He Raised $247 Million To Build A Leading LatAm Renewable Energy Company Focused On Full Lifecycle Solar + BESS (Battery Storage) Projects
What does it take to go from $100K in startup capital to $100M in annual revenue—and finance and execute $750M worth of projects along the way? For Dylan Rudney, founder of Verano Energy, it isn’t just about vision or timing; it’s execution and adaptability.
Dylan developed the deep understanding that in infrastructure businesses, reality always beats spreadsheets. This is the story of how he built Verano Energy—one of the most ambitious renewable energy platforms in Latin America—and raised $247M through a combination of debt and equity.
In this inspiring interview, Dylan discusses in detail why the biggest opportunity ahead may not be energy itself, but battery storage (BESS) and powering the AI revolution.
A Global Upbringing That Built Adaptability
Dylan’s journey didn’t follow a straight line. Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in a small farm town in Iowa, he experienced early what it means to constantly adapt. That continued into adulthood, in California for university, then Mexico City, Colombia, and eventually Chile.
Dylan has now spent 13 years in Santiago. That constant movement shaped something critical: The ability to reset, rebuild, and adapt quickly. And that skill would later become a defining advantage in emerging markets.
Falling Into Latin America—and Seeing the Opportunity
Dylan didn’t initially plan to build a career in Latin America. Coming out of high school, he didn’t speak a word of Spanish, but at university, he had several Spanish-speaking friends. That’s when he picked up a few basics and eventually took Spanish classes, developing a love for the language.
Dylan was studying business and finance and recognized opportunities in Latin America. He decided that was where he wanted to focus his time. His entry point was practical: a role at PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).
PwC is a consulting and audit firm that also offers mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and investment banking (IB) services in Mexico City. Dylan worked in the M&A area.
Later, Dylan was recruited into a private equity fund, backed by angel investors across South America. That exposure—through their office in Chile—changed everything.
Dylan realized he knew nothing about the country, except that it was beautiful and well-developed. He also noted the level playing field. Contrary to expectations, it was highly functional, economically stable, and business-friendly, but also had an underserved infrastructure.
For Dylan, it was clear—this wasn’t just an emerging market—it was a platform for opportunity. As he remarks, the consistency of the incredible Chilean market became a valuable learning experience, not just for the private equity fund but also for Dylan himself on personal and professional levels.
The Hard Lesson: Finance Models Don’t Build Real Assets
Before becoming a founder, Dylan worked on the investor side at a private equity firm, an experience that revealed a brutal truth. A great financial model and projections mean nothing if you can’t execute on the ground.
The PE firm had made money in the tech sector in the early 2000s and had a background in finance. Although run by a highly successful group of individuals, the firm had no experience in the energy or infrastructure sectors.
Dylan quickly learned firsthand how projects that looked perfect on paper failed in reality. That insight became foundational:
Execution leads to projections · Asset quality leads to capital availability · Contracts (offtake)
In infrastructure, the real business is de-risking execution—not building models. That’s what Dylan has focused on when building Verano Energy, a project that was all about taking ownership of his future and making the leap from a stable income and job in private equity to entrepreneurship.
Taking the Leap: Leaving Stability for Uncertainty
In retrospect, Dylan explains that he had always wanted to build something of his own. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, he approached every job the same way, asking questions like: “Could I do this myself? Could I replicate this?”
The turning point came around 2012. Dylan was working on hydroelectric projects, which were complex, capital-intensive, and difficult to execute. He had to deal with community and environmental issues, which literally involved engineering a river. Construction and civil works were very difficult.
At the same time, Dylan noticed something critical—the costs and business model of developing, building, and operating solar assets were dropping rapidly. Particularly when compared to river hydro, thermal, coal, and gas plants, which had been largely rejected in Chile and other parts of the world.
Getting approval for these projects was becoming increasingly challenging. Because of the rising demand for cheaper energy, the trend leaned toward dropping prices of solar panels and equipment in general. Dylan was very confident that solar would win. However, his firm passed on the idea.
Dylan didn’t hesitate. He had all the contacts and knew how to execute on his idea. He was ready to invest his savings and take the leap. One of the first major lessons he leveraged was the importance of adapting and moving quickly.
