SURGE frames its program as a validator rather than an accelerator. The purpose for a 90-day program is to validate the team, value proposition and connect founders to customers. One of the main reasons this equals value is that reputation risk is high in the energy industry. In order to establish real long-term customer relationships and partnerships, entrepreneurs need introductions from proven and respected insiders. It takes a technology 16 years to reach market acceptance in the energy industry. 3 months is not long enough to reach maturity but it is long enough for the market makers, the customers and key investors to do the due diligence required to determine if the team and concept can make the journey.

We’ve funded about a dozen cleanweb companies, and we’ve looked at hundreds more. We’ve found that one of the biggest dangers of early-stage cleanweb companies is that they bring valuable expertise from software or consumer businesses, but don’t necessarily grasp the fundamentals of energy. The reality, bizarre as it may seem, is that a lifelong veteran of oil or conventional utility industries often has more insight to contribute to cleanweb companies than the most “green-friendly” software executives do. Companies in our last class raised over $9MM since last May. Many of these companies have real products and real revenues already, because they focus on enterprise deals in the energy value chain, and take advantage of the intros and expertise our program offered.