Series A | 2026 | Confidential
Eli
The financial OS for the American energy upgrade.
AI-native infrastructure to eliminate paperwork, accelerate payments, and build the electric future.
Heat Pumps Batteries EV Charging Distributed Capacity Grid Services Weatherization
The Bottleneck
Hardware is cheap.
Software is abundant.
Paperwork & payments are broken.
Administrative and financial friction are stalling electrification.
$120B
Mix of energy programs, financing, and payments / settlement.
60–120 days
Contractors float labor and material costs while paperwork moves.
90%
Every dollar runs through 200k+ small businesses.
eli.build
The Wedge Market
PE-backed firms run energy programs on paper and 20-year-old tech.
What is an Energy Program?
• Utility programs paying for heat pumps, batteries, EV chargers, grid services, and weatherization
• Ratepayer-funded, state-regulated, and pulled forward by consumer demand for electrification — independent of federal and climate policy
• Heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces in the US for four straight years
$18B Energy Programs THE WEDGE $102B Lenders / Capital Settlement $6B Admin / Services Contractors 200k+ SMBs Back Office Labor 130M+ Buildings
Why it’s broken.
PE-backed incumbents can’t automate labor or offer financial services. Contractors wait 2+ months to get paid.
Why we start here.
Programs are free money for homeowners — if they can access them. Fix the access layer, win the right to finance and settle the rest.
eli.build
Product Wedge
We replace $6B in manual processing labor and pay contractors in hours not months.
Mass Save (MA) Case Study
.
Without Eli
50%
Application error rate
3-4 wks
Application processing time
~60 days
Contractor payment timeline
Manual
Review, phone calls, hand-typed corrections
Massachusetts’ flagship ratepayer program. ~$4B committed. One of the largest utility energy efficiency programs in the U.S.
.
.
Eli 12-Month Pilot
<2%
Application error rate
2-3 min
End-to-end processing
48 hrs
Contractor payment
Automated
AI processing + rules engine verification
$15.7M in payments
0.04% loss rate
$734k revenue
Eli
AI-Powered Programs
and Payments
✓
✓
✓
✓
Payment sent
$4,280
eli.build
Introducing Eli
AI-Native Energy Programs + Payments
Compliant AI + embedded fintech for both contractors and funding sources to unlock speed and capital for the energy upgrade economy.
For Contractors
Take Pics, Upload Docs, Get Paid.
HVAC Electrical DERs Home Performance
  • One portal, every funding source
  • Embedded AI Workflows, no paperwork
  • Get paid in 48 hours vs. months
  • Real-time status and approvals
4–5% fee on advanced $ · free if program-sponsored
eli
$100M Warehouse Facility
Capital + AI · advance payments instantly
Funding Sources
Utilities, gov agencies,
green lenders, capital
eli.build
Introducing Eli
AI-Native Energy Programs + Payments
Compliant AI + embedded fintech for both contractors and funding sources to unlock speed and capital for the energy upgrade economy.
Contractors
HVAC, electrical,
DERs, home perf.
eli
$100M Warehouse Facility
Capital + AI · advance payments instantly
For Funding Sources
AI-Powered Workflows, Payments, Origination, and Compliance.
Utilities Gov Agencies Green Lenders Private Capital
  • Secure AI replaces 90% of Processing Labor
  • Automated contractor onboarding + vetting
  • Modern, frictionless payments
  • Eligibility and Verification configured for any rule-set or underwriting box in minutes
6-9% fee on payments + Platform Fees
eli.build
Traction
6.45x growth in 14 months since launching current product.
$33M+
advanced to contractors
0.07% loss rate
$3.04M
annual revenue run rate
17:1
LTV / CAC
141%
Levered IRR
Capital Facility
$100M
credit facility to serve up to $0.75B annual origination
IC Approved · In Legal
Revenue Run Rate by Revenue Type — Dec 2024 → Mar 2026
Payments
Partner
One-Time
$0.5M $1M $1.5M $2M $2.5M $3M $3.04M Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar 2025 2026
eli.build
GTM Strategy
On pace to own energy incentives end-to-end: winning contractors, winning programs.
