Former Borderite now a bold entrepreneur

A 33-year-old entrepreneur who grew up in Blaine is now busy tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues.

Daniel Epstein is the founder and CEO of the Unreasonable Group, an investment, global networking and media firm that supports start-up firms addressing major global challenges like poverty, sustainable agriculture, clean drinking water and access to healthcare.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, Epstein founded Unreasonable about 10 years ago. The venture has grown to support over 180 entrepreneurs, who have collectively raised over $3.5 billion in financing, generated over $2.5 billion in revenue and impacted the lives of more than 400 million people across 180 countries.

With a team of 25 employees, Unreasonable is a multifaceted endeavor. It is partly a media company that aims to spread awareness about innovative ideas shaping the planet, and it is partly a community of big-thinking entrepreneurs who are there to support each other when the going gets tough.

One division of the group, Unreasonable Capital, is an investment fund that helps “growth-stage” companies expand rapidly, allowing them to solve social and environmental problems on a much larger scale. “We think that impatience is a virtue,” said Epstein.

On average, the companies that Unreasonable works with have about 40 employees and have been operating for six or seven years. Rather than working with companies that are just getting started, Unreasonable searches for companies that are already making progress on key goals, and aims to help them grow exponentially. “We’ll scour the globe to find the companies that are already doing it, and we will scale what’s working, what’s effective,” said Epstein.

One example of a company that Unreasonable has assisted is AeroFarms which aims to transform the future of agriculture by focusing on indoor, “vertical” farming. Crops are grown indoors without the need for sunlight, soil or pesticides. The process uses 95 percent less water than field-farmed food and yields up to 390 times more per square foot. According to Epstein, the company is also focused on ensuring that the next generation of farming is inclusive. Farms are set up in urban environments that have been traditionally underestimated by employers, he said.

Another example is Zero Mass Water, whose mission “is to make drinking water an unlimited resource.” Zero Mass Water has developed “atmospheric water generation” technology that allows drinking water to essentially be pulled out of the air. Using solar panel-like devices, the process doesn’t require any electricity, and works in the desert where water is scarce. According to Epstein, the company is now selling into about 18 countries, and is helping to transform the future of water production and distribution. “Eventually we won’t have pipes,” he said.

1mg, meanwhile, is India’s leading consumer health platform. The app aims “to make healthcare accessible, understandable and affordable for one billion Indians” by enabling Indian consumers to learn more about their medicines and find cost-effective substitutes. The company also helps people find healthcare professionals and take advantage of telemedicine, the use of technology to receive clinical healthcare from a distance. “If you live in a rural area and have an injury or sickness, you can immediately get connected to a doctor in the city,” said Epstein.

Epstein, who grew up in Blaine and lived here until the eighth grade, has had a passion for entrepreneurship for as long as he can remember. By the time he received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from University of Colorado Boulder, he’d already started three companies. One sought to make higher education more affordable, while another focused on ecotourism, a form of tourism that aims to have a low impact on natural areas.

Epstein’s third company was what eventually became Unreasonable. It was an organization that existed to support entrepreneurs solving pressing challenges. To this day, Unreasonable does everything in its ability to help ensure that the world’s top entrepreneurs are successful. “We’re there to support them, whatever that means,” said Epstein. This includes helping entrepreneurs connect with investors, business partners – or even a psychologist, if one needs help balancing work life and family life. “We’re there to support these entrepreneurs because without support, oftentimes they fail,” he said.

Epstein remembers his childhood in Blaine fondly, including his former classmates and the “phenomenal” teachers who helped him succeed. “I thought it was one of the best places to grow up,” he said. “I always loved the sense of community.”

He said the same sense of community exists in Boulder, where “the whole community rallies around each other” and the atmosphere is not overly competitive. “The top investors here will sit down with a 15-year-old who has a great idea,” he said. “Everyone wants to be generous with their time to support each other.” He said Blaine and Boulder are also similar in that they share a close proximity to nature.

For someone who grew up in a small town, Epstein has some big ideas. “We want to bend history in the right direction,” he said. “Entrepreneurs don’t have permission, oftentimes we don’t even have experience in the market. You just need passion about the problems that you’re solving. I have a lot of that.”