Starting with $100K and the First Business Model
Verano Energy began with just $100K from friends and family. Initially, Dylan started as a pure renewable-energy developer, similar to real estate developers. The strategy was simple—but high risk:
Secure land (long-term leases or options) · Obtain permits · Find pathways to interconnect an environmental permit and get municipal approvals · De-risk the project
Then sell to institutional investors at a premium. Why it worked:
Funds avoid early-stage risk · Developers create value by removing uncertainty · Margins can be 5x–20x on initial capital
This allowed Verano to scale quickly with minimal capital. Dylan explains how they started doing development in a market where permitting is considered challenging. Yet, they were able to execute with a small amount of money.
At the same time, Dylan deliberately chose to structure it as preferred equity to retain control from day one. Initially, Verano progressed well, and Dylan successfully retained 100% ownership. They started developing small solar assets and smaller projects in a market where solar energy was debuting. Storytelling is everything that Dylan was able to master. The key is capturing the essence of what you are doing in 15 to 20 slides. For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley legend (<a href=" target="blank" rel="noopener">see it here</a>), where the most critical slides are highlighted.
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Navigating the Initial Challenges and Running Out of Capital
Solar was gradually making its mark, and costs were reaching the point where it could—during the day—compete with other energy sources in Chile. As Dylan points out, the Chilean market has no hydrocarbons. It imports fuels like coal and LNG, which are expensive.
Although solar could compete, Dylan underscores that it could compete ONLY during the day. Verano had developed two or three projects, but early traction was hard to come by, and one of them failed.
Within a year, the capital was gone. Survival was uncertain, so Dylan took on an additional $65K in debt just to stay alive. It took nearly two years to reach the first breakthrough—the sale of two solar projects to a fund.
Using the proceeds, Dylan repaid the original preferred equity and debt and reinvested the remainder in larger projects across the country. Eventually, Verano expanded into other countries and evolved.
The Key Pivot: From Developer to Full-Stack Operator
The breakthrough came when Dylan realized something critical. They were leaving most of the value on the table. Development accounted for ~10% of revenue, while construction accounted for ~90%. Dylan wanted to build and operate, so Verano pivoted.
However, becoming a bankable EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) company wasn’t easy. Project finance banks were conservative and hesitated to fund their projects. Eventually, Verano landed a small distress ed project.
Its organizers had to work with Verano or risk losing it. Dylan recalls how they built it within a very short timeframe. This success enabled them to demonstrate that Verano was a bankable company. It had developed, built, and operated a project from end to end.
Investors could now come to Latin America with their checkbooks, and Verano Energy would take care of the rest. The result? Explosive growth. That pivot had an incredible impact on growth—from smaller numbers with higher margins to larger numbers with lower margins.
Verano achieved the ultimate distinction between developing and flipping assets and constructing the assets it had developed. The company was now handling both aspects of the business—construction and operation of assets that resulted in sustained revenue.
Scaling Through Integration
Once Verano proved it could develop, build, and operate projects, Dylan leaned into sales. He realized that they could continue their original development business and sell it with construction. This strategy would guarantee a large construction revenue, which was 10x higher than before.
That positioning unlocked exponential growth. Verano acquired multi-project deals, larger contracts, and Institutional partnerships. At one point, Verano sold over 20 projects in a single transaction to TPG Matrix for more than $200M. This deal marked the turning point.
Navigating Latin America: Complexity as a Moat
As Dylan points out, operating across Latin America is not for the faint of heart because each market behaves differently from the US. These differences included business execution, culture, hiring talent, and more.
Chile: Structured, predictable, and business-friendly, with a culture similar to the US · Argentina: High volatility, difficulty in finding investors because of the uncertainty of restrictions, and exit risks · Peru: Land and title complexity, along with political instability, though the market seems almost unfazed by changes in the government · Colombia: Slow-moving but high potential and a unique opportunity
Even cultural nuances matter, Dylan remarks. Some markets are transactional, while others require relationship-building first. His edge came from embracing—not avoiding—this complexity.
Financing and Executing $750M: From Selling Projects to Owning Them
Initially, Verano sold projects early through a basic sales process. Dylan recalls how they would execute deals or hire an investment bank to help with a more competitive process. But a major strategic shift changed everything.
Verano started selling assets to funds, complete with construction, using a turnkey strategy. It partnered with both boutique and larger investment banks in the region, which placed it in the spotlight.
At one time, around 10 private equity firms, infrastructure firms, and strategic investors were interested in Verano's assets. Verano was now a bankable EPC fund capable of sourcing projects, obtaining permits, and executing engineering, construction, and operations.