Programs
Eli wins a program → Contractors join at $0 CAC
GTM Biz Dev · Proposals
Contractors
More contractors → More network value → More revenue → Unlocks bigger programs
GTM Channel partners · Inbound / Outbound
Data & Capital
Proprietary data → Better underwriting → Cheaper capital
ELI $100M Credit Facility Viola Credit · IC Approved More Programs More Contractors More Installations More Data & Capital
eli.build
How We Make Money
One Platform, Monetized on Both Sides.
Stream 1 · Live
Contractor Payments
4–5% factoring fee
Instant payments to contractors for any program.
Live with
Mitsubishi Electric Daikin —
Stream 2 · Live
AI-Native Program OS
Platform fees · $100K–$1M ACV
Compliant Agentic AI Platform sold to programs (utility, state, etc.), replacing legacy admin services.
Live with
State of California
CARB · CA Energy
Commission
Energy Solutions
Stream 3 · Contracted Q4 ’26
Energy Program Payments
5–8% take rate
Instant payments to contractors & owners, paid by the program.
Contracted with
PG&E TRC / WSP
eli.build
Contractor Payments · Unit Economics
17:1 LTV/CAC. 3-month payback.
All organic acquisition through channel partners and program portals.
Baystate Energy Services contractor
“Working with Eli has completely transformed how we handle energy programs. We no longer dread the paperwork or payment delays—jobs move faster, customers are happier, and we close more deals.”
Jay Stahlberg
Baystate Energy Services
Discounted LTV
$87K
$120K undiscounted · 5-yr
CAC
$5.1K
$0 S&M — all organic
LTV / CAC
17:1
Top-decile fintech
Payback
3 mo
Recovers CAC same qtr
Levered IRR
141%
Per-txn returns
Per-Transaction Economics
Avg receivable
$8,400
Factor fee
4.37%
Ops cost
$50
Days to collection
60
MOIC
1.17x
Acquisition
100% organic
eli.build
How We Win Big
The Stripe for Electrification
AI-powered payment rails and capital to solve the deployment gap
1
LIVE
Earn the Wedge
Energy Programs
+ Payments
Replace $6B/yr of manual services with AI. Build the largest, stickiest contractor network.
2
PILOTS
Become the Infrastructure
Origination
& Settlement
Same data, platform, and network — originate and underwrite the entire capital stack.
3
EXPANSION
Unlock Institutional Capital
Asset Creation
& Financing
Securitization unlocks the $1.9T/yr required by 2030.
We don’t just accelerate payments — we capture the data and origination layer and make building upgrades financeable at institutional scale.
eli.build
Market Opportunity
$1B Annual Revenue is achievable in the wedge alone.
AI-native programs and payments hits $1B/yr, stacking products triples that, unlocks generational opportunity at scale.
01 — Wedge
Energy Program Spend · US 2028
02 — Platform
Total Spend · US 2028
The Unlock
03 — Target Spend · Global 2030
TAM
$18B
Annual GPV
TAM
$120B
Annual GPV
TAM
$1.9T
Annual GPV
SAM
$6B
Existing admin/payments revenue
SAM
$8.2B
Base case blend; $11.1B upside
SAM
$130B
Blended 7% take rate
SOM
$1B
Eli revenue at 16% market share
SOM
$2B
24% capture at base case maturity
SOM
$13B
10% of global SAM
Sources: Eli 2028 TAM Model v4 (refined sub-flow take rate construction); ACEEE 2025; EIA Form 861; IEA Energy Efficiency 2024; GSIA 2022.
eli.build
Why Now
Three forces compounding into a window that didn’t exist 2 years ago.
Regulatory pressure is mounting. AI just crossed the threshold to replace the work, not just improve it. Incumbents are structurally locked out of the response.
01
Market Tailwinds
A 20-year flat market just snapped into demand-driven crisis mode.
Load growth inflection
AI data centers and electrification driving the first sustained demand growth in 20 years — peaks now outpace baseload.
Buildings provide the cheapest marginal capacity
Demand-side resources deliver grid benefits at a fraction of the cost of generation and transmission investments.
