Tony Capucille and Kent Cissell, Founders of EightTwenty Solar, Selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs
Endeavor announced today that Tony Capucille (CEO) and Kent Cissell (President), founders of EightTwenty Solar, have been selected as Endeavor Entrepreneurs.
Capucille and Cissell originally pitched their business at an Endeavor International Selection Panel in late 2023, to a panel of global business leaders that included Javier Villamizar (Operating Partner, Softbank), Jasper Grafvon Hardenberg (CEO, Daystar Power Group), Sandi Lewis (Co-founder, Zayo Group), Jim Estill (CEO, Danby Appliances), and Jamie Arrieta (CEO, Buk). After achieving key milestones outlined by that panel, the EightTwenty co-founders officially joined Endeavor’s prestigious global network this month.
With increasing energy prices, extreme weather, and growing power demand, the US solar energy industry is experiencing rapid growth, expanding from 4% solar usage to 45% solar in the next 25 years (according to the US Department of Energy). Named after the fact that sunlight takes eight minutes and twenty seconds to reach the Earth, EightTwenty Solar is a vertically-integrated solar provider designed to serve commercial SMBs, nonprofits, and residential communities across US states traditionally underserved by solar.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, EightTwenty Solar is a tech-enabled solar engineering, procurement, and construction firm (EPC) that sells, designs, and installs solar projects from end-to-end. The company leverages a proprietary technology platform to reduce the complexities of the solar installation process. Cissell and Capucille also created a standalone financing arm, Brightwell Capital, as a marketplace to connect impact investors and nonprofits wanting to go solar. This financing company unlocks solar funding for nonprofit organizations – a vast new segment for solar installers – and drives additional solar projects directly to EightTwenty.
Endeavor’s International Selection Panel is the culmination of a rigorous multi-step selection process to identify high-impact entrepreneurs who demonstrate the potential to leverage Endeavor’s resources and mentorship to create large-scale wealth and jobs, and are committed to reinvesting their time and money in their local entrepreneurship ecosystems to help others take off.
Endeavor hosts its high-caliber International Selection Panels both in-person around the world and virtually leveraging Zoom. In the online format, panelists utilize Zoom breakout rooms to interview a small group of high-caliber entrepreneur candidates about their businesses. In “deliberation rooms” — private Zoom meetings with only Endeavor staff and panelists — panelists evaluate the entrepreneurs on their potential for high-impact growth, discuss which candidates should be selected to become global Endeavor Entrepreneurs, then vote to select the newest Endeavor Entrepreneurs, including Tony Capucille and Kent Cissell. Entrepreneurs must receive unanimous approval from panelists in order to pass.
As part of Endeavor’s unparalleled global network, the EightTwenty Solar co-founders will gain access to comprehensive global support services, including introductions to local and international business mentors, investors, and mentors from Fortune 500 consulting firms who will help them address key challenges. Endeavor Entrepreneurs have had a significant track record of impact: they have created 4.1M jobs, generated over $50 billion in revenues in 2023, and are helping build sustainable economic growth in their home countries and communities.
Kent Cissell and Tony Capucille join the global Endeavor network through the regional Endeavor Midwest affiliate office based in Louisville, Kentucky. They are the 22nd and 23rd entrepreneurs selected into Endeavor from the region, joining other high-growth founders like Kaveh Zamanian (Rabbit Hole Distillery), Julia Regan (RxLightning), Stacy Griggs (El Toro Marketing), Travis Holoway and Rodney Williams (SoLo Funds), and more. You can see the entire Endeavor Midwest portfolio and board members here.
" Tony and Kent are building a high-growth, high-impact company in Middle America. They have incredible impact on the people they employ, their customers, and the planet. We are beyond thrilled to welcome them into the Endeavor network!"
Jake Budler, Director of Entrepreneur Experience at Endeavor
About Endeavor
Endeavor is the leading global community of, by, and for High-Impact Entrepreneurs — those who dream bigger, scale faster, and pay it forward. Driven by our belief that High-Impact Entrepreneurs transform economies, Endeavor is on a mission to build thriving entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging and underserved markets around the world. Endeavor creates a Multiplier Effect by inspiring high-growth founders to dream bigger, supporting and investing in them to scale faster, and providing a platform to pay it forward — thereby compounding their individual impact. Endeavor Entrepreneurs have created 4.1M jobs, generated over $50 billion in revenues in 2023, and help build sustainable economic growth in their home countries and communities
For entrepreneurs and business leaders interested in learning more about Endeavor, please visit the Endeavor and Endeavor Midwest websites. For more information, please reach out to [email protected].