Tom Darden

Tom Darden founded Cherokee, which starts or invests in technology ventures and owns brownfield real estate.

After working at Korea Institute of Science and Technology and Bain & Company, Tom converted fossil-fuel brick companies to biomass, and then developed a process for growing bacteria for remediating industrial pollution. Cherokee Biotechnology became the East Coast’s largest soil remediation company. He then raised $2.2 billion in PE funds for buying and remediating over 550 sites in the US, Europe and Canada.

Simultaneously, Cherokee invested directly in approximately 140 companies in environmental remediation, renewable energy, biotechnology and medical technology. Approximately 80% of his portfolio are seed-stage venture deals and the remainder are in growth/buyout transactions. Approximately 20% of his venture investments have been founded by him, and these have raised over $500 million in additional capital. He is an inventor with approximately 25 technology patents and has served on four public company boards.

Companies he founded or cofounded include Cherokee Environmental Risk Management (environmental insurance), Cherokee Solar (landfill solar farms), Eco-Site (brownfield cell towers), Consert (smart grid power meters), PGSI (supply-side smart grid), Industrial Heat ($120mm fusion research company), Swiss Quantum Technologies (encryption); Clean-E (American EV chargers); Bulgaria Solar (grid-scale solar farms/battery storage), and Ion Biome (anti-glyphosate supplements).

Tom completed community college courses in welding and mechanics while studying for a BA in Anthropology and a Masters in Environmental Planning from UNC. He received a JD from Yale Law School.