Our Team
Dennis Odell
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. He has over 30 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
Brock is looking to partner with diverse founding teams solving real issues across the energy value chain. Brock joined Evergy Ventures in 2017 and has led investments in Innowatts, LiveSafe (Acq’d: Vector Solutions), Palmetto, Pepper IoT, SkySpecs, Wattbuy, Xendee, and Yotta Energy. Brock is currently focused on technologies related to energy storage, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. Prior to joining Evergy Ventures, Brock managed investments for Invest Nebraska Corporation, making investments in 47 Seed and Series A deals with an industry agnostic thesis; most notably MultiMechanics (Acq’d: Siemens), D3Banking (Acq’d: NCR Holdings) QuantifiedAg (Acq’d: Merck), LiveBy (Acq’d: Fathom Holdings), and LifeLoop (acq’d: IN2L). In his spare time, Brock has made angel investments in Company Cam, Centese, and Nestimate, and spends a lot of time with his wife and 4 children, coaching several baseball and basketball teams. Brock holds a BS, with honors, in Economics, an MBA, and a JurisDoctorate from the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
Drew Robinson
Drew joined Evergy Ventures in 2020, where splits his time between investing and strengthening alignment with 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 led Evergy Ventures’ investment in Powin and has held multiple Board Observer seats that include Omnidian and Tomorrow.io. He is currently focused on Energy Storage and Grid Modernization technologies. He has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kansas and an MBA with a Finance concentration from Rockhurst University.