Mike Del Ponte

Entrepreneur, Investor, Start-up Advisor, and Brand Builder

Falkon Ventures

LinkedIn Falkon Ventures Soma Water

Mike Del Ponte is an entrepreneur, investor, start-up advisor and brand builder. 

Mike was the founder and CEO of Soma (acquired). Soma makes beautifully designed, sustainable water filters, water bottles and coffee & tea products. Its mission is to hydrate the world. For every product sold, Soma makes a donation to charity: water, which provides clean and safe drinking water to people in need. Soma was named one of "25 Companies That Will Change the World" by Inc. and listed as the #1 Design Story of the Year by Fast Company. Soma has won many international design awards and its products are sold in more than a dozen countries. 

Mike currently serves as a Venture Partner at Falkon Ventures, a venture capital fund with a proprietary method to identify, invest and support companies providing systemic solutions to global challenges. 

Mike is an advisor to Protocol Ventures, Solugen, Inde, Steward, Ode to Clean (acquired), and Panatea (acquired). 

Mike previously served as the VP of Marketing and Brand at Skyryse, which is on a mission to provide the fastest, safest, and most uplifting urban transportation solutions to the people and communities it serves, using autonomous flight technology.

Mike was the founder and CEO of Sparkseed, a global nonprofit investing in the most promising young social entrepreneurs. Mike's leadership earned Sparkseed a Financial Times Social Innovation Award and recognition in numerous publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and CNN.

Before founding Sparkseed, Mike did short-term volunteer engagements as a Christian Peacemaker in the West Bank, an orphanage volunteer in Jamaica, and a microfinance consultant in Nepal. Mike has degrees from Boston College and Yale University.