I. Executive Summary: The Defensible, Infrastructure-First Solution
DeReticular is building the Rural Infrastructure Operating System (RIOS), the definitive platform that solves the multi-billion-dollar global infrastructure challenge with a self-funding, AI-native economic model.
We eliminate the rural digital divide by inserting a high-margin, global revenue stream (the AI Compute Cluster) into every local community. This cluster serves as the financial anchor tenant, paying for the local fiber, which in turn powers RIOS and enables next-generation applications (Kurb Kars, Agra Dot Energy). We are a structurally unique play: Infrastructure as a self-sustaining asset class, driven by AI compute demand.
II. The Core Problem: The Unsolvable Economics
The failure of broadband in low-density rural markets is not a technology problem; it’s a Unit Economics Problem.
- CAPEX vs. ARPU: Traditional internet providers have an insurmountable hurdle where the cost of infrastructure (CAPEX) per user is far higher than the average revenue per user (ARPU) they can collect.
- The Digital Divide: This economic failure leaves millions locked out of the AI economy and prevents the collection of high-value, proprietary edge data that is critical for real-world AI development.
The Status Quo: Communities are stuck with slow, expensive service; innovators are starved of critical data; and the market is resigned to a permanent divide.
III. The Solution: The RIOS Flywheel (The Innovation)
Our solution is a structurally defensible economic mechanism, which we call the “Data Flywheel,” built around a full-stack operating system.
1. The Financial Engine: The AI Compute Cluster
The cluster is placed locally and sells high-demand AI compute and data processing services to global clients. This revenue stream:
- Pays for the local fiber/infrastructure build-out.
- Dedicates free connectivity to the local community.
2. The Product: Rural Infrastructure Operating System (RIOS)
RIOS is the proprietary software layer managing the network, communications, and decentralized power sources (Agra Dot Energy). It is the platform that enables local innovation and generates the proprietary data stream for applications like autonomous logistics (Kurb Kars).
The First Round Capital Angle: This is a bet on a new type of infrastructure founder—one who has engineered a way to bypass the legacy economic barriers, achieving the holy grail of immediate revenue tied directly to CAPEX funding. This is a system-level hack of the infrastructure market.
IV. Early Traction & Execution Speed
We have moved beyond the whiteboard to build the ecosystem that proves the RIOS blueprint is operational:
- Ecosystem Validation: Partners like Kurb Kars (logistics) and Agra Dot Energy (microgrid) are actively stress-testing the data generation and consumption side of the model, proving that RIOS has day-one, mission-critical users waiting for the network to scale.
- Team Velocity: The founding team has successfully built the blueprint for a multi-faceted system, managing the complexity of infrastructure, software, and non-dilutive grant strategies (Josh Banks).
- Pre-Revenue Strategy: We are deliberately pre-revenue because our core monetization event is the physical installation of the AI Compute Cluster. Our team has focused on Execution Speed to reach this point, and now requires seed capital to trigger the first revenue event.
V. Why First Round Capital is the Right Fit
We are looking for partners who are convicted about backing Founder-led, category-defining products that require system-level thinking.
- Founder-Centricity: As a founder-focused firm, First Round’s emphasis on execution, team dynamics, and early-stage guidance is paramount for a complex infrastructure company like ours. We need to leverage your deep operational playbooks to navigate the complexity of simultaneous hardware deployment, software launch, and B2B compute sales.
- Product-Market Fit at Scale: Our challenge is moving from a single validated ecosystem to a rapid, replicable deployment model. We seek to leverage First Round’s experience in scaling high-velocity B2B sales and community adoption to turn the RIOS blueprint into the global standard.
- Boldness to Back the Core Layer: This is not another SaaS application; it’s the foundational operating layer for the next rural economy. We believe First Round has the vision and appetite to back a high-CAPEX, high-impact, technologically defensible business that redefines a market failure.
