EV exec Charles Mwangi shifts to VC lane

Charles Mwangi, former head of manufacturing at Rivian and manufacturing engineer at Tesla, is headed to Eclipse Ventures.

Why it matters: Mwangi is among a handful of executives with experience building large automotive manufacturing processes nearly from scratch, and will advise and invest in promising technical startups.

What he's saying: "I like to think about it as the bits and atoms worlds — the bits system has an ecosystem of support. You have an idea and you can take risks on a platform where you have a support system to explore and take risks, and there's capital to do that," Mwangi tells Axios. "When you flip into the atoms space, that's non existent."

Where he's investing: He gravitates toward founders that use physics as a base principle on which the company is founded, and wants to dig in to complex technical issues.

• Though Mwangi hasn't yet made an investment with Eclipse, he says he has met with founders attempting to build a more efficient HVAC system, among others.
• He is particularly focused on climate tech companies, as well as supply chain and manufacturing startups.