UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the latest episode of Invent Penn State’s “Dare to Disrupt” podcast, host Ryan Newman interviews Zander Isaacson, CEO and co-founder of Xeal, a technology-first, electric vehicle (EV) charging company operating at the intersection of real estate, mobility, clean energy and the Internet of Things (IoT). Isaacson is a graduate of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business.
The company closed an $11 million series A round of venture capital fundraising in 2021 by leading proptech and climate tech venture capital funds, and has already partnered with 70+ of the largest real estate companies, including Lincoln Property Company, Camden, Greystar, Related, UBS, and Brookfield.
During his time as a student, Isaacson was the founder and president of Happy Valley Venture Capital (VC), the first student-run venture capital fund at Penn State and was a portfolio manager for the Nittany Lion Fund, a $15 million student-run hedge fund.
In this episode, Isaacson talks about how Xeal plans to “stop climate change without bothering people,” which means making clean technology the most convenient option on the market. Xeal is starting with the EV charging industry but has the mission to accelerate the future of smart cities as a whole. Xeal’s patent-pending protocol called Apollo uses a cryptographic token system to bypass the need to connect to wi-fi while using an electric vehicle charging session.
“For us, when we filed the patent, it was about making the technology apply to all industries," Isaacson said. “This is a protocol that is going to make devices self-reliant. You don't have any lag, no latency, no IT infrastructure.”
Listen to this interview to learn more about Zander Isaacson’s journey.
At the end of each Dare to Disrupt episode, a current Penn State student is given the opportunity to speak with the successful Penn State alum and ask questions specific to the student’s startup and career goals. In the latest episode, Dylan Benson, a third-year student studying finance and Chinese language joins the conversation. Benson is the director of education in the Nittany Lion Fund and an executive board member at Happy Valley VC. Benson talks to Isaacson about advice on approaching the career decision of either pursuing a standard finance job or pursuing a startup path.
Students can apply or be nominated to be on the show here.
About Dare to Disrupt
Dare to Disrupt is a podcast from Invent Penn State about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders, and the stories behind their success. The podcast is hosted by alumnus Ryan Newman, a graduate of the Smeal College of Business and a Schreyer Scholar alumnus who is now a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Past episodes of Dare to Disrupt include interviews with Matt Brezina, David Rusenko and Jess Weiner.
New episodes of Dare to Disrupt release monthly. Learn more at invent.psu.edu/dare-to-disrupt and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play.
Invent Penn State is a commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.