Utility pull validated
GTM pipeline confirms procurement urgency — buyers actively seeking the solution.
$31B in 2025 rate hike requests
Utilities under regulator mandate to prove efficiency before raising rates.
02
AI Inflection Point
Two years ago this didn’t work.
Software could improve it, AI can replace it. Highly fragmented data, bespoke rules and workflows, edge cases galore.
10x leverage. Implementers: $200–600K revenue per FTE. AI-native: $2M+.
Agents without rails are a demo. We spent four years building the deterministic substrate. That’s what makes the AI layer deployable in a regulated industry.
03
Vulnerable Incumbents
Structurally unable to respond.
PE Constraints. Automation = lost billable hours. No balance sheet risk or financing.
Legacy IT, no AI architecture. Maintenance mode — can’t self-disrupt.
The window won’t stay open forever.
eli.build
Team
Repeat Startup Execs. Deep Domain Exp. Fintech DNA.
Jeff Coleman
CEO, Founder
Led largest US incentive program, Vertan Startup Exec
Grid AlternativesFarmigoObama
Adrian Del Balso
Head of Product, Co-Founder
Former Head of Product for 15+ Years
Little UniverseFarmigoAmicus
Eduardo Del Balso
CTO, Co-Founder
Built mortgage underwriting platform
LendingHomeLittle Universe
Adedoyin Olateru-Olagbegi
Head of Operations
Former Chief of Staff, PM, CS Degree
Schmidt FuturesMIT
Richard Milan
Head of Engineering
Led 35-person Engineering team at Affirm
AffirmReturnly
Tej Singh
Managing Director, Fintech
Former Fintech CEO, Fintech Ops. MIT Sloan MBA.
TalaAffordPlanHigh Radius
13 employees + fractional contractors
Engineering (5) · Operations + Finance (3) · Leadership (4) · Product (1)
Key hires post-close: Utility/PA GTM Lead · Contractor AEs · VP Finance/CFO · Payments Product Lead
eli.build
The Raise & Operating Plan
$20M Series A. Two years to take the wedge.
~50%
GTM & Delivery
• Regional BD (3 regions)
• Program Delivery
• Contractor activation AEs
• Sr Program Managers
• Marketing + demand gen
~30%
Product & Engineering
• Scaling risk + reconciliation
• Utility integrations
• Customer-side Agents
• Lending v1, Wallet
~10%
Working Capital
• Viola SPV equity component
• Receivables: $14M → $50M+
• Revenue-generating, near-zero loss
~10%
G&A
• VP Finance / CFO
• Regulatory counsel
• Risk & compliance
Operating Plan
Today
Apr 2026
EOY 2026
Series A close → ramp
EOY 2027
Series B setup
EOY 2028
Series B-funded scale
Revenue Run Rate
$3.0M
$7.7M
$20.6M
$70–85M
Annual Revenue (CY)
$1.6M
CY25 actual
$3.5M
$13.3M
$48M
Payment Volume (Ann.)
$29M
$112M
$290M
$700M
Headcount
13
29
58
74
Product & GTM Milestones
Contractor Payments, Program OS, Program Verification
Origination/Lending v1, SMUD Tariff On-Bill, Regional BD live across 3 regions
Contractor Wallet, Embedded Credit, VPP Settlement, Agent platform v1, 8+ utility integrations
Direct-threat status in competitive bidding. Full U.S. coverage. Institutional debt scale.
eli.build
Eli
The Financial OS for the
American Energy Upgrade.
Series A
Become the first AI-Native Program Implementer. Build the largest, stickiest contractor network. Own the $ rails.
Series B
6.5x Revenue per contractor. Embedded credit, institutional origination, customer-side agents for utilities, go after all close adjacencies.
Jeff Coleman, CEO · eli.build · Series A | 2026 | Confidential
APPENDIX
Supporting Materials
eli.build
Product + GTM Roadmap
Revenue per contractor expands 6.5x as products stack
Feed the flywheel by adding contractors and programs. Grow revenue through product expansion.
1 — Live
Incentive Processing & Instant Payment
One interface for all programs. Paid in 48 hours.
