Aussie Solar Startup Power Ledger ICO Presale Nets $17 Million AUD
Power Ledger, a blockchain-based peer-to-peer renewable energy marketplace, has netted more than $17 million AUD through two POWR token presales. Once it opens to the public, the Power Ledger ICO is expected to raise more than $30 million.
The Power Ledger ICO is Australia’s first initial coin offering, and the Perth-based company has attracted notable investors, including Blockchain Capital and venture capitalist Bill Tai.
The Power Ledger P2P marketplace, which has already been rolled out to some parts of Australia, allows property owners and organizations to buy and sell solar power over a blockchain-secured network. POWRs, which are ERC20 tokens and thus tradeable on the Ethereum blockchain, can be converted to SPARKZ, the marketplace’s native currency. Users can then trade SPARKZ for units of electricity on the company’s private blockchain.
According to a media release, Power Ledger held both a discounted private presale and a public presale. Both of these distribution events had contribution caps, and they raised a total of $17 million AUD, which includes $8.8 million in direct USD investment. On September 8, Power Ledger will begin an uncapped sale, after which they expect to have raised $30 million.
https://twitter.com/PowerLedger_io/status/903177331698798592
“Demand has significantly exceeded our expectations,” remarked co-founder and Managing Director Dave Martin. “As the first Australian ICO, we’ve been breaking new ground, and have been unable to rely on precedent to help us set targets. We initially hoped to raise a conservative AUD$5-$10 million, but the strength of the market response has been phenomenal.”
The company plans to use the funds to open its marketplace to new platforms, including India and other emerging markets.
“We want to spread the tokens far and wide, allowing as many potential future users access to them from inception and creating a diverse and powerful network,” Martin added. “We believe that literally giving power back to the people will catalyze the movement towards peer-to-peer renewable energy trading, which lies at the core of Power Ledger.”
