Exercise:

Powerhouse

It started with a crowdfunding startup, an investment from Prince, and the idea to help new solar companies tackle business
challenges that can be hard to overcome on their own.

____________

Powerhouse runs an accelerator and an incubator program. An accelerator typically provides a small amount of funding, and
networking opportunities with investors and customers for young companies that are still developing their first technology and
business plans.

____________

The group s incubator division rents office space to more established solar and energy startups across 15,000 sq ft and three
floors in downtown Oakland, California.

____________

Its goal is simple. The organization wants to play a unique role in fostering a new wave of tech innovation in the solar market.
Many of the Powerhouse companies are using software, data and the web to make selling or designing solar systems cheaper
and easier.

____________

'Powerhouse gave us so much validation and credibility at the beginning, when we didn t have much to show. It was just
enough to get people to believe in us,' says Elena Lucas, the co-founder and CEO of UtilityAPI, an energy data startup.

____________

Many of those materials-focused solar startups failed in getting the desired technical performance despite large investments
from the Bay Area s venture capitalists.

____________

It s like when fast internet connections finally got cheap and ubiquitous enough to attract the entrepreneurial-minded to build
new websites and services on top of it.

The Tribune

Paragraphs

A Sometimes the accelerator entrepreneurs graduate into rent-paying companies in the co-working space. Powerhouse
now hosts about 15 companies and about 100 people across both groups.
B Since its launch in 2013, Powerhouse has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars collectively into 15 startups, and
this summer plans to welcome another few solar entrepreneurs into the program.
C An earlier wave of solar startups was dominated by companies experimenting with different materials and designs for
solar cells and panels.
D Now, four years later, the idea has morphed into a group called Powerhouse, and notably, in a world flush with tech
startups, it s one of the only incubators out there focused on launching and growing solar companies.
E 'The ultimate mission of Powerhouse is to make solar energy the most accessible form of energy in the world,' says
Emily Kirsch, co-founder of Powerhouse.
/
F As the price of solar panels dropped dramatically in recent years, the new generation of entrepreneurs and startups
are chipping away at other stubborn problems, such as shortening the time it takes to get permits or honing the sales
pitch to homeowners.
G They rely on the advice and networking opportunities through Powerhouse to raise money, find customers or exit,
through an initial public offering or acquisition.