Willy Osborn

William Osborn is General Partner of Commons Capital LP, a "double bottom line" venture capital fund investing in private companies with significant growth potential whose products, services or corporate cultures promote a sustainable economy by delivering market solutions to social and environmental problems. The fund is an active investor in small companies in the environment, clean energy, healthcare and education markets. Mr. Osborn is also a special partner with Arete Corporation, a venture firm managing investments in the telecommunications, software and energy industries. Prior to that he was a principal at Venture Investment Management Company, LLC (VIMAC), a Boston group managing "angel" investments in early stage companies. There Mr. Osborn focused on renewable energy and healthcare opportunities. Mr. Osborn has been an entrepreneur in the environmental and energy field, founding and managing an electric vehicle distribution subsidiary for a major utility company and starting a green business development and consulting firm. Earlier he co-managed a venture capital fund for automaker BMW and was a management consultant with Arthur D. Little, where he led a consulting practice involved with new energy technologies. Before his consulting work, Mr. Osborn practiced law and managed a state government office promoting solar energy. He also was a staff attorney at Ralph Nader's Center for the Study of Responsive Law, where he authored The Paper Plantation, a book about the environmental and social impact of the pulp and paper industry on the state of Maine. Mr. Osborn sits or has been on the boards of several start-up and expansion-stage companies, including Evergreen Solar, Inc. (photovoltaic modules), World Power Technologies, Inc. (power quality instrumentation), Surgical Sealants, Inc. (surgical wound products), Fingerlakes Aquaculture LLC (recycled-water aquaculture), and Conservation Services Group (energy efficiency services). He is a founding Trustee of the Domini Social Equity Fund and a Board Member of Investors' Circle, where he has also chaired the Selection Committee that chooses companies to present to members for investment. He has also been President of the Brookline Foundation, a local education foundation raising private funds for public school teacher development. He has a BA from Princeton University and a JD from George Washington Law School.