Financial firm Orion Industrial Innovation joins E-ffiliates to explore improving industrial processes
By Michele Hujber, For the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment
Orion Industrial Innovation (OII), a financial firm, part of the Orion Resource Partners Group that enables industrial transformation through technology, has joined Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership to establish relationships with Princeton’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) research groups working to improve vital industrial processes in the energy and environment sector. They are the third financial firm to join E-ffiliates since 2021.
Orion Resource Partners is a global alternative investment management firm, with five offices worldwide, that specializes in institutional metals and mining investment strategies in the base and precious metals space. Orion Resource Partners have a strategic relationship with Mercator Partners, a Princeton-based, sustainability-focused asset management firm, is an E-ffiliates member.
“We’re excited to bring OII and the other financial firms into our ecosystem of industrial collaborators. They are allocating risk-capital for emerging technologies than can help transition energy systems in the face of climate change. With their roots in delivering comprehensive and customized financial solutions to mining companies and base and precious metals investors while encouraging advances in sustainable scientific breakthroughs, they help us understand the global challenge of supplying energy transition materials” said Chris Greig, acting associate director for external partnerships at the Andlinger Center and the Theodora D. ‘78 & William H. Walton III ‘74 Senior Research Scientist.
Oskar Lewnowski, chief executive officer at Orion Resource Partners, said the work of OII and Princeton aligns because they hope to improve the economics and reduce the risks in decarbonizing various industries. OII seeks to partner with those industries looking to use new technologies to “green” themselves and enhance their productivity and lower costs. The OII team has had success in the past in sourcing many of these innovations through its academic networks. Their business model is to turn theoretical science on energy and sustainability into transformative and commercially viable industrial applications.
“OII prides itself on the ability to convince a technology-adverse end-user base to see the benefits of innovation,” Lewonowski said. “Bringing VC (venture capital) style investment skills to industrial technology is an excellent fit with the Andlinger Center’s mission.”
“We know that national and global efforts to achieve a net-zero economy hinge on the ability of industry to respond to the challenge of developing scalable clean energy technologies. OII’s membership in E-ffiliates is a significant step for Princeton to support that goal,” said Greig.