Verano could close the PPA or the offtake agreement with the energy buyer, and could also handle the project finance. Then, Dylan started to think: Why sell value when you can capture it?
Three years ago, the company decided to become an Independent Power Producer (IPP) and compete with the largest energy companies. Verano was ready to play on the bigger field and in the big leagues.
That’s when Dylan partnered with Lumina Capital, a Brazilian debt fund that provided Verano with $100M in growth equity. Verano could now control the entire process from the very beginning until the operation or the flip of the asset. Thus, it grew its internal pipeline by ~10x in two years.
Rather than selling its assets at some stage in the development process, Verano can enter operations, sell energy with a long-term cash flow guarantee, and explore opportunities to divest. As a result, it can get access to institutional capital through project finance.
As Dylan explains, project finance enables Verano to finance the construction at much cheaper rates than using equity, MEZ, or dev funds. Thus, they work extensively with banks to get funding.
The Big Insight: Solar Alone Isn’t Enough
Despite building a solar company, Dylan holds a contrarian view. Solar by itself is not a complete solution, he says. In the US, solar tends to increase electricity costs and create problems for the grid. There are essentially two different types of markets—exporters or importers of energy.
Energy exporters like the US, which export gas, don’t really need renewables, Dylan points out. Gas is cheap, has a quick response, and is relatively clean energy.
The opportunity lies with importers and countries like Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Here, Verano must compete with the costs of importing coal and gas. When starting out, Dylan wanted to sell solar power during the day to lower energy costs.
His objective was to sell the cheapest energy possible, which is also clean and better for the world. However, he also wanted it to be the best—a crucial consideration. However, at ~30% market saturation, solar starts becoming a problem—not a solution. Oversupply reduces value.
Dylan underscores that putting more solar into the system actually creates a problem for it. Solar needs to be ramped up in the afternoon and ramped down in the morning. They also looked into exporting green hydrogen and green ammonia to take advantage of cheap green electrons.
At one time, people had considered using green hydrogen and green ammonia to meet the world’s energy needs. However, the hype didn’t translate into practical adoption. Governments were unwilling to subsidize, and companies were unwilling to make the switch to a green product.
The risk factor was too high, so the markets didn’t work. Then, batteries came along.
The Breakthrough: Solar + Batteries = 24/7 Power
The real game-changer isn’t solar. It’s solar + storage. As Dylan points out, batteries aren’t new technology; it’s just that the costs have dropped at an incredible rate. At the same time, solar has also gotten cheaper.
With falling battery costs, something unprecedented is now possible: 24x7 renewable energy at competitive prices. Verano recently secured a 24x7 energy contract using this model. For the first time, on a free market basis, solar and batteries beat conventional imported fuel.
That’s a fundamental shift. And Dylan is super excited about it.
Why AI Could Be the Biggest Opportunity
The next frontier isn’t just energy—it’s who powers AI. Data centers require massive amounts of energy, a reliable supply, and, increasingly, clean power. Dylan sees a massive opportunity and a simpler business plan based more on the execution of larger-scale generation assets.
Dylan is working out how to export renewable energy through AI infrastructure. In places like Chile, solar radiation is t he highest globally, and infrastructure is improving, complete with underwater cables to transport the energy. Energy can be produced cheaply.
Instead of exporting raw energy, the idea is to use it locally to power AI—and export computation. As Dylan points out, Chile has the highest solar radiation in the world. If it can use cheap 24x7 green energy to power AI centers and export renewable energy through AI, Chile can lead the world.
The Long-Term Vision: Competing with Energy Giants
Dylan’s ambition is clear: Compete with the largest energy companies in the world. To make that happen, Verano needs to raise long-term capital. Dylan does not want the company to be in a position where it is restricted or constrained by capital. Once that happens, it can reach the biggest markets.
Dylan envisions a future where Verano has the desired capital and smart partners to access partnerships with massive AI offtakers. He wants Verano to power the future of growth and innovation with clean energy from Chile.
The company has been awarded very large contracts against much larger companies that have been around longer. Its edge includes being smart about procurement, engineering, and finding the right type of off-takers. Verano is generally leaner than its competitors.
These advantages make it unbeatable, as Dylan points out. Soon, they will close a competitive smart capital round, which could make Verano a household name for the most competitive, clean, and solar-battery-focused energy in the world, driving innovation, data centers, and AI.
Lessons for Founders
Execution Beats Everything: Don’t be fooled by how attractive a business plan looks on paper. A great model won’t save a bad project. · Costs Are Always Higher, Revenues Always Lower: Don’t think you’re within 10% to 15% of your projections. Assume your costs are higher than expected and revenue is lower than expected—because they are. Efficient planning is crucial. · Be Extremely Careful with Fixed Costs: Recurring expenses can force bad decisions under pressure. Be careful about hiring, spending, and anything that you have to pay for month over month. · Adapt Quickly or Fall Behind: What worked at the start may not work at scale. · Control Matters Early: Structuring early capital correctly allowed long-term ownership.
The Bottom Line
Dylan Rudney didn’t just build a company. He built a system to identify inefficiencies, de-risk execution, capture more of the value chain, and adapt ahead of the market. From $100K to $100M in revenue, the story isn’t about luck.
It’s about understanding where value actually lives—and moving fast enough to capture it. And if Dylan’s vision plays out, the next phase won’t just be about energy. It will be about powering the infrastructure behind the most important technological shift of our time.
Execution—not capital or vision—is what turns $100K into a $100M business. · Emerging markets reward operators who can navigate complexity, not avoid it. · In infrastructure, de-risking projects creates far more value than building financial models. · Owning more of the value chain is what unlocks exponential growth. · Solar alone isn’t enough—storage is what makes renewable energy truly competitive. · The biggest opportunity isn’t energy itself but powering AI and data infrastructure. · Control your costs early, or they will control your decisions later.
Bio
Dylan Rudney: of American and Chilean nationality, is the founder of Verano Energy and has over 14 years of experience in the energy industry. He possesses extensive expertise in the development and financing of renewable energy projects, having played a leading role in the business’s expansion through project development and raising over $1 billion dollars to finance projects.
Original Version
Alejandro Cremades: All righty. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the DealMaker Show. So today we have a really amazing founder joining. I mean, we're talking about a founder that got started with $100,000. That's it.
Alejandro Cremades: You know, and last year they did $100 million in sales. They've raised $750 million for their projects. I mean, it's a is unbelievable. You know, we're going be talking about the building, the scaling,
Alejandro Cremades: You name it. You know, i think that the conversation today is going be quite inspiring. And without further ado, let's welcome our guest today, Dylan Rudney. Welcome to the show.
Alejandro Cremades: So, Born in D.C., I mean, you've you've you've been around, you know, quite a bit, you know, you've traveled all over the place, you know, all over the world, too. So tell us, how was life growing up for you?
Dylan Rudney: Yeah, born in DC, grew up in ah in a small farm town in in Iowa. So it's it's been interesting. From from Iowa, i went to school in California, i've lived in Colombia, Mexico City, and I've been based here in in Chile, in Santiago for the last 13 years.
Alejandro Cremades: So give us you know a little of a glimpse because, I mean, you travel quite a bit, whether it was D.C., then Farmington, then California too. I mean, you've been all over the place. And now, obviously, Latin America. So I think that as a kid too, those changes, you know, they may be a little bit tough, but they also, they build you up a little bit too. So it was because you got start again, making friends, you know, and things like that. So so how do you think that shaped who you are?
Dylan Rudney: Yeah, you know, i i guess I think what really changed me was my my introduction to Latin America. And that's been where my focus has been and where i've spent a lot of time, obviously.
Dylan Rudney: and And it actually, it happened. I didn't even speak a word of Spanish coming out of high school. I went to school in California where there's obviously a lot of Spanish. And I remember my some of my university friends used to make fun of me in Spanish.
Dylan Rudney: And so I said, I have to learn at least a few basics, right, to defend myself. So I started taking some Spanish classes and really fell in love with it. And then I saw kind of, you know, as I was studying business and finance, saw the opportunities in Latin America, and I decided that was kind of where I wanted to focus my time. And like you said, I kind of moved around a bit. I wasn't scared of that and ended up coming, you know, moving out of Chile eventually by myself to start this business.
Alejandro Cremades: So Latin America out of all places, I mean, that is quite a far away too, you know, from from the U.S.
Alejandro Cremades: and especially Chile and Mexico where you were. What do you think really captured your attention about Latin America? What was so exciting about about the region for you?
