Maria Thompson is a Venture Partner at Arsenal and a retired CEO with more than 30 years of experience in business leadership, strategic planning, marketing, finance, government relations, and the commercialization of advanced technologies.
Prior to her role in venture capital, Ms. Thompson was President and CEO of T/J Technologies, Inc., a nationally recognized Michigan company for proprietary alternative energy technologies that she and her husband, Dr. Levi Thompson founded in 1991. While consistently growing revenues, she led T/J Technologies’ acquisition by A123Systems in 2006. Combined, the organizations represented the largest lithium-ion R&D team in North America, with global manufacturing operations. In preparation for A123Systems successful IPO (2009), she and her team worked with the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Energy (DOE), and federal, state and county officials to secure over $249M in DOE grants, a $9M Army contract, and $139M from the state of Michigan to build lithium-ion battery manufacturing facilities in Michigan.7
Under Ms. Thompson’s leadership, T/J Technologies attracted national and regional recognition. Her company received awards from the Department of Defense, NASA, the state of Michigan, the Small Business Association of Michigan, Black Enterprise, and other local organizations. In 2008, she was honored by the Washington DC based Minority Enterprise Executive Council as one of 25 Powerful Minority Women in Business. Ms. Thompson was invited to speak to the U.S. House Committee on Small Business as part of the Small Business Administration’s 50th Anniversary.