Adam Sharkawy

Background

Adam Sharkawy is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Material Impact, a Boston-based venture capital firm focused exclusively on materials science and deep tech ¹. He co-founded the firm in 2015 with Carmichael Roberts, whom he met in 1999 on the Duke University Biomedical Engineering Advisory Board ².

Sharkawy was born in Cairo, Egypt, and immigrated to Delaware at age three ³. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the American University in Cairo, an MS in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Chaos Theory from Texas A&M University, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (Biomaterials, Cell and Tissue Engineering) from Duke University ¹. He holds 23 issued U.S. patents and numerous international patents ¹.

Before founding Material Impact, Sharkawy spent roughly 15 years in Fortune 500 healthcare executive leadership ³. He served as Senior Vice President at The Medicines Company, heading the Surgery and Perioperative Care Global Business Unit, where he led the acquisition and integration of four companies in deals totaling over $1 billion ¹. He co-led the integration of the $28 billion Guidant Vascular Interventions and Abbott merger in 2006 as VP of Research, Advanced Development, and New Ventures at Abbott Vascular ¹. He established Smith & Nephew’s Emerging Market division in Dubai ¹.

Earlier in his career, Sharkawy was an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. He co-founded Ventrica, Inc. (technology acquired by Medtronic) and Ventrigraft GmBH, and held technology development roles at Heartport (acquired by Johnson & Johnson) and Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (acquired by Eli Lilly) ¹.

Sharkawy serves as Executive in Residence at Columbia University, Chief Mentor at NYU Stern’s Endless Frontiers program, and on the boards of Duke University’s Graduate School and the University of Delaware’s Private Equity Club ¹. He sits on the Investment Committee of Fondaco’s Sustainable Real Assets Fund ¹.

Stated Thesis

Sharkawy has publicly stated that Material Impact’s core investment thesis is rooted in the belief that materials science breakthroughs underpin virtually all major technological disruptions. In announcing Fund III, he stated: “There is no greater time than now to invest in companies and ideas tackling the substantial problems surfacing throughout the world…you trace back any disruptive innovation in almost any industry or market to an underlying advancement in material science” ⁴.

On the Fast Frontiers podcast, Sharkawy elaborated: “if you trace back any disruptive innovation in almost any space, whether it’s health, automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, etc, I will argue that you can always trace it back to a fundamental and underlying innovation in a material science” ³.

Material Impact describes its investment focus areas as addressing “Maslowian needs” across seven verticals: Food & Water, Sustainable Manufacturing, Transportation & Mobility, Underrepresented Healthcare, Biomanufacturing & Sustainable Products, Robotics & AI, and Data Storage & Security ⁵. These map to 12 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals ⁴.

Sharkawy emphasizes deep, hands-on involvement with founders: “We get involved very, very intimately with our founders… It’s rare that a week goes by where I haven’t spoken to almost every one of my CEOs” ³. He has described Material Impact’s approach as being “shoulder to shoulder with our entrepreneurs, and we get involved so early that sometimes we’re indistinguishable from the founder” ³.

Inferred Thesis

Based on 34 verified portfolio companies listed on Material Impact’s website ⁶, the following patterns emerge. Note: Sharkawy co-manages these investments with co-founder Carmichael Roberts; individual deal attribution is not always public.

Sector distribution (34 companies): - Sustainable Manufacturing: 8 of 34 (24%) — 6K/Amastan, Amperesand, DetraPel, Foundation Alloy, Fusion Coolant Systems, Gen Phoenix, Koloma, Still Bright - Biomanufacturing & Sustainable Products: 7 of 34 (21%) — AgZen, Debut, GALY, Huue, Mattiq, Nohbo, Werewool - Transportation & Mobility: 5 of 34 (15%) — Actnano, Jump Aero, LynQ, Maglev Aero, Orbion Space Technology - Food & Water: 4 of 34 (12%) — Infinite Cooling, Ripple Foods, SOURCE, Talus - Robotics & AI: 4 of 34 (12%) — Fleet Robotics, Nauticus Robotics, Oxipital AI, Sonera Magnetics - Underrepresented Healthcare: 2 of 34 (6%) — BloomerTech, NextGen Jane - Data Storage & Security: 2 of 34 (6%) — Datacule, Folio Photonics - Other/Cross-sector: 2 of 34 (6%) — NanoGraf (batteries), Tierra Biosciences

Stage distribution: Material Impact primarily invests at the inception and seed stage, frequently as the first institutional investor, then follows on through Series A, B, and beyond. Of rounds with identifiable stages: Soft Robotics Series A 2015, BloomerTech Seed 2020, Infinite Cooling Seed 2019, NextGen Jane Series A 2019, Orbion Series A 2019, Fusion Coolant Series C 2018, 6K Series B 2017, DetraPel Series A 2023, Gen Phoenix growth 2023, Sonera Seed 2023, Talus Series A 2023, Amperesand Seed 2024, Ripple Foods late-stage 2025. The firm describes itself as “first money in for first-of-their-kind innovations” ².

