America’s always been about entrepreneurs, but in 2022, the country is in the middle of a bona fide startup boom.
What does a “startup boom” look like? Well, by most counts there are more than 71,100 startup companies in various stages operating in the United States right now.
So startups aren’t exactly rare, but at Startup Investor, we target a very rare kind of operation.
I’m talking about the “unicorns.” Cowboy Ventures’ Aileen Lee coined the term back in 2013 to describe those rare startups that achieve a $1 billion-plus valuation. Of 71,100 startups, only about 1.4% fit that description.
The “decacorns,” or private companies with $10 billion valuations, are even more scarce – just 30 of these exist today.
Get into one of these companies at an early stage and that’s your shot at blowing Wall Street-style day-trading returns out of the water.
Folks who got into Apple Inc. (AAPL) or Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) back in the ’90s have made many thousand times their initial investment. That’s not bad. But the people who had the vision and guts to back Bill Gates and Steve Jobs when they were running “garage” operations have seen profits far in excess of 1 million percent. You read that right: 1,000,000%, sometimes more.
That’s true generational wealth – the kind of money that can put great-grandchildren you haven’t even had yet on Easy Street. And the best part is the next Apple, the next Tesla – they’re out there in some garage or rented co-working space right now.
And we think we just might have a lead on one. It’s a $10 million Silicon Valley “cleantech” startup dedicated to solving the most urgent problem of the 21st century and securing its niche in the growing $2.5 trillion cleantech industry.
In doing so, it’s looking to corner a $184 billion market ahead of the competition, and management is looking for likeminded, forward-thinking angel investors to come along for what could be an extremely lucrative journey.
Here’s the deal…
An Energy-Generating “Super Station” in Every Building in Town
The world had an energy problem even before the world resource powerhouse Russia decided to invade Ukraine, “the breadbasket of Europe.”
Fossil fuel prices were spiraling higher and higher thanks to post-pandemic boosted demand and inflation. At the same time, the world is having to wean itself off fossil fuels – and quickly – to avert the most catastrophic effects of climate change. Yet as of last year, nearly 60% of power in the United States came from fossil fuel sources. Worldwide, nearly 75% of global emissions emanate from urban areas, while only 15% of the energy used in America’s cities comes from renewable sources.
The balance, however, is shifting toward renewables more and more each month.
This is one of the reasons why the green and renewable energy sector has been booming over the past few years. The sector, as tracked by the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN), has soared as much as 312% since 2017.
Solar energy has been particularly promising because technology and economies of scale have made it one of the cheaper, more “mass adoption”-friendly clean energy sources.
One of the biggest “roadblocks” to even more widespread solar implementation is… land. Real estate. Even in 2022, a 1-megawatt (mW) solar power plant requires between 2.5 to 4 acres (1 to 1.6 hectares) of relatively flat, totally cleared land. This comes with its own unique environmental depredations we won’t even get into here.
SolarGaps is beautifully positioned to solve that problem – and could make a mint in the process.
The company’s shockingly simple yet ingenious proposition: put tiny solar power plants on every building in town – in every town.
The aim is to have structures collect more of the cheap, abundant energy the sun has to offer, use it onsite, and ultimately, contribute the leftovers to the hungry grid.
SolarGaps has developed a practical, inexpensive “solar blind.” We’re all familiar with blinds, and SolarGaps’ aren’t all that different in form from the run-of-the-mill venetians most of us have in our homes and offices. The difference is a SolarGaps installation goes on the outside of your building – so it’s not terribly obtrusive.
The best part is SolarGaps’ technology is concrete, not on the drawing board; it’s fully developed and backed by three patents. It has more than 300 large installations in place and more than 20 distributors. That’s already been taken care of.
The aim now is to scale up the business and get into as many competitive markets as possible – management is currently targeting Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Eastern Europe, for instance. Several high-profile investors are already along for the ride; venture capital firm Berkeley Hills Capital is the lead investor right now.
SolarGaps is a really intriguing angel investment opportunity, and one that could be perfect for first-time angel investors. We felt we had to bring it to our readers’ attention right away.
Watch their pitch video and take a look at their financials, and you’ll see why.
