boisei labs is a ‘tech for good’ venture studio.
We work in small teams with high degrees of autonomy and limited bureaucracy to help inspire and achieve transformative impacts.
Focus areas: Social good and green tech; catalytic investing.
Venture studio
We serially build tech for good companies. Our solutions target systemic environmental and social challenges through market-driven economics.
We are a registered Pennsylvania Benefit Company. Our 2026 report.
The world is moving fast; so are we. At any given time, our active ventures are spread across various stages of the ideation, development, launch, and growth phases.
Our first launch is expected in 2026. Keep track here.
Catalytic investing
Though we focus on internally developing impactful tech companies, we also invest in external private or emergent public companies with approaches aligned with our ethos. We aim to support inspiring tech for good companies that are disrupting or newly creating markets that we intuit as primed for strong growth, thus providing highly favorable risk/reward investment asymmetry.
Our current portfolio features investments in Novele, Electrogenos, Aeluma, Strong by Form, and Oxcart Aviation.
Visit our boisei investments page to learn about each of these companies and to read our investment theses.
Memberships
We work with a small number of aligned organizations that help us advance our environmental, social impact, and ecosystem building goals. We look to find and refine inspirations for our venture building and investing activities while working with other members to collectively achieve ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ gains.
CREO is a syndicate of family offices working together to catalyze capital into Clean, Renewable, and Environmental Opportunities. The REMADE Institute partners members from industry, academia, and national labs to increase the reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling of energy-intensive materials. Nittany Angels supports Penn State-affiliated startups.
We are searching for an optimal social impact (pure-play; i.e. not only as an environmental byproduct) organization. Please reach out with suggestions!
George H. Perry, PhD
President and Founder
Also: Professor of Anthropology and Biology at Penn State University
Past experience includes: Technology Process Management Consultant at Accenture
Email: grgperry (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: grgperry
W. Ben Towne, PhD
Chief Technology Officer
PhD in Societal Computing from Carnegie Mellon University
Past experience includes: Co-founder of the Tech Serving Society after winning the Pittsburgh Civic Hackathon
Email: ben.towne (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: bentowne
Jared Yarnall-Schane
Managing Partner, boisei labs/ family office
BS in Mechanical Engineering at Penn State University and Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy at University of Pennsylvania
Past experience includes: Entrepreneurship Director and Director of Innovation at the Biomimicry Institute
Email: jaredyarnall (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: jaredyarnall
Keeya-Lee Ayre
Board of Ethics Founding Member
Also: Social Resonance Lab Founder & Studio Lead, Masters student in Practical Ethics at University of Oxford
Past experience includes: Leadership roles in tech for good venture building & impact investing organizations (BFA Global, Catalyst Fund, GSMA)
Email: keeyalee.ayre (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: keeyaleeayre
Matt Herndon
Senior Alliance and Project Director
Also: State College Borough Council Member
Past experience includes: Software Engineer at Voltus, Implementation Engineering Manager at Opower
Email: mherndon (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: mrhendon
Stuart Dum
Forward Deployed Engineer
BS in Computer Information Systems from Grove City College
Past experience includes: Senior roles at logistics and educational companies (ShipSticks, Classical Academic Press)
Email: stuart.dum (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: stuart-dum
Jenny Tilsen, PhD
Board of Ethics Member
PhD in Science Education and Science & Technology Studies, University of Minnesota
Also: Assistant Professor of Science and Technology Studies at Plaksha University
Email: jenny.tilsen (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: jenny-tilsen
Laura Schwab Reese, PhD
Board of Ethics Member
PhD in Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa
Also: Associate Professor of Public Health at Purdue University
Email: lschwabreese (at) boisei (dot) com; LinkedIn: laura-schwab-reese-phd
boisei labs hiring
As we grow, we’ll be looking for über-talented engineers, tech strategists, business development leads, and more. All boisei labs employees will participate in creative processes and must be passionate about our tech for good scope. Startup mentality is an absolute must.
Why would someone want to work for boisei labs, and what type of worker mentality do we think is the best fit? Read our perspective here.
We are actively looking for a Venture Commercialization Lead. We also have a summer intern program offering great experiences and pay for phenomenal business analyst and software engineering candidates. Learn more and apply for open positions here.