortune 50 companies such as Shell Chemical, Exxon, and Valero in the oil and gas sector. In this capacity, he supported the engineering efforts of over $2B in upstream and downstream assets.Alexander matriculated as a Ph.D. candidate at Tulane University and took a leave of absence to commercialize his graduate research. He holds an M.S. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Tulane University and a B.S. (Honors) in Chemistry and Math/Computational Science from Loyola University. He is also an alumnus of the renowned Silicon Valley startup accelerator YCombinator (S17).
- Total investments:
- 2
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 50%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Alexander Girau invests in
Stages Alexander Girau invests in
Countries Alexander Girau invests in
Investment Focus
Industry
- Battery 2 (100%)
- Manufacturing 2 (100%)
- Energy Storage 2 (100%)
- Advanced Materials 2 (100%)
- Energy 1 (50%)
Stage
- Angel 1 (50%)
- Pre-Seed 1 (50%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Group1
|
The world's 1st engineered materials and battery technology company focused on Potassium-ion batteries. Continuing the lineage of innovation from the pioneering co-inventor of the lithium-ion battery and 2019 Chemistry Nobel laureate UT-Austin Professor JB Goodenough. | $325K / Angel / Sep 01, 2021 | |
Advano
|
Advano is a New Orleans-based company delivering a scalable solution for lithium-ion batteries with higher energy density. By conquering the challenges of silicon, Advano integrates or completely replaces graphite in today’s lithium-ion batteries with its advanced silicon anode material - improving the longevity of lithium-ion batteries for batterymanufacturers and Tier one consumer electronics and automotive companies. | Pre-Seed / May 01, 2016 |
Co-Investors
About Pioneer Fund
Pioneer Fund is a fund of 420+ Y Combinator alumni, investing in the top Y Combinator startups.
Pioneer Fund Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Philip Gasslander
Venture Partner
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Tim Suzman
General Partner
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Alexander Girau
Senior Venture Partner
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Bryant Chou
Senior Venture Partner
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Daniel Lenton
Venture Partner
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FAQ
What does Alexander Girau invest in?
Alexander Girau invests primarily in Battery, Manufacturing and Energy Storage startups, most often at Angel and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
When did Alexander Girau last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Alexander Girau closed in Sep 2021. Shizune tracks 2 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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