Geographic patterns: Sharkawy has noted that “a good third of our portfolio has come out of the Midwest and the South… great work that’s just isn’t getting as much attention from coastal investors” ³. Portfolio companies span Boston/Cambridge (Infinite Cooling, Datacule), Michigan (Fusion Coolant, Orbion, NanoGraf’s factory), Arizona (SOURCE), Texas (Nauticus), and international locations.

University spinout pattern: A significant share of portfolio companies originate from academic research. Identified university origins include: Harvard (Soft Robotics), MIT (Infinite Cooling, BloomerTech, AgZen), Duke (Datacule — George Whitesides), UC Berkeley (Huue, Ripple Foods), Arizona State (SOURCE), University of Michigan (Fusion Coolant), Michigan State (Orbion), Case Western (Folio Photonics), University of Connecticut (6K/Amastan) ^{2 6}.

Co-investor patterns: Breakthrough Energy Ventures appears across multiple deals (Koloma, GALY). Xora Innovation/Temasek co-invests frequently (Talus Series A co-lead, Amperesand seed and Series A). TDK Ventures appears in Actnano and Amperesand deals. Anzu Partners co-invests in 6K rounds.

Notable gaps: Despite listing “AI & AR” as a focus area, the portfolio is overwhelmingly physical/materials-focused. Pure software or digital AI companies are absent. The “Underrepresented Healthcare” vertical has only 2 companies despite being listed as a major focus area.

Portfolio

This table represents 23 investment events across approximately 18 unique companies of the 34 in Material Impact’s portfolio. The remaining companies (AgZen, Datacule, Debut, Fleet Robotics, Foundation Alloy, Huue, Jump Aero, LynQ, Maglev Aero, Mattiq, Nohbo, Oxipital AI, Still Bright, Tierra Biosciences, Werewool) are confirmed portfolio companies via the firm’s website ⁶ but specific round details and years could not be independently verified from public sources.

Exit: 6K exited on December 3, 2025 ²³.

In Their Own Words

“There is no greater time than now to invest in companies and ideas tackling the substantial problems surfacing throughout the world…you trace back any disruptive innovation in almost any industry or market to an underlying advancement in material science.” — Adam Sharkawy, Material Impact Fund III press release, November 2023 ⁴

“We get involved very, very intimately with our founders, where we spend a lot of time trying to leverage our own experiences to helping them build their companies.” — Adam Sharkawy, Fast Frontiers podcast, Season 4, Episode 4 ³

“We’re shoulder to shoulder with our entrepreneurs, and we get involved so early that sometimes we’re indistinguishable from the founder.” — Adam Sharkawy, Fast Frontiers podcast ³

“A good third of our portfolio has come out of the Midwest and the South… great work that’s just isn’t getting as much attention from coastal investors.” — Adam Sharkawy, Fast Frontiers podcast ³

“Fusion has developed an elegant technology to address the ubiquitous need for cooling whenever metal or hard polymers are machined. This transformative technology has the potential to enable higher productivity, create safer working conditions for machining workers, and improve the environment by minimizing the disposal of liquid coolants.” — Adam Sharkawy, Fusion Coolant Systems Series C announcement, October 2018 ⁹

“Through the long-term vision that Talus has for a prosperous global economy backed by renewables, their first vertical application of creating green ammonia in situ will make a great impact in increasing the food supply chain sustainably and cost effectively.” — Adam Sharkawy, Talus Renewables Series A announcement, November 2023 ²⁰

“DetraPel has a platform and proven record of delivering the necessary and customized solutions their customers require, with safer chemistry and formulations for human health and the environment.” — Adam Sharkawy, DetraPel Series A announcement, September 2023 ¹⁸

What Founders Say

“Adam brings creativity, a strategic mindset, and detail-orientation that makes him a perfect partner in company building.” — Steve Skerlos, Founder & CTO, Fusion Coolant Systems, via Material Impact website ¹

No additional independently sourced founder testimonials found beyond the firm’s own website. Dedicated searches for founder quotes on Twitter, podcasts, and press coverage did not yield further results.

Sources