Mike Colby

Mike began his asset management career in 1990. In 1994 he joined Bridgewater Associates and spent the next few decades helping grow the business and advising some of the world’s largest institutional investors. He developed a passion for having an impact at scale. His work included asset allocation strategy, currency & interest rate risk management, portfolio engineering, organizational oversight and governance.

Around 2016, Mike started scaling back his time at Bridgewater to focus on family and mission-driven investing. A chance meeting with the founding principles of ReFED propelled Mike’s interest in organic waste and the renewable energy market in particular. Mike had earlier made a small seed investment in a nascent, leading edge anaerobic digestion technology. By 2017, this VBC^TM technology showed enough promise to form a separate commercial entity and VIRESCO was born. Joe Burke joined as CEO of the new entity and, together with a strong team of driven professionals, they have built VIRESCO into what it is today.

As Executive Chairman, Mike oversees the strategic aspects of VIRESCO’s business with particular focus on growth strategy, risk management and capital finance. He remains active in other areas of investing and philanthropy, but spends a significant amount of his time on VIRESCO. Mike has also served on advisory panels including the World Economic Forum’s Retirement Investment Systems Reform project, USDA Secretary Vilsack’s Biogas Opportunities Roadmap Initiative, and the advisory board for his alma mater, the Collins College of Business at the University of Tulsa.