At CTO (Boardroom Media) we track over 1,000,000 startups and over 5,000,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top California based CTO’ operating in the Energy Efficiency space. If you think a CTO’ is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on [email protected].
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.

Raj Vaswani
Chief Technology Officer of Silver Spring Networks
Raj has been with Silver Spring since 2003, and brings more than 15 years of innovation, product development and product management experience in the Internet, software and networking industries to the Company. Prior to joining Silver Spring, Raj was an Entrepreneur in Residence with Foundation Capital. Prior to Foundation Capital, Raj served as Vice President of Engineering at Epinions.com (now shopping.com), a high-traffic consumer-oriented Web site. Previously, Raj was Senior Scientist and Director of Engineering for the @Home Network (later Excite @Home). Raj holds a MS in Computer Science from the University of Washington and a BS in EECS from the University of California at Berkeley. Raj’s commitment to the environment extends to having a large Oak tree in the center of his house, although he hugs it only sporadically.
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About Silver Spring Networks: Silver Spring Networks offers Smart Energy Platform™, enabling utilities to improve energy efficiencies, enhance services, and reduce costs.

Hung Vo
CTO/co-founder of Ecomedes
Hung Vo is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Ecomedes. After one unsuccessful professional kickboxing bout, Hung quickly changed careers and earned his Electrical Engineering degree. He escaped the Minnesota winters to be a part of the Silicon Valley tech scene and went on to run the development team for Hyperion/Oracle financial planning applications. Although Hung would rather be racing at Laguna Seca Raceway, he spends his spare time enjoying the simpler things in life: a good wine bottle from Howell Mountain, a cheese plate, and time with his family.
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About Ecomedes: Ecomedes is a SaaS platform that helps manufacturers, designers, builders, and building owners save time and money.

Larsh Johnson
CTO of Stem
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About Stem: Stem brings and optimizes energy consumption to business through its distributed storage technology.

Gabriel Posternak
Chief Technology Officer of Treeium Inc.
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About Treeium Inc.: Eco-friendly home remodeling company that uses eco-conscious, sustainable building practices to remodel your home and protect the planet.

Hamarz Aryafar
CTO of Element 16 Technologies
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About Element 16 Technologies: Improving industrial energy efficiency with thermal battery systems