Tuesday, April 29, 2008

CMGI all-star McMillan lands at Ze-gen

George McMillan, widely credited with turning CMGI Inc. from a distressed Internet company into a billion-dollar supply chain management provider, has been appointed to the COO and CFO posts of Boston-based waste-gasification technology developer Ze-gen Inc.

McMillan has been a member of Ze-gen's board since November 2004. He has also held executive posts at The Palladium Group, a technology and strategy consulting firm he helped found; BMG Direct, a unit of Bertelsmann AG; and Renaissance Solutions, a technology management consulting firm. In 2004, Mass High Tech named McMillan a High Tech All-Star.

Since January, when Ze-gen pulled in $2.5 million in it most recent round of funding, the startup has been building its executive team. Earlier this month, the company added fossil fuel consultant and industry veteran Scott Fraser as senior vice president of engineering, and last week announced the addition of Jason Hardebeck as VP of market development. Hardebeck founded and served as CEO for relationship-management software company WhoGlue Inc. in Maryland, and was appointed by that state's governor to serve as its entrepreneur-in-residence.

Founded in 2004, Ze-gen makes gasification technology to convert municipal waste streams into synthesis gas, and has been backed by more than $8 million in funding from a number of investors, including Pinnacle Ventures, Flagship Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners, the Massachusetts Technology Development Corp., and the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust.