Tom Chi and At One Ventures: Building Technologies That Regenerate the World

For much of modern industrial history, economic growth has often come at the expense of natural systems. Companies have traditionally been rewarded for extracting resources, reducing costs, and maximizing output, even when those activities create long-term environmental consequences. Tom Chi believes innovation can follow a different path – one where technology improves both economic performance and planetary health at the same time.

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Key Takeaways

Tom Chi believes the future of innovation lies in regenerative technologies that improve both economic and environmental outcomes.
At One Ventures invests in deep-tech companies designed to create net positive impact.
Systems thinking is a core part of Chi’s approach to solving complex challenges.
Regenerative innovation focuses on restoring and strengthening natural systems rather than merely reducing harm.
Aligning environmental benefits with strong business economics can accelerate adoption and long-term impact.

The Future of Innovation Is Regenerative, Not Extractive

Many technological breakthroughs solve one problem while creating another. Industrial systems generate economic value but often consume resources faster than ecosystems can replenish them. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity are increasingly revealing the limitations of this model.

Tom Chi argues that the next generation of innovation should be measured not only by efficiency or profitability, but by its ability to restore and strengthen the systems that support life. Through At One Ventures, he invests in technologies designed to create what he calls a “net positive” relationship between humanity and nature.

Rather than treating environmental sustainability as a constraint on growth, this approach treats regeneration as an opportunity for innovation. The goal is not simply to reduce harm, but to build technologies that actively improve the world around them.

As industries confront growing environmental pressures, regenerative innovation may become one of the defining business opportunities of the coming decades.

Why Traditional Innovation Models Are Being Challenged

For generations, businesses have focused on optimizing individual products, services, and processes. While this approach has driven enormous economic progress, it often overlooks the broader systems affected by those innovations.

Energy production, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and infrastructure all generate benefits, but they can also create unintended environmental costs. These costs are frequently treated as externalities rather than design challenges.

At the same time, advances in computing, robotics, materials science, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence are creating new opportunities to rethink how industries operate. Technologies that once seemed impossible are becoming commercially viable.

The question is no longer whether innovation can solve complex environmental challenges. The challenge is designing systems that align economic incentives with long-term ecological outcomes.

The Innovation: Regenerative Technology Investing

At One Ventures was founded on a simple but ambitious premise: the best technologies should improve both business economics and environmental outcomes simultaneously.

1. Investing in Technologies That Reverse Environmental Harm

Unlike many traditional venture firms, At One Ventures focuses on technologies capable of reducing or reversing negative environmental impacts.

The firm seeks businesses that can improve efficiency, eliminate waste, restore ecosystems, reduce emissions, or create entirely new sustainable industrial processes. This approach prioritizes long-term systemic value rather than short-term environmental offsets.

By focusing on root-cause solutions, the firm aims to support technologies that can fundamentally reshape industries.

2. Systems Thinking as an Innovation Framework

A defining characteristic of Tom Chi’s philosophy is systems thinking.

Rather than viewing individual technologies in isolation, he examines how products, industries, and ecosystems interact with one another. This broader perspective often reveals opportunities that traditional innovation frameworks miss.

Systems thinking encourages entrepreneurs to solve interconnected problems rather than optimizing only a single component. The result is often more durable and scalable innovation.

3. Economics as a Design Problem

One of Chi’s most influential ideas is that economics itself can be redesigned.

Historically, sustainable solutions have often been viewed as more expensive alternatives. At One Ventures looks for technologies where environmental benefits actually improve the underlying economics of a business.

When a solution becomes both cheaper and better, adoption accelerates naturally. This creates market-driven momentum rather than relying solely on regulation or incentives.

4. Deep Technology With Real-World Impact

The firm’s portfolio spans sectors including advanced manufacturing, agriculture, energy, robotics, biotechnology, and climate technology.

Companies such as Ascend Elements, which focuses on battery recycling, and Monarch Tractor, which develops autonomous electric farming equipment, illustrate this strategy. These businesses combine sophisticated engineering with measurable real-world outcomes.

The emphasis is on technologies that can move beyond prototypes and achieve meaningful scale.

