Ken Forster
Executive Director at Momenta
Key Topics:Digital Industry, Industry 4.0, Industrial Internet of Things, Venture Capital, ESG Investing
Location:Switzerland
Bio:
Digital Industry veteran building ‘connected’ products, services, and businesses for over 30 years with senior leadership roles at ThingWorx, Syngenta, Coca-Cola and Philip Morris. He founded Momenta and several industrial automation companies. Ken resides in Switzerland and maintains an office in the 'cloud'.
How did you get to become an expert in your key topics?
I was born into a long-line of engineers and raised in Silicon Valley. With a love for the intersection of large industrial equipment and digital technologies, I naturally migrated to early telematics and industrial automation. I joined an early startup leader in the space and went out to co-found several other ‘digital industry’ startups. That ultimately led me to found Momenta, a Venture Capital firm focused on Digital Industry.
What sub-topics are you most passionate about?
Digitalisation of Industry (energy, manufacturing, smart spaces and supply chain). Helping large companies find their digital muscle via leadership and inorganic actions – and helping to identify and accelerate young disruptive companies in the space.
Who influences you within these topics?
Early pioneers in industrial automation, military telemetry and IoT. Also great Corporate Venture Capitalists.
What challenges are brands facing in this space?
Establishing their brand alongside the industry incumbents and developing scalable traction.
What do you think the future holds in this space?
We are only at the beginning of the transition to digital and automation – going from simple monitoring to fully autonomous operations.
What brands are leading the way in this space?
The industrial incumbents continue to dominate: ABB, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, Siemens and others. The hyper-scalers are moving in: AWS, Azure and GCP. Then of course you have the long-tail of startups, many of whom we’ve invested.
If a brand wanted to work with you, which activities would you be most interested in collaborating on?
We do our own Digital Thread podcast series (over 150 episodes). Happy to consider other activities as well.
What are your passions outside of work?
Switzerland, Mountain Biking, Hiking, Family.
What would be the best way for a brand to contact you?
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