$12K
/contractor/yr
2 — Launching May 2026
Program-Sponsored Payments
Program pays fee. Contractor at par. Premium economics.
+$10K
/contractor/yr
3 — Building
Loan Origination
Bank partnership model. Several partner engaged.
+$10K
/contractor/yr
4 — 2026-27
Wallet & Payment Hub
All inflows settle through Eli.
+$10K
/contractor/yr
5 — Series B
Working Capital
Credit on Eli transaction data.
+$12K
/contractor/yr
6 — Future
Equipment & Procurement
Financing, cards, supplier payments.
+$12K
/contractor/yr
7 — Future
Grid Services Enrollment & Settlement
VPP/DR enrollment at install. Settlement rails.
+$12K
/contractor/yr
Today
$12K
Full stack
$78K
6.5x expansion
200,000 contractors × $78K/yr = $15.6B in addressable revenue from the existing contractor market
eli.build
Pipeline + Distribution
Programs and Partners
Live
Launching
Pipeline
MA CA CO GA 4 states
WI MI MA CT CA CO NC 7 states
WA WI MI MA OR IL PA CT CA CO MD NC GA 13 states
Programs
13active
Mass Save, TECH Clean CA, HEEHRA, Xcel CO, HEAR CO, HEAR GA, Black Hills, SGIP +5 more
Programs
9launching
HEAR (MI, WI, NC), Energize CT, Power Ahead CO, PG&E, CT IOUs, SCE, SMUD
Programs
13+in pipeline
Southern Co., SEEL/DTE, Pepco/Exelon, BGE/Exelon, Ameren IL, PECO, PSD, TRC/SMUD +5 more
Key Partners
Mitsubishi Electric Daikin
Xcel Energy Mass Save BDC
Key Partners
DRCOG PG&E SMUD
Key Partners
Southern Company
Exelon Ameren
Entire pipeline built without sales or BD team. First dedicated sales hires post-close.
eli.build
Viola Credit Facility
$100M Senior Revolving Credit Facility — Viola Credit
Term sheet executed March 2026.
Selected from 4 competing term sheets.
Top-tier credit fund underwrote the asset class after diligence.
Up to $100M of debt capacity behind the Series A.
Series A funds GTM; facility funds the receivables. Equity is not the growth constraint.
Initial
$15M
SOFR + 8.25% / 11.25%
92.5% advance
→
1st
$25M
SOFR + 8.25% / 11.25%
92.5% advance
→
2nd
$50M
SOFR + 7.50% / 10.50%
95% advance
Optimal pricing tier — Series A funds GTM to deploy here.
→
3rd
$75M
SOFR + 6.50% / 9.50%
95% advance
→
4th
$100M
SOFR + 6.50% / 9.50%
95% advance
Revolving Period
24 months (+12mo ext.)
Exclusivity / ROFR
Excl. to $50M; ROFR to $150M
Servicing Fee
0.50% p.a.
Term sheet executed March 6, 2026. Final documentation in progress.
eli.build
Energy Programs: The Most Broken Layer
Meet the Implementers
•CLEAResult, TRC, Resource Innovations, ICF: Decades-old consulting firms earning ~$6B/year to run energy programs
•Mostly PE-owned, leveraged balance sheets, stuck with legacy IT and technical debt
•They process every rebate, payment, and compliance check with teams of human processors.
•Revenue model: cost-plus labor. Every dollar they automate is a billable hour lost.
•Bought and sold between PE firms every 4 years. Structurally unable to build infrastructure or add financial products.
Implementer executives
“We can’t become a bank.”
— SVP Programs, CLEAResult, Feb 2026
eli.build
Competitive Landscape
Eli vs. the Alternatives
Eli Implementers Fintech POS Utility SW
Automated processing✓✗✗Partial
Instant contractor payment✓✗✗✗
Program compliance engine✓Manual✗Partial
Contractor network✓✓✗✗
Lending / capital deployment✓✗✓✗
AI-native architecture✓✗GenericLegacy
Can carry balance sheet risk✓✗✓✗
The argument is structural misalignment, not incompetence. Competent operators who cannot build what this market needs without undermining their own business models.
eli.build
Startup Competitive Landscape
Eli vs. Emerging Startups: Same Problem, Different Architectures
Several startups are attacking rebate complexity. The critical difference is depth of infrastructure — and whether the model compounds into a platform or stays a point solution.
