Requests for Startups: Energy

YC has published the Requests for Startups. https://www.ycombinator.com/rfs I like it. At the same time there are some things that I think are missing, one of them is energy. This is especially important in the AI era but it was also before for more general reasons. A cheap and reliable access to energy is a important factor to the development of many other sectors in a region.

There are many projects to solve the energy problem: fusion, space, nuclear... But this is far from being solved. Why doesn't YC mention energy in that list?

2 points | by NarcisMirandes 16 hours ago

3 comments

  • hodder 11 hours ago
    The ideal VC startups are low capex, high ROIC companies.

    Energy almost universally requires massive capex to achieve a dime in revenue, and capital intensity never really subsides. YC has funded energy focused startups in the past (eg. Oklo and Helion), but it certainly cannot compete with the kind of scale and ROIC you can achieve in the digital world. Energy is difficult for seed investors.

  • idontwantthis 14 hours ago
    Much harder to reach $1 billion value in less than 5 years if you have to move megatons of actual molecules around and deal with markets.
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    • geremiiah 13 hours ago
      Energy markets are also much easier to quantify, thus harder to build a hype machine around.
  • bagas31pro 10 hours ago
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