A $2 million initial funding round headed by Stillmark and Jack Dorsey's Block, Inc. has been secured by Gridless, a bitcoin mining business dedicated to supplying electricity to remote populations in Kenya.
In locations where extra energy is wasted, Gridless, a company founded in 2022, runs bitcoin mining facilities alongside small-scale renewable energy providers. Gridless pays for the development and administration of data centers in remote areas devoid of typical industrial or commercial clients by acting as the anchor tenant.
In its first year of business, Gridless has agreements with HydroBox, an African hydroelectric energy firm, for five experimental projects in rural Kenya. Three of these programs are now in operation, and there are plans to soon expand them to other regions of East Africa.
Over 50% of Africans lacked access to electricity in 2020. Although there is a huge need for dependable, economical, and clean energy, mini-grid energy generators struggle to be sustainable.
The business thinks bitcoin mining may be a key factor in boosting electricity for nearby towns and acting as a buyer of last resort for more sustainable energy generation in the area.
According to Erik Hersman, CEO of Gridless, "Africa needs inexpensive power." "Our work meets a need by assisting renewable energy mini-grid providers, enabling them to serve thousands of homes and grow more quickly and sustainably." We can speed up our rollout because of this investment and the top-notch partners that are joining forces with us because we have the resources.
According to Gridless, community use will be given priority when allocating the power produced at its bitcoin mining facilities. This includes supplying power to enterprises that promote community improvements, such as battery charge stations for electric motorbikes, public WiFi hotspots, and containerized cold storage for nearby farms. The company's computational mining data centers will be powered by the residual electrical capacity after these requirements have been satisfied.
With this most recent round of investment, Gridless will be able to keep growing its bitcoin mining activities in Africa.
Play audio
No comments