Business
See above
Production Cost Reduction $60k
Offshore Production $120k
Product Roadmap $635k
Marketing/Engineering/G&A $700k
$100k per month post funding
None
End-Users, residential and commercial, via multiple channels. Currently selling out of product at Sprinkler Warehouse. SmartHome will drop 1.5 million this month. Discussions with Best Buy commencing this week. Home Depot, Lowes, Sears, etc. on the roadmap. Direct sales to water districts to commence post funding.
Urban water use from irrigation is 58% of total water use. 19% of electricity usage in California is in moving water from where it is to where it's needed and treating the waste. The rate is 13% nationally. Based on a San Diego County trial of Digital Sun's technology, we save the average homeowner 20% on a water bill averaging $99 for an ROI of only 10 months.
Currently selling through Sprinkler Warehouseand SmartHome. Best Buy discussions commence Wednesday.
Initially the 30 million sprinkler controller users representing 160MM sensor zones. Once flow meter is available 100MM additional units added to the market, driven by the property/casualty market that takes hundreds of million in flood claims annually,
We have multiple channels to market for us. We're already successful in the online catalog business. Print starts this month as SmartHome drops 1.5 million catalogs in 130 countries. Direct to water districts is post funding. Discussions with Best Buy begin Wednesday.
Homeowner acquires starter kit on sprinklerwarehouse.com or smarthome.com. Installs in 15 minutes or less. Saves 20% or more on the water bill depending on number of humans vs. square feet of irrigated landscape.
My favorite subject.
Current competition is very high cost, weather station based products (EvapoTranspiration)
-WeatherMatic
-Toro
-Rainbird
-Hunter
Very expensive - $400-$900 per unit (We're $199, going to $99)
Still doesn’t solve the problem of actual soil moisture content
No feedback on changes in water applied or used (other than weather)
Very difficult to configure properly
Installer has to know factors like head type, soil type, slope, vegetation type per zone, etc.
Not very usable due to complexity
The typical timer based irrigation controller over waters by 30-300%. 58% of urban water use is irrigation related. In addition, there's a large carbon footprint in water. 19% of the total electricity usage in California is consumed in moving water from where it is to where it's needed, and treating the waste.
Digital Sun addresses this directly by delivering technology that impacts the 58% of irrigation usage directly, delivering an average 20% on the average residential water bill paying for itself on 10 months before taking into account smart technology rebates that (depending on the rebate terms) make the product free to the end-user.
Sale of hardware through multiple channels to end-users. At the most draconian retail margin requirements, gross margins exceed 50% after assembled BOM cost reduction funded in this round.
See above
Technology
We're 1/5 the cost of the EnviroTranspiration controllers. Our three patents an two pending make us virtually unassailable in the wireless space we occupy. Patents include wireless protocol, sensor functionality, smart sprinkler heads etc.
The base RF technology is IEEE 802.15.4 compliant (Chipcon CC2420). On top of that is the patented Digital Sun protocol designed to manage communications through adverse conditions like transmission through water, dirt, walls, garage doors, etc.
See above...
Selling out continually through our on-line retailers. La Municipal water trials are the basis or our ROI projections.
None...already commecialized.
Publication No. 20060049271 App. No. 11/220289 Wireless sprinkler control Filed: September 6, 2005 Pending [Granted, waiting]
Publication No. 20050090936 App. No. 10/692645 Two-wire control of sprinkler system Filed October 24, 2003 [Pending]
Publication No. 20040090345 App. No. 10/692518 Scheduled transmission in a wireless sensor system Filed October 24, 2003 [Granted, Awarded] Patent #7339957
Publication No. 20040090329 App. No. 10/692519 RF based positioning and intrusion detection using a wireless sensor network Filed October 24, 2003 Abandonded
App. No. 10/692,532 filed on 10-24-2003 Never published Abandonded
Publication No. 20040083833 App. No. 10/693017 Wireless sensor probe October 24, 2003 Pending [Granted, Waiting]
U.S. Provisional Patent Application serial No. 60/421,963, filed Oct. 28, 2002, entitled
Team
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Dale Hitt | CEO |
| John Morris | CMO |
Financials
Sales/Marketing, go-to-market, build out product roadmap
| Funding Round | Funding Type | Funding date | Funding Source/ Investors | Amount | Pre-Money valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends & Family | Equity | Aug 2003 | Friends/Family | 290000 | 290000 |
| Seed/Bootstrap | Equity | Aug 2004 | Toro Corporation | 250000 | 5000000 |
CAPSTONE INVESTMENT ADVISORS (UK), LLP has been a leader in the venture capital arena since 2007 it was incorporated. Our focus is on rapidly growing world companies, where new technology can fundamentally change the way people conduct business or enjoy their lifestyles.
Our extensive experience in the venture capital field helps ensure that all of our investors partake in unique opportunities, otherwise available only to high net worth and institutional investors. By investing in both private and public companies in sectors like alternative power, water, organic and natural foods, and environmental technologies we are able to tap into the growing demand for environmentally superior products and services. We believe that investing in the environmental economy helps build companies that matter, but success is providing superior returns to our investors.
If you requires immediate funding into your project and you know that your project is a lucrative projects, do not hesitate to contact me on my direct email ciaukllp@live.com
John D. Warren
CAPSTONE INVESTMENT ADVISORS (UK), LLP
Registered Office
21 GREAT WINCHESTER STREET
4TH FLOOR
LONDON
EC2N 2JA