Capturing the hearts of fans, the announcement unfolded during one of Travis’s exhilarating concerts. Amidst the electric atmosphere, Kourtney emerged from the crowd, clutching a sign that bore a simple yet profound message: “Travis, I’m pregnant.” As the crowd erupted in applause, Travis Barker descended into the sea of adoring fans to celebrate with Kourtney, showering her with kisses.

While their path to parenthood has been open and honest, the couple has been candid about their experience with IVF. In an interview last September, Kourtney revealed the decision to momentarily halt the process. “We started an IVF journey, but I stopped. It was a lot,” she shared. “I took a break to focus on our wedding and getting married.”

In a subsequent episode of The Kardashians’ third season, Kourtney expressed their resolution to conclude their IVF endeavors. She stated, “We are officially done with IVF. We would love a baby more than anything, but I just really believe in what God has in store for us. If that’s a baby, I believe that it will happen.”

Kourtney also disclosed that despite freezing seven of her eggs, the survival rate was disheartening. “Most [eggs] didn’t survive, [and none of them] made it to an embryo,” she revealed. Clarifying the misconception surrounding egg freezing as a fail-safe measure, she emphasized, “The freezing of the eggs isn’t guaranteed. I think that’s a misunderstanding. People do it thinking that it’s like a safety net, and it’s not.”

However, fate smiled upon them as they conceived naturally—a testament to their unwavering optimism. “Whatever is meant to be,” Kourtney shared on the show. “Being happy is most important, and being a good parent to my kids.”

Kourtney, who shares three children—Mason, 13; Penelope, 10; and Reign, 8—with her ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, is ready to embark on a new chapter of motherhood alongside Travis Barker, who has three children—Landon, 19; Alabama, 17; and stepdaughter Atiana, 24—with his ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

For the majority of young startups in the green tech industry, the last decade was a fight to raise enough funds for takeoff. Few were the lucky ones like Tesla, who received a flood of investment that propelled them into the stratosphere. Fortunately for the underdogs in this race, however, things are looking up.

The Valley of Death

The problem with green startups and securing investments is the so-called valley of death. That’s the gap between creating a potentially breakthrough product or technology and its large-scale commercial production. That ‘valley’ has wiped out many startups before they could even try to reach their potential. One of the reasons for this is the 2011 failure of California’s Solyndra. The solar farm, which had government financing, as well as the 2012 bankruptcy of 123 Systems Inc. (a battery manufacturer) — both contributed to the decreased investments in the sector.

What is more, the percentage of success and ROI in clean energy was definitely off for a while. A 2017 study found that out of 36 battery startups that received funding, only two were able to generate more revenue than the amount of the investment.

Startups Going From Labs to Markets

The new wave of cash from investors and government funds will help startups make the leap from laboratory to market. There are several factors that led to the renewed interest in the industry. For starters, clean-energy power companies are now offering more competitive solutions with fossil fuel-generated energy, which drastically decreased the costs of rechargeable batteries. The growing concerns about the impact of global warming have driven companies to find ways to reduce their carbon emissions. This encouraged investors to back clean energy startups offering cost- and environmentally-friendly solutions.

By the end of this year, it is predicted that there will be a total of $7.7 billion worth of green tech deals in the U.S. alone. That number is significantly higher than the $1 billion a decade ago.