How to Get Investors in Sell Lemons — Passive Income & Alien Investor Guide

How to Get Investors in Sell Lemons

Investors are the core progression currency in Sell Lemons. Every time you rebirth, your lemonade empire resets and you receive investors based on how much cash you earned. These investors are then spent on permanent powers and upgrades that make your next run faster. If you want to reach Void Evolution, Remote Buy, or unlock new fruit tiers, you need to understand exactly how investors work.

One of the most common questions players ask is: do we get investors passively in Sell Lemons? The short answer is no — investors are only awarded when you perform a rebirth. However, once spent on certain powers and upgrades, those investments generate passive bonuses that carry across every future run.

For more, see our rebirth guide, evolution requirements, and remote buy guide.

What Are Investors and How Do They Work?

Investors function as a permanent currency that persists across rebirths. Here is how the loop works:

1. Build your empire — Purchase lemon stands, upgrade tiers, and generate as much cash as possible.
2. Rebirth — When you rebirth, your cash and active upgrades are wiped. In exchange, you receive investors proportional to your total earnings.
3. Spend investors — Use investors to buy permanent Powers from the Staircase behind your stand. These powers include cash multipliers, speed boosts, and automation features.
4. Repeat faster — Each rebirth cycle gets shorter because your accumulated powers make earning cash easier.

Do You Get Investors Passively?

This is one of the most searched questions in the Sell Lemons community. The answer has nuance:

• Base investors: Only awarded on rebirth. There is no passive drip of investors while you are actively playing a run.
• Investor-spending powers: Some powers you purchase with investors generate passive income bonuses. For example, the UFO Key reward grants a permanent +2% cash bonus on every investor you own. This means your investors effectively work for you passively, but you still only receive new investors by rebirthing.
• Alien Investor: Once you unlock the alien room using the UFO Key, you gain access to a special alien investor that provides a unique multiplier. See our UFO Key guide for the full walkthrough.

How Many Investors Do You Need?

The community frequently asks about specific investor thresholds for major unlocks. Here is a comprehensive breakdown:

Important: Total vs. Current Investors

The investor requirement for evolution counts your total lifetime investors, including:

• Investors you currently hold
• Investors you have already spent on Powers
• Investors you would gain from your next rebirth

This means you do not need to hoard 501.2 Quadrillion unspent investors. You simply need to have earned that many across all your rebirths combined.

How Many Investors for Remote Buy?

Remote Buy can be unlocked two ways:

• Robux purchase: Pay with real money (approximately 399 Robux). This is permanent and does not reset on rebirth.
• Investor purchase: Spend 1 Trigintillion investors. Note that if you rebirth after purchasing with investors, Remote Buy resets and you must buy it again.

For a detailed comparison, see our Remote Buy guide.

How Many Investors for Lime?

The Lime fruit is the second evolution (Evolution 2). Based on the logarithmic cost scaling formula 10^(17.7 + 13.6(n-1)), the estimated total investor requirement is approximately 10^31.3. This is significantly higher than the 501.2 Quadrillion needed for Orange, so plan your rebirth cycles accordingly.

How to Get the Alien Investor

The Alien Investor is a special reward tied to the hidden UFO Key questline. Here is how to unlock it:

1. Obtain the Sewer Key — Solve the 7-step lever puzzle in the sewer maze. See our Sewer Key guide.
2. Get the UFO Key — Complete the more complex 9-step lever sequence. See our UFO Key guide.
3. Open the Alien Door — Use the UFO Key on the locked door deep in the sewers.
4. Talk to the Alien — Inside the room, you will find an alien NPC who grants you a permanent +2% cash bonus on every investor you own.

This bonus stacks with all other multipliers and persists through rebirths and evolutions, making it one of the most valuable upgrades in the game.

Best Strategy for Maximizing Investors

To reach the massive investor thresholds required for evolution, follow these proven strategies:

1. Optimize Your Rebirth Timing

Do not rebirth too early. Wait until your cash generation has slowed significantly before resetting. The more cash you earn in a run, the more investors you receive.

2. Prioritize Multiplier Powers

On the Staircase, focus on powers that multiply your cash generation first. Speed and automation powers are helpful but should come after you have solid income multipliers.

3. Complete All Sewer Secrets

The Sewer Key and UFO Key quests provide permanent bonuses that compound with every investor. Complete these as early as possible.

4. Use Codes for Free Boosts

Check our active codes list regularly for free cash and boost rewards that accelerate your progress.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I lose my investors? No. Once earned, investors are permanent. However, investors spent on Powers are consumed, and the total spent count still contributes toward evolution requirements.

Do investors reset on evolution? Yes. When you perform a Void Evolution, all your investors (both held and spent) are reset to zero. However, your Global Speed multiplier from previous evolutions remains, making earning investors back much faster.

What is the fastest way to get investors? Maximize your cash multiplier powers, complete all sewer secrets for passive bonuses, and rebirth only when your income has plateaued. Using Remote Buy also speeds up post-rebirth rebuilding significantly.