Michael Smith

Michael is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Regeneration.VC, an early stage venture fund supercharging consumer-powered climate innovation. Previously, he founded and operated media and real estate businesses, performed as a touring DJ, an environmental organizer and investor into over 30 companies.

Michael ran marketing & digital for Smith Broadcasting, a group of 20 network TV stations, before selling to Boston Ventures. Shortly thereafter, he followed his lifelong passion for music to become a touring DJ and performed alongside artists including Guns N Roses, Rihanna, and Diplo. In 2006, he launched The Playlist Generation, one of the world's largest background music providers. In 2010, he co-founded Creative Space, a real estate firm with a portfolio of 80 adaptive reuse projects between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

After successfully exiting both companies, in 2015 Michael formed Ponvalley, an environmentally focused family office initiative comprising philanthropy, research and impact investments. He convened Shared Mission, an emergency climate summit with Former VP Al Gore, General Wesley Clark, the Department of Energy and Harvard leadership. He currently serves on the board of Regeneration.VC portfolio companies Smarter Sorting and Greyparrot, as well as the American Renewable Energy Institute and Sustainable Change Alliance. He serves as a founding advisor to Salk Institute's Harnessing Plants Initiative and served as a Venture Fellow at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School.

Michael is a graduate of Northwestern University. He lives in Amsterdam with his wife and two children.