Paul Nelson

Managing Partner, Saoradh Enterprise Partners (SEP)

Paul Nelson founded Saoradh Enterprise Partners (SEP) in 2012 and serves as Managing Partner. Paul has over 35 years of energy, advanced materials, entrepreneurial, finance, and research experience.

Before forming SEP, Paul was a key participant in developing Colorado’s cleantech ecosystem. He held key roles at the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory, the Center for Revolutionary Photoconversion (joint among industry, research universities and NREL), University of Colorado’s Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, and the Colorado Cleantech Industries Association.

Paul began his career in the energy sector, first working at Julander Energy Company and then joining the team that launched the Natural Fuels Company (an unregulated subsidiary of Xcel Energy). In 2000, he founded Blue Energy & Technologies, which acquired Natural Fuels and the Alternative Fuels Division from TXU Energy. He merged Blue Energy with ENRG Fuels in 2003 – the combined company is now Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE).

Paul holds a BS in Business-Finance, a BA in Chemistry with a minor in Biochemistry, and a research MS in Chemistry – all from CU Boulder. Paul has served on numerous boards and is a member of the American Chemical Society.