East African Bitcoin Miner’s $2M Seed Round Co-Led By Jack Dorsey’s Block
The most recent injection of capital will be used to help the company grow in East African markets.
Gridless, a Bitcoin mining company based in Kenya, has announced that it has raised $2 million in seed funding, led by venture capital firm Stillmark and digital payments company Block, Inc.
Gridless uses small-scale renewable energy grids in rural Africa, according to a press release from the company. The company has worked with HydroBox, an African hydroelectric company, on five different project contracts in rural Kenya. At the moment, three of these pilots are working.
It has also paid for the building and running of data centers in rural areas where there aren’t any traditional industrial or commercial customers.
Gridless CEO Erik Hersman said this about what happened:
“Our work in supporting renewable energy mini-grid developers fills a gap, helping developers expand faster, be more sustainable, and serve thousands of households. This investment, and the high caliber of partners that are coming alongside us, means that we can accelerate our rollout knowing that we have both the capital and strategic support required.”
Thomas Templeton, who is in charge of bitcoin mining and wallets at Block, said that Gridless fits well with the company’s plan to make sure that the network uses more and more clean energy “in combination with bitcoin computational centers around the world.”
Even though fossil fuels are still used to power mining rigs in some parts of the world, more and more people are looking for greener ways to get the job done. Over time, the talk about Bitcoin mining has moved toward “green” or “clean” infrastructure.
In fact, a report from the Bitcoin Mining Council found that as of the first quarter of 2022, the Bitcoin mining industry as a whole used 52.2% more renewable energy, making it one of the most environmentally friendly industries in the world.
In the space, the use of green energy has gone up by 59% in the past year.
