S1E16: Shifting Energy Politics, Holistic Venture Building, and Scaling Solar Fuels with Oliver Libby (Managing Partner, H/L Ventures) and Gianluca Ambrosetti (CEO, Synhelion)

In this episode of The Smart Society Show, co-hosts Brynne Kennedy and Chris Skidmore explore how political shifts, from local UK elections to U.S.-Gulf partnerships, are redrawing the map of global energy leadership. They unpack the growing divide between fossil fuel resurgence and clean energy acceleration, the geopolitical weight of AI-powered data centers, and the outsized influence of Gulf capital in shaping America's energy future. In our Climate Leaders segment, Oliver Libby, Managing Partner of H/L Ventures and CityRock Venture Partners, joins to discuss how his firm is redefining early-stage venture capital with a deeply engaged, mission-aligned model. He shares why impact and diversity are not just values but return drivers, how H/L structures daily active support for founders, and why the firm is betting on pragmatic, scalable climate solutions over moonshot bets.In the Chasing Unicorns segment, Gianluca Ambrosetti, CEO of Synhelion, shares the journey behind building a game-changing sustainable aviation fuel company out of Switzerland. He explains how Synhelion is turning solar heat into liquid fuel, why Swissair’s early adoption matters, and what it takes to cross the chasm from deeptech promise to gigaton-scale impact.