Mystery startup wants to raise $5M to ‘invest’ in Starbase land

April 14, 2026 update:

The lead executive behind the Invest in Starbase effort, William Brown, is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur who leads The Willat Group, a private real estate investment firm “focused on creating enduring value,” according to its website. 

Brown confirmed that The Willat Group is a collection of “10+ years commercial real estate investors, keeping a low profile until we have put all of our target properties for this phase of acquisitions under contract,” according to an email obtained by the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. 

The minimum investment for the Starbase Fund I is $250,000. But the company does plan to open a crowdfunding effort, which would be open to any investor, “though there will be statutory limitations on how much you can invest.” 

The Starbase Fund I is also a qualified Opportunity Zone Fund, which means investors can defer capital gains taxes for several years and pay no tax on investment appreciation.

About a 20-minute drive down Boca Chica Boulevard from SpaceX’s rocket launching manufacturing facility and the new city of Starbase, there’s a unique advertisement. 

On a recent weeknight, an electronic billboard flashed blue-and-white letters reading “Invest in Starbase.”

It sat above the La Esquinita VP Racing gas station near the intersection of Boca Chica Boulevard and South Indiana Avenue, facing traffic in both directions. 

While Boca Chica Boulevard, also known as State Highway 4, has long been a lonely road to a remote beach, it has seen a significant uptick in traffic in recent years as thousands of contractors, employees, and visitors to SpaceX and its growing operations have traveled along the only road in and out of Starbase. 

In 2024, there were more than 6,700 vehicles on State Highway 4 — a tenfold increase compared to 2019, according to Texas Department of Transportation data. Crews are actively expanding the two-lane road into a divided four-lane highway. 

The city of Starbase has also grown and is expected to hit nearly 8,000 acres this year through annexation. 

But the founders of a Brownsville startup behind that billboard, promising to “Own The Gateway to Mars,” have a very small public profile. 

The company’s website only offers a form requesting contact information to become an investor, invest as a joint venture, sell existing property as a landowner, or join the startup. 

There was no available prospectus for the deal, nor any U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings showing that the startup has raised money from investors yet — a requirement once funds are collected. 

The Starbase Land Fund I LLC, which is soliciting $5 million from accredited investors for a 5-year term, was incorporated by William Brown in January 2026. An affiliated company, Starbase Capital LLC, was incorporated that same month by Brown, records show. 

An accredited investor is an individual with a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding their primary residence. Or someone who earns more than $200,000 a year or $300,000 with their spouse for at least two years. 

The company’s mailing address leads to a local UPS Store mailbox, and its registered office address, including suite number, is identical to that of Coldwell Banker La Mansion, a commercial real estate company. 

But there is no real estate broker named William Brown in that Brownsville Coldwell Banker office, staff told the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. There is a William Brown who works for Coldwell Banker in the Dallas area. He did not immediately return a phone call. 

There is a William Brown who leads the National Space Society South Texas Chapter, has a track record as a startup entrepreneur, and works in economic development in the Rio Grande Valley — but he told the Business Journal that he’s not involved in the project. 

California SpaceX employee William Brown, who holds a degree from Texas A&M University and has roots in South Texas, said he’s not involved with either Starbase startup. 

Cameron County land records don’t yield much information either, as there’s no land purchased by those startups. Much of the land around Starbase is a wildlife refuge, owned by the state of Texas or the federal government. 

SpaceX is a major landowner, as are Starbase properties, through various subsidiaries. The $15 million Rio West mixed-use development, which has a private restaurant overlooking the Rio Grande River in Starbase, is owned by SpaceX, records show. 

But there’s still a smattering of private land ownership, from fishing camps to Space enthusiast campground Rocket Ranch, single-family homes, and mostly raw land, records show. 

In 2023, California investor-based Hall Equities Group boasted that it had acquired a 38,000 square foot lot surrounded by the SpaceX manufacturing facility dubbed Lacey Town Center and announced plans for a “hotel and high-density housing for Starbase employees and visitors.” 

But there are no records indicating there is a hotel on that lot, either. The appraised value of that land, though, has increased significantly. In 2019, the raw land was appraised at about $5,000. But after Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, announced his plans for Starbase, the appraised value of that same plot shot up to $89,600. For 2026, the appraised value is $113,600, records show. 

Even a vacant lot along the Rio Grande River shows a big hike in property values, too. There’s a 16,181-square-foot lot along the river estimated to be worth $1,840 in 2019. This year, the land is estimated to be worth $84,955, according to records.