ELI
Founded 2023
Financial Infrastructure Platform
Rebate automation is the wedge, not the product. Eli advances cash to contractors at install, owns the receivable, and builds toward full program administration + lending.
Carries balance sheet risk — factoring, not SaaS
Contractor gets paid at install, not after approval
$100M facility (Viola) — capital as moat
Expanding into lending, on-bill, program admin
Endgame: Financial infrastructure for the energy transition
SEALED
Founded 2012
Contractor-Side Rebate Platform (Pivot)
Pivoted from D2C home retrofit to B2B contractor SaaS (“Sealed Pro”). Charges ~2x Eli’s rate. No utility/PA program contracts. Contractor-of-record model creates project/completion risk. No lending roadmap or capital market infrastructure.
Ceiling: Contractor-side rebate tool with no path to program infrastructure
ROCK RABBIT
Founded 2023
AI Rebate Discovery & Filing
AI-powered app for contractors to find, layer, and claim incentives. Mobile-first UX focus. Processes claims but does not finance them. No capital component.
Pure software — discovery + filing automation
No cash advance, no factoring, no risk-bearing
Early stage — 23 employees, CA-focused
API/mobile app for contractor field use
Aspires to program admin but no traction
Key insight: Competitors automate paperwork. Eli solves the cash flow problem — and builds financial infrastructure on top.
eli.build
Defensibility
Six Compounding Layers. A New Entrant Must Rebuild All Six.
1
Compliance Infrastructure
Program-specific rules encoded as deterministic rule sets. Hundreds of security controls fine tuned for state, federal, and utility compliance requirements. Can't be shortcut.
2
Contractor Network Effects
74 active contractors, 3 states. Two-sided: more contractors = more value to programs, more programs = more value to contractors.
3
Program Integration Lock-In
Deep API integrations: Power Ahead Colorado (sole platform), METUS, Daikin = majority of contractors can access Eli through a trusted partner. Competitors must run parallel workflows.
4
Institutional Capital
Viola $100M facility (final legal). Much longer track record/loan tape than competitors, enabling access to better terms. Compounds as we scale into new products and asset classes.
5
First-Mile Verified Data
Compliance-grade data captured at point of installation: contractor performance, equipment, payment patterns.
6
AI-Native Architecture
AI for perception, deterministic rules for compliance, ML for underwriting. Full auditability at every step. The moat deepens as these evolve together vs. any one of them alone.
eli.build
Appendix · Technology
Built for Scale: Deterministic Rules + Agentic AI
Domain-specific automation that eliminates manual underwriting bottlenecks — without black boxes.
Inputs
Contractor submissions
Photos & site documentation
Equipment specs & invoices
Program eligibility data
Utility / program rules
The Eli Engine
Layer 1
Deterministic Rules
Encodes program eligibility, compliance & payment rules
Deterministic and auditable
Version-controlled: same input → same output
Defines what must be true
Working
together
Layer 2 · “Sparky”
Agentic AI
Reviews every requirement & evidence item
Extracts data from photos & documents
Issues decision + confidence score per item
Resolves common issues; routes for review
Determines whether evidence proves it
Rules define what must be true. AI determines whether the evidence proves it. Neither operates alone.
Outputs
~90%
of claims auto-decisioned in ~1 minute
↑
Eval infrastructureEvery model change tested against ground-truth claim set
Remainder routed to reviewers with structured checklist & confidence scores
Full audit trail on every decision
Contractor paid at installation
No black boxes
Every AI decision carries a confidence score, evidence trail, and reviewable reasoning.
Compliant by construction
Deterministic rules handle regulated logic. AI handles the unstructured evidence problem. The boundary is intentional.
Scales with volume, not headcount
90% auto-decisioned in ~1 minute. Architecture is the constraint — not labor.
eli.build
Appendix · Why Now
The energy program market is no longer about climate policy. It is about grid capacity.
