John J. Rockwell
Managing Director, DFJ Element

John has more than 15 years of experience investing in venture capital and developing companies commercializing applications of advanced materials and over 20 years of financial investment experience. Prior to joining DFJ Element, John was a Partner at Advent International Corporation and managed the firm’s California office. John joined Advent in 1996 and his investments ranged by stage of company and area of focus. He has invested broadly across the CleanTech sectors with an emphasis on advanced materials, information technology and electronics.

Before Advent, John spent 7 years at Materia Ventures Associates, investing in and managing early-stage companies that were commercializing applications of advanced materials technologies. He also served as CEO of Luxar Corporation, a manufacturer of CO2 lasers for the medical market and as President of SSC, Inc., a manufacturer of high performance ceramic oxide materials used in superconductors, fuel cells, catalysts and other applications. Both Luxar and SSC had successful exits, the former through a merger with ESC Medical and the latter through a sale to Praxair.

From 1984 to 1988, John held various positions at 3M Corporation in its Acquisitions and Business Development Department. During this time, he also worked in the company’s corporate venture capital program, where he served as a liaison between 3M and its venture capital partners.

John received a BS in Business Administration from Michigan Technological University; and an MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.  John is a member of the boards of Accelergy Corp., BMG Seltec, Inc., Deeya Energy, Inc., Miartech, Inc., PowerGenix Systems, Inc. and SyntheSys Research, Inc.  Previous boards on which John has served include: Luxar Corp., OK International, Inc., RedPrairie Corp., SSC, Inc., and Superconductivity, Inc.  John is Chairman of the Michigan Technological University Hockey Enrichment Campaign and is former Chairman of the CleanTech Venture Network Advisory Board.