Traditional Sustainability vs. Regenerative Innovation

Dimension	Traditional Sustainability	Regenerative Innovation
Primary Goal	Reduce harm	Create positive impact
Environmental Strategy	Minimize damage	Restore ecosystems
Economic Model	Compliance-focused	Growth-driven
Innovation Focus	Incremental improvement	System transformation
Long-Term Outcome	Less negative impact	Net positive contribution

What This Shift Means

The distinction between sustainability and regeneration may appear subtle, but it represents a significant change in mindset. Sustainability often focuses on reducing negative effects, while regenerative innovation seeks to create positive outcomes that compound over time.

This shift encourages entrepreneurs to think beyond mitigation and toward restoration. Instead of asking how technology can do less harm, innovators begin asking how technology can actively improve natural and human systems.

As climate and resource challenges become more pressing, regenerative approaches may become increasingly important sources of competitive advantage.

Expanding the Scope of Innovation

Tom Chi’s work has influenced both how technologies are built and how investors evaluate opportunity.

Accelerating Climate Technology

At One Ventures has helped direct capital toward emerging technologies capable of addressing large-scale environmental challenges.

By supporting companies early in their development, the firm enables innovators to pursue ambitious solutions that might otherwise struggle to attract funding. This expands the range of technologies available to tackle climate-related problems.

The approach demonstrates how venture capital can play a direct role in shaping future industries.

Bridging Profitability and Purpose

A recurring theme in Chi’s work is the belief that financial success and environmental progress do not need to be in conflict.

Businesses that improve resource efficiency, reduce waste, or create regenerative outcomes often unlock stronger economics as well. This alignment increases the likelihood of widespread adoption.

When market incentives and environmental outcomes reinforce one another, innovation can scale more rapidly.

Inspiring a New Generation of Builders

Beyond investing, Tom Chi has become known for teaching rapid prototyping, systems thinking, and interdisciplinary problem solving.

His work encourages entrepreneurs to approach complex challenges with curiosity, experimentation, and long-term perspective. These principles have influenced thousands of founders, engineers, and innovators worldwide.

The impact extends beyond individual companies to the broader culture of innovation itself.

The Innovator’s Perspective: From Moonshots to Regeneration

Before founding At One Ventures, Tom Chi helped shape some of Silicon Valley’s most ambitious projects.

At Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google X, he worked on products ranging from Outlook and Yahoo Answers to Google Glass and self-driving vehicle initiatives. These experiences exposed him to large-scale innovation challenges and the realities of turning bold ideas into practical systems.

Over time, Chi’s focus expanded beyond individual products toward broader questions about how technology shapes society and the environment. This perspective ultimately led him to focus on regenerative technologies and systems-level innovation.

His philosophy reflects a belief that the most important breakthroughs of the future will not simply make existing systems more efficient – they will redesign those systems entirely.

Future Outlook: Innovation as Restoration

The coming decades will require solutions to challenges involving climate resilience, resource management, food production, energy systems, and biodiversity.

Emerging technologies in AI, robotics, advanced materials, biotechnology, and manufacturing will likely play central roles in addressing these issues. The question is how those technologies are directed and what outcomes they prioritize.

Tom Chi’s work suggests a future where innovation is measured not only by economic value created, but by ecological value restored.

If successful, regenerative innovation could redefine how businesses think about growth, transforming technology from a source of extraction into a force for renewal.

FAQs

Who is Tom Chi?

Tom Chi is an entrepreneur, inventor, investor, and founding partner of At One Ventures. He previously held leadership roles at Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google X, where he worked on projects including Google Glass and self-driving vehicles. He is also known for promoting systems thinking and rapid prototyping.

What is At One Ventures?

At One Ventures is a venture capital firm that invests in deep technologies designed to create positive environmental outcomes. The firm focuses on sectors such as energy, manufacturing, agriculture, robotics, and biotechnology. Its goal is to support companies that improve both business performance and planetary health.

What is regenerative innovation?

Regenerative innovation refers to technologies and business models that actively restore, improve, or strengthen natural systems. Unlike traditional sustainability efforts that focus on reducing harm, regenerative approaches seek to create positive environmental outcomes. The concept emphasizes long-term systems improvement.

Why is systems thinking important?

Systems thinking helps innovators understand how different parts of a system interact and influence one another. This broader perspective can reveal opportunities and risks that may not be visible when focusing on individual components. It is particularly useful when solving complex environmental and societal challenges.

What makes Tom Chi’s innovation philosophy different?

Tom Chi argues that environmental impact and strong economics should reinforce each other rather than compete. His investment strategy focuses on technologies that become more successful precisely because they create positive outcomes. This approach seeks to align market incentives with long-term regeneration.

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