Discover the Top Founders in Equity Crowdfunding with Multiple Exits

CHART OF THE WEEK 📈

By Léa Bouhelier-Gautreau | Read

If, like me, you spent countless hours watching the Olympic Games this summer, you probably had your favorite athletes. Typically, these favorites are those who have already won Olympic or World Championship medals—they’ve reached the top and should know how to win again. I approach startup investing with a similar mindset. If a founder has already successfully exited a startup, shouldn’t they have an easier time doing it again?

• It has been proven that serial entrepreneurs tend to launch more successful startups than first-time founders. Even better, those with previous exits often have higher chances of achieving even bigger exits in the future.

• We analyzed the current Reg CF and Reg A+ raises, focusing on founders with the most past exits, whether through acquisition or IPO.

• One founder stands out as the Michael Phelps of startup exits: Troy Helming, founder and CEO of EarthGrid. With six previous exits (and one failure), including two unicorns (companies valued at over $1 billion) in the clean energy space, his track record is unparalleled.

• Only three other companies—The Build Club, NPCx, and MyCoachingTree—have founders with three previous exits, impressive feats comparable to Simone Biles’ Olympic record in Paris.

• Additionally, eight more companies have founders with two previous exits, marking remarkable success.

• Overall, 9.4% of active ECF raises are led by founders with at least one previous exit, and 2.78% by founders with at least two previous exits, highlighting the quality of companies raising through ECF.

• Of course, investors shouldn’t blindly back entrepreneurs with past exits without thorough due diligence. However, a founder’s track record is a positive factor that should not be overlooked in ECF investing, as it offers insight into a founder’s potential without the need for direct communication.

This Week: Learn about the #1 most active venture firm in the U.S.

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PITCH REVIEW 💸

By Teddy Lyons \ Deal Report

Brief: LiquidPiston is an internal combustion engine manufacturer that has developed a compact, lightweight, and multi-fuel capable rotary internal combustion engine capable of offering a 30% efficiency improvement over traditional gasoline and diesel engines. The engine's High-Efficiency Hybrid Cycle (HEHC) architecture reduces vibration and simplifies engine design, resulting in 10X fewer parts required than a traditional piston engine. By reducing fuel consumption, LiquidPiston's engines significantly reduce CO2 emissions with a product 10X smaller and lighter than current diesel engines and 2 times more efficient than a small turbine engine. The company has raised over $50M over 5 prior crowdfunding rounds since 2017.

Key People: LiquidPiston is run by Nikolay and Alec Shkolnik, a father-and-son team. Nikolay holds a PhD in Physics & General Relativity from the University of Connecticut and has worked on LiquidPiston’s core technology for over two decades. He also served as Program and Project Manager at Gen3 Partners and Invention Machine.

Alec holds a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His PhD dissertation focused on control and motion planning strategies for DARPA, and his postdoc analyzed modeling and control of robots and living neural networks at Robot Locomotion Group.

Summary

Here's what we like: LiquidPiston holds strong intellectual property, having been awarded 76 patents and another 20 pending, covering its proprietary thermodynamic cycle and X-Engine. Additionally, the company has been awarded over $65 million in government and customer-funded programs, allowing LiquidPiston to continue bringing its engines closer to commercialization with no dilution from these funds. Due to this government funding, LiquidPiston has been able to cover its expenses and actually turn a profit in 2023 and 2022.

Here's what we don't: LiquidPiston currently targets use cases in the Department of Defense and US Air Force, which have expressed great interest and funding for this technology. However, the company will not be able to approach the automotive market for years, which could be required to make this investment opportunity a 10X+ return. With a valuation of $222.8 million, the company would need to approach a $3 billion valuation on exit to receive a 10X return with dilution, which will likely prove to be a long and expensive undertaking.

LAST WEEK’S POLL RESULTS

Would you invest in GRYT Health?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 👍 (19)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 👎 (16)

35 Votes

STAFF PICKS 🌶️

Alleviate

Alleviate democratizes access to top-tier physical therapy for common and debilitating conditions. The company offers products like plantar fasciitis and tennis elbow braces, allowing users to manage their chronic conditions independently by mimicking research-backed manual therapy techniques.

• Valuation Cap: $15 million

• Minimum Investment: $299

Compose AI

Compose AI is a free Chrome plugin that helps to automate writing with AI. Compose AI acts as a personal AI assistant for writers and enables users to reduce their writing time by 40%. The platform has organically grown to over 1 million users and has been recognized by Google as a Top Chrome Extension of the Year.

• Valuation Cap: $36 million

• Minimum Investment: $100

Melior AI

Melior AI is creating an AI-powered platform that helps companies identify non-compliance issues and potential risks quickly, reducing manual work from over 92 minutes to just a few minutes. Led by an experienced team, Melior AI serves customers including Zurich, FTO, and Utilipay.

• Valuation Cap: $8 million

• Minimum Investment: $100