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LINCOLN — A Lincoln startup founded by two longtime financial technology engineers is developing automated trading tools it hopes will eventually encourage more investment in renewable energy.
Doomsun, founded in 2024 by CEO Joe Smith and Chief Technology Officer Daemian Mack, is building software designed to analyze financial markets, test investment strategies and monitor how those strategies perform.
The company’s long-term goal is to use those tools in the energy sector, where its founders believe more effective investment strategies could help direct additional money toward solar, wind, battery storage and other renewableenergy companies.
“There are people out there that feel like me and want to see that transition succeed and want to see it happen faster, and there are people that are going to continue to bet against it,” Smith said. “I want my side to have the sharper tools and be able to make money in those markets.”
Smith and Mack have worked together for about 11 years at several financial technology companies, including Nubank, a Brazil-based digital bank.
Smith is based in Lincoln, while Mack lives in North Carolina.
The pair previously discussed launching a company focused on algorithmic trading, which uses computer programs to analyze market data and make or guide investment decisions.
Smith said their experience is rooted in distributed systems development, which involves building computer systems that communicate over networks while managing issues such as security, speed and reliability.
“We specialize in distributed systems development,” Smith said. “When you have a whole bunch of separate computer systems that need to communicate and have very complex interactions, there are a whole host of things you need to consider.”
The founders view financial markets as another complex system, influenced by stock prices, interest rates, investor sentiment, company earnings and other variables. Their goal is to use software and artificial intelligence to identify patterns, develop investment strategies and automate parts of the process.
Doomsun currently has two products in development.
Nova is designed as an automated trading platform that can analyze markets, test strategies and monitor investments after a strategy is put into use. The company uses artificial intelligence on the back end to help the system learn from results and adjust over time.
Daylight is a market-analysis tool intended to help users evaluate investment conditions and opportunities. Smith said the company is working with advisers who have financialindustry experience to test whether the tools meet practical needs.
“We’re working closely with them, validating that these are the tools that they would want,” Smith said.
The company is testing its systems through a fund supported by Smith and Mack’s personal money. Investor funding is being used for product development rather than the test fund, according to the company.
“If their tools work, the fund will be flush with money,” the release stated. “If not, Smith and Mack’s account will be bathed in its own shade of doom sun red.”
The name Doomsun refers to the deep red appearance of the sun during periods of heavy smoke or air pollution, such as those caused by wildfires.
Smith said the name reflects the company’s environmental focus and its hope to play a role in the transition away from fossil fuels.
For now, Doomsun’s products are intended to be useful beyond the energy market. Smith said the company needs to generate revenue and prove its technology in a range of financial settings before it can fully pursue its renewable- energy investment goals.
“We have investors that want to see us make good on that long-term goal of impactful investing in the energy transition space,” Smith said. “But to get there, we need to generate revenue. We need these trading tools to do it anyway. So we’re going to build the sharp tools.”
Doomsun is funded through personal investment from the founders, nearly $300,000 in angel funding and a $20,000 LaunchLNK grant awarded in 2026.
The founders said energy markets offer a useful testing ground because of their volatility and the number of factors influencing prices and investment decisions.
“It sounds to the uninitiated that you are competing directly with people who, when they win, you lose, and when you win, they lose,” Mack said. “But there are so many variables at play that there is just this gigantic space.”
Once its software is further developed, Doomsun hopes to work with investment funds and companies interested in renewable-energy investing.
That could include licensing the company’s technology or managing investments through a future Doomsun fund.
“It’s mostly the fund in the future that gives us an opportunity to do impact investing,” Mack said.
Smith said the company’s environmental mission includes both supporting renewableenergy development and reducing financial support for fossil-fuel projects.
“This transition is going to happen, regardless,” Smith said. “Whether it happens fast enough to really deal with the worst of climate change is increasingly fraught, but we’re going to try.”
— Silicon Prairie News