Dylan Rudney: Yeah, I mean, it started, I think it kind of chose me as well. I mean, I was, my my first job was in Mexico City at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where I was later recruited at ah at a private equity, which was more of an angel investors that were investing in in South America, and and they had an office in Chile. And so I think it started because I was sent there and I had the chance to see, you know, see Chile, see what it was.
Dylan Rudney: it's It's a market I knew almost nothing about. And when you know for those of you who who know Chile, you land here and it's not at all what you'd expect. you know it's ah It's a beautiful, very well-developed country. Services work, the economy works. It's a level playing field.
Dylan Rudney: it's for me it's always been a land of opportunity for for a foreigner very serious market and so we started in in chile and from from here we've grown a lot of our growth has been based on opportunities in other markets and i think kind of the the consistency we've had has been the chilean market it's been an incredible market an incredible learning experience for us as a company and personally it's a place i also love i love living it's very comfortable so um Yeah, I can't say enough good things about about Chile and the experience I've had here both personally and professionally.
Alejandro Cremades: What do you think about to the the private equity experience? Because you went from being on one side of the table to the other, right? Now as an operator with a company. So what do you think that those PE years really taught you?
Dylan Rudney: It was very interesting. The group I was with previously came with, with they had made a bit of money in tech um in the early 2000s. And so they came with with with a background of finance, very successful group of individuals with no experience in energy or infrastructure.
Dylan Rudney: And I think I would say we learned the hard way that projects or executing on the ground is very different than having, you know, being able to run a financial model, right? It's, you know, we all came kind of from from finance, investment, banking or different kind of backgrounds where it's easy to show a beautiful financial model and projections of an incredible business.
Dylan Rudney: And when you get into it, and and what I eventually learned is the importance of a good project and a good execution of that project is really more valuable than the money itself. I find there's always money. And and so in that experience, we learned that, you know, it's really about, it's it's an asset driven business and good assets are driven by good good offtake, long-term contracts. And that's what I've focused on and and in this life here this company.
Alejandro Cremades: So tell us about the the the way that you're seeing the industry too and the company, I guess, before this what would What would you say was the immediate step for you to want to take action and wanting to get started with Verano Energy?
Alejandro Cremades: Because that's quite the leap. It was really your first baby, you know, really taking ownership of your over your own future and quite the jump from having a stable, you know, income and a job, you know, especially during the private equity years.
Dylan Rudney: I believe we’re unbeatable. And if you add that with competitive smart capital, which is what we’re working on closing now, I think that we can be a household name as the most competitive, clean, solar-battery-focused energy company in the world to drive the innovation of data centers and AI.
Alejandro Cremades: So let’s say I bring you back in time too, and now you’re able to have a chat with that younger Dylan coming out of the private equity firm before launching a business. What would you tell that younger Dylan and why? Give me what you know now.
Dylan Rudney: Oh man, we’ve learned so many lessons along the way. I think number one is, don’t be fooled by how attractive a business plan looks on paper.
Dylan Rudney: I think you often believe that you’re within 10% or 15% of your projections. I find that your costs tend to be much higher than you expected and your revenues tend to be much lower than you expected.
Dylan Rudney: So our planning at the beginning was consistently off, and that’s why we had to go back and raise money. We weren’t able to sell as fast as we wanted.
Dylan Rudney: So everything was distorted, generally speaking, right? I mean, against your best wishes. So I wish I had had better planning and project projections.
Dylan Rudney: And the other thing I tell entrepreneurs when they ask me is: be very careful with fixed costs, especially if you don’t have a big backer at the beginning like we never had. I wish I had been more careful about hiring, spending, and anything month to month that you have to pay for.
Dylan Rudney: The impact on how successful you have to be—and how it might push you to make bad decisions—is driven by how much spending you have to make. I wish I was more cautious in that way.
Alejandro Cremades: I love that. Well, Dylan, for the people who are listening and would love to say hi and reach out, what is the best way for them to do so?
Dylan Rudney: Yeah, they can email me on the website. They can shoot me an email directly. I’m happy to respond to anyone, especially if I can help anyone who’s in the same entrepreneur world and knows how challenging it is. They can just email me. Yeah, dylan at verano dot energy.
Alejandro Cremades: Easy enough. Well, Dylan, thank you so much for being on the DealMaker Show today. It has been an absolute honor to have you with us.
Dylan Rudney: Likewise. Thanks a lot, Alejandro. Appreciate it.