Demand growth is back
+128 GW
Projected U.S. peak demand growth by 2030 from data centers, electrification, and reshored manufacturing.
After two decades of flat load, utilities urgently need every megawatt of avoided demand and dispatchable capacity.
The products won
3.6M
Heat pumps shipped in 2025, outselling gas furnaces for the fifth straight year. Up 70% over 20 years.
Heat pumps, induction, batteries, EVs are winning on consumer preference. The market pulls. Policy does not push.
Every transaction is an energy transaction
$18B+
Annual ratepayer-funded U.S. energy program spending across efficiency, demand response, DERs, and electrification.
Every HVAC, water heater, panel, and EV charger sale now touches a rebate, a VPP, a capacity payment, or a tariff.
This is not the 2015 incentive market. It is grid infrastructure procurement at the device level, funded by ratepayer surcharges set by state regulators.
Two-thirds of this spending sits inside utility integrated resource plans approved by state PUCs — the same regulated funding mechanism that pays for transmission and grid modernization. It does not depend on Washington.
Sources: ACEEE 2025 State Scorecard; EIA Annual Electric Power Industry Report; RMI heat pump tracker (Feb 2026); Grid Strategies / NERC 2030 demand outlook.
eli.build
Appendix · The Bottleneck
Every transaction now carries energy program friction. Eli is the only company solving it at the point of sale.
The Project
HVAC install
Water heater swap
Panel upgrade
EV charger
Battery install
Bottleneck
The Friction Tax
Rebate paperwork
VPP enrollment
M&V data capture
Income verification
Equipment validation
Compliance reporting
60–120 day payment cycle
200k+
SMB installers
The installation base is fragmented.
95% have under 100 employees. None can absorb 60–120 day payment gaps, and none have the back-office to navigate every program on every sale.
Eli · The Rail
Removes the friction
48-hr
contractor settlement
AI-native processing replaces the labor-based implementer layer. Paperwork, M&V, eligibility, compliance — all automated.
Aggregates the installer network
Contractors route every project through Eli to remove the friction. That makes Eli the rail through which all project finance must flow.
$34M+
advanced
0.07%
loss rate
8,600+
projects approved
The friction is universal. The installer base is fragmented.
200k+ small contractors do the actual installations. None of them can absorb 60–120 day pay cycles or staff a back office for every program. The friction is the rate-limiter on the entire transition.
Solving it aggregates the network.
Eli removes the friction and pays in 48 hours. Contractors route everything through us because nothing else does. That makes Eli the rail every other capital flow has to ride on top of.
eli.build
Appendix · The Financial OS
Solving the friction earns the rail. The rail opens two financial markets.
Solving incentives earns the rail. The rail opens two destinations: financing every project that runs on it, and becoming the operating bank for every contractor on it.
The Earned Position
1
Solve the friction
AI-native program processing. 48-hour contractor settlement. Replaces the $22B labor-based implementer industry.
2
Aggregate the rail
200k+ fragmented installers route every project through Eli to remove the friction. We become the only platform that touches every transaction.
3
Capture the data
Verified first-mile data on every project, contractor, payment, and equipment install. The underwriting layer institutional capital has never had.
Two Destinations · One Position
1. Project Financing
Active · SMUD
Sacramento Municipal Utility District has approached Eli to originate contractor-financed energy upgrade loans against SMUD’s on-bill tariff repayment authority.
·Originate at point of installation
·Hold against $100M credit facility
·Sell forward against tariff repayment
·Repeatable across every tariff utility
First product expansion off the wedge. Validates the model with an investment-grade counterparty.
2. The Digital Bank for the Contractors
The Bigger Prize
Once Eli is the rail, we are already the contractor’s settlement account. Working capital, payments, deposits, cards, and equipment financing all become native — for an SMB segment no bank has ever served well.
·Working capital lines (already at $34M+)
·Operating account & payments
·Cards & expense management
·Equipment & receivables financing
200k+ SMB installers. We do not have to acquire them — they are already on the rail.
The wedge is incentive processing. The rail is the moat. Project finance and contractor credit are the end state.
eli.build