Who is WAVE Equity Partner? How do you work with a startup?

WAVE Equity Partner (WAVE) is a private equity firm that provides both early stage and growth stage investments. As an equity partner in your business, WAVE will provide both capital and management expertise to accelerate your business growth.  In return, we will ask for an equity position in the company in proportion to the risk and the amount of investment. Therefore, you do not have to repay the capital; rather, our stake is tied to the future performance of the business. We take a very active role to ensure successful business execution. However, you should see us as a coach and a close confidante, rather than as a member of your executive team. We harbor no illusions as to who creates success—you alone can fashion your path to success; we just provide ideas, resources and cheerful motivation along the way.

The WAVE team invests in cleantech startups that are developing platform technologies. We attempt to find companies that are close to the point of commercialization but haven’t raised substantial equity capital to get there. The team’s primary goal is to help companies accelerate the propagation of their technologies across a wide array of international markets by leveraging our proprietary set of strategies and resources.

WAVE will typically lead a Series A or B round of investment for a substantial equity stake. It expects to provide a majority of the equity needs of the company over time. Typically, it would invest $10M - $15M in the platform company, and would deploy additional capital for commercializing the product in additional markets. We like to be the first institutional investor in the startup.

A foundation company owns a proprietary, well protected technology that can develop profitable applications for multiple distinct markets. If the answer is yes to the following questions, WAVE would be interested in talking with you:

• Can your technology build applications for several large, non-overlapping markets?
• Do these markets exhibit latent, pent-up demand today?
• Can you commercialize the technology in the first market within 12 months and demonstrate sustainable competitive superiority
• Does the founding team have the core competency to continue product development? (It is fine if the team lacks a CEO or other functional managers.)

WAVE pursues a very different investment model that attempts to unlock the full value of the platform. If you believe that your technology has platform characteristics, our model will have both emotional and financial appeal to you. The WAVE model allows your innovation to reach across multiple markets most speedily and efficiently. It also has the potential to generate greater financial rewards for the founding team.

The entrepreneurial process is never easy, but the platform execution can actually be less complicated than the traditional single-market approach. The reason is simple. We structure the company differently from the very start, bringing in resources that are dedicated to specific markets and functions. As a founder, you will begin partnering with experienced industry professionals who will help you create robust business foundations from the very start.

You should expect a qualification statement within two weeks from a WAVE partner after you submit your information. One of the benefits of having a very precise investment strategy is that it leads to quick assessment of strategic fit. WAVE plans to invest in less than ten platform companies over several years, so the due diligence process is very detailed and can span several months. We encourage you to contact us directly without worrying about personal recommendations.

It is natural to assume that the process of penetrating multiple markets can take longer and we seek commitment from the founding team for as long as seven or eight years. However, our model generates multiple liquidation events for the founders. As a result, the founders should begin to realize returns in 3-5 years from the date of initial investment. Our model does not presume a blockbuster IPO to generate a healthy outcome for the founders.

Each member of the team brings varying degrees of operating experiences in the industrial and energy sectors and most have invested across technology sectors for nearly a decade or longer. Past experiences with cleantech companies convinced the WAVE team of the need for a more customized approach in this novel sector. The team is now executing the platform strategy in its current investments. By design, WAVE pursues a very focused and selective investment strategy that only works with a small portfolio.

WAVE does not sign NDAs because it would open us up to potential litigation and would seriously limit the amount and type of deals we may want to evaluate for our portfolio. Since we see several business plans with overlapping ideas and markets, NDAs can open us to indiscriminate lawsuits or, at the very least, distract us from pursuing business of innovation and board responsibilities.

The following are links to articles that illustrate (in serious and comical ways) why most VC's do not sign NDA's:

http://news.com.com/; http://www.thevc.com/; http://www.billsnow.com/