Client:
Applied Gaia, Inc., a Texas-based firm in the renewable energy sector
Background:
Applied Gaia develops biomass machines that produce renewable energy and salable, environmentally beneficial by-products. The company had a validated technology and ambitious plans for growth but needed a funding plan to achieve its strategic goals.
The process:
The firm endeavored to take over a large-scale renewable energy deployment that never got off the ground due to poor planning and execution. Success meant leveraging both private- and public-sector funding sources, bridging the goals and objectives of each to bring jobs and economic opportunity to a rural Florida county by deploying renewable energy technologies. In working with the Applied Gaia team, I: identified prospective funders and funding opportunities (private sector and public sector); assisted in developing plans and strategies for engaging potential funders and securing the necessary capital; conducted a feasibility study to validate the business model, job creation and economic development potential of the project; helped build relationships with prospective funders; and contributed to the development of the social programming that would provide job training for socially-economically disadvantaged, underserved populations in the targeted community.
The results:
The company received a firm commitment to obtain several million dollars in public sector funding as well as a commitment from a private sector funder to provide the remaining capital needed to launch the project and deploy the technology.
