Mr. Walti is an expert in creating innovation ecosystems that drive economic development.

Previously, he was the Co-Founder and for a period of six years served as the Founding CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI), combining experience as an entrepreneur with his passion for clean technology. Mr. Walti built LACI from a start-up in a bus repair garage into a statewide commercialization ecosystem with an international footprint. LACI is now recognized as one of the premier cleantech commercialization programs in the world: ranked as a Top Ten Global Incubator by the UBI Index of 1200 incubators for three years in a row; selected by the Department of Energy (DoE) as one of their three national incubators; and chosen by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to establish a Los Angeles Energy Innovation Cluster.

Under Mr. Walti’s leadership, LACI has helped 120+ companies raise $228 million in funding, thus creating 2,000 jobs, and delivering more than $625 million in long-term economic value for the City of Los Angeles. In 2016, LACI celebrated the grand opening of the La Kretz Innovation Campus which is the recipient of numerous recognitions.

Mr. Walti has been involved — either as a founder, consultant, principal, or investor — in the startup of several-dozen technology companies. He was named in   Techweek100 as one of the most impactful technology leaders in 2014.

In October 2018, Mr. Walti was invited to join the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Advisory Committee by the US Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross.

Mr. Walti speaks often on subjects that include creating high-performance innovation ecosystems that drive economic development; the new mega city revitalization concept “The StartUp City”; leveraging a region’s strengths to build a large green economy, entrepreneurship, the role of innovation in creating jobs, and public/private partnerships.