Our Team
Dennis Odell
Vice President and Head of Evergy Ventures
Dennis is one of the founders of Evergy Ventures and leads the team. He helped found Evergy Ventures under the premise that the energy industry is in a state of transformation and electric utilities like Evergy have an important role to play in that transformation. Dennis enjoys working with entrepreneurs who are undertaking that transformation, and currently sits on the boards of Blue Pillar and Spear Power Systems, as well as an observer on several other boards. He has over 25 years of experience in the energy industry in a wide range of roles, including strategic planning, risk management, business development and regulatory. Dennis has a BS in finance and an MBA from the University of Nebraska - Omaha.
Brock Smith
Managing Director
Brock is looking to partner with diverse founding teams solving real issues across the energy value chain. Since joining Evergy Ventures in 2017, he's led investments in Pepper IoT, LiveSafe, Innowatts and Palmetto. His focus areas include Electric Vehicles & Infrastructure, Home Automation, Building Controls, Microgrids, and Smart City technologies. He previously served on the investment team at Invest Nebraska Corporation where he invested in 47 deals, leading 16 of the deals, across a broad array of industries. He has over 10 years of startup operational experience in management, finance, and business development. He earned a BS, with honors, in Economics, an MBA, and a JD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Drew Robinson
Strategic Business Partner
Drew focuses on strengthening alignment between Evergy Ventures and the Evergy business units through the identification and execution of strategic initiatives. He has a broad utility background that includes experience in generation engineering, regulatory affairs and renewable products. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas and an MBA with a Finance concentration from Rockhurst University.