Webinar
The Next Oil Rush: Investing in America’s Mineral Backbone
Join Alumni Ventures’ Drew Wandzilak for a timely discussion on how critical minerals are shaping the next great American industrial boom.
In “The Next Oil Rush: Investing in America’s Mineral Backbone,” we’ll explore the geopolitical urgency, market tailwinds, and venture-scale opportunities emerging around lithium, rare earth elements, and other essential materials powering the technologies of tomorrow. From EV batteries and wind turbines to missile guidance systems and smartphones, these tiny materials are the invisible engines of modern life—and their supply is increasingly a matter of national security.
Drew will walk through market data, policy shifts, and the startups and scale-ups transforming the U.S. into a more resilient and innovative player in this strategic space. Whether you’re a tech-forward investor or simply curious about what comes after oil, this session will spotlight how minerals are quietly becoming the most consequential bet of the decade. Reserve your spot today to learn how AV is helping individual investors capitalize on America’s mineral moment.
Why Attend?
- HomeLearn why critical minerals are the foundation of electrification, defense, and high-tech infrastructure
- HomeUnderstand how U.S. policy and venture capital are accelerating domestic production and innovation
- HomeExplore opportunities to invest in companies shaping the future of energy, mobility, and national resilience
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About your presenter
Overview:
Drew Wandzilak invests in breakthrough technologies that matter to the real world—systems that generate power, move hardware, secure nations, or decode biology. He focuses on companies operating in high-heat, high-speed, high-stakes environments where technical performance is existential and strategic value is measured in megawatts, meters per second, or mission success. Across aerospace, energy, and defense, Drew backs founders who don’t just pitch vision—they bend atoms, trajectories, and supply chains to make it real.
Funds actively worked on:
Yard Ventures
Green D Ventures
U.S. Strategic Tech Fund
Investment Areas of Focus:
His investment lens prioritizes platforms over point solutions, scale advantages rooted in physics or manufacturing, and mission alignment with long-term public interest. That includes nuclear reactors that deploy like data centers, orbital vehicles that reshape access to space, hypersonic systems built for rapid iteration, and genetic tools that bring diagnostics to the edge. These aren’t just technical moonshots—they’re foundational bets on how the next century will be powered, protected, and personalized.
Drew led Alumni Ventures’ investment in Impulse Space, which is building the in-space logistics layer for a high-frequency orbital economy. He backed Aalo Atomics, a small modular reactor company designing standardized, factory-built nuclear power for grid-scale deployment. He also invested in Astro Mechanica, which is reinventing hypersonic aerospace testing for the modern battlefield, and Acorn Genetics, which is miniaturizing genomics to enable low-cost, distributed DNA testing anywhere.
These companies reflect Drew’s broader strategy: to invest in enduring platforms that serve strategic industries and unlock decades of downstream innovation. He believes the next great venture outcomes will come not just from apps or algorithms, but from reengineering the physical world—and the infrastructure that underpins it.
LEARN HOW TO INVEST IN COMPANIES IN THIS SECTOR WITH ALUMNI VENTURES: