for backers

1. What's your legal status?

pre-COVID, CleanApp was incorporated as a Tennessee nonprofit, followed by US federal 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit. DUNS#: 116915788. CleanApp-the-protocol operated and continues to operate as a blockchain native nonprofit organization (cleanapp.eth).

post-COVID, we moved to Switzerland, where we're now spinning off a for-profit commercial venture, CleanApp AG. 

post incorporation, we're considering tokenizing shares in CleanApp AG (tentatively: 'CAPP' — CleanApp Profit Participation) under Swiss law. note: CAPP tokens represent equity in CleanApp AG, which is separate from CATS tokens emitted by CleanApp-the-protocol.

2. What's the relationship between CleanApp & CleanApp AG?

CleanApp refers to our nonprofit protocol, which is a public goods network. the soon-to-be-incorporated CleanApp AG refers to the business venture that will commercialize our knowhow. 

this setup is similar to many leading blockchain protocols which deploy, say, Cool New Protocol, as a public utility, but whose work is supported by an allied commercial arm, Cool New Labs, Ltd., or Inc. or LLC, or whatever. naturally, there's some governance overlap between nonprofit protocol operations and for-profit ventures that support the related protocol. because the same humans may have different roles in these different entities. but they are distinct legal forms.

note: this tiered governance setup is not unique to blockchain projects. consider the governance setup of OpenAI, a for-profit venture with billions in strategic investment from firms like Microsoft, but which is formally governed by a nonprofit foundation.  

3. Are you taking investments?

no. we're not looking for 'investors' in the traditional sense of the word. in blockchain and typical VC circles, investors are usually looking for a quick exit and high multiples. when investors exit or want to boost valuations to prime an exit, this may cause business disruptions and severe misalignment. 

recall Toyota's and Daimler's investments in Tesla. they invested millions in Tesla, and subsequently exited their positions at significant profits. however, had they continued their strategic partnerships, their financial upside would have been orders of magnitude higher. in Daimler's case, instead of exiting at ~$500M, their share would be worth roughly $55B today. more relevant, there would likely be many more Toyota, Daimler and Tesla EVs on the road today.

we wouldn't incorporate a for profit unless we had clear paths to profit. but we're aiming much higher. that's why we're selectively looking for one or two angel backers who are excited by our mission and want to become our proudest evangelists. 

4. What terms are you offering?

a $1M angel check would give us 18 months of runway, sufficient to become sustainably profitable. in exchange, we're offering extremely generous terms to the right angel: 

• 25% equity in CleanApp AG

• 10% of CATS token allocation

• both on a nondilutive basis

• board membership to angel or angel's nominee(s)

5. Do you have prior startup/incorporation experience?

yes. our founder and founding CTO both have firsthand experience as prior founders. we have extensive experience incorporating, managing businesses, and working with relevant service providers.