- Jack Dorsey’s Block co-leads a $2M investment in an Africa-Based renewable Bitcoin miner, Gridless.
- Gridless uses bitcoin to broaden the geographical distribution of the bitcoin network and speed up industry growth.
Gridless announced it has secured a $2 million seed investment round, led by Stillmark, a Bitcoin-focused venture capital firm and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc. Gridless said that the “investment will support the company’s further expansion of bitcoin mines across African markets.”
Gridless was created in 2022 in East Africa. According to the business, it uses bitcoin to broaden the geographical distribution of the bitcoin network and speed up industry growth. In addition, the company constructs, plans, and runs Bitcoin mining facilities alongside small-scale renewable energy providers in rural Africa.
“This work can support positive community externalities while also helping to secure the distributed infrastructure behind bitcoin’s monetary ecosystem,” said Thomas Templeton, Block’s lead for Bitcoin mining on the Gridless investment.
The $2 million seed investment was in addition to an angel round led by Factor. Gridless noted that in 2020, more than 50% of people across Africa were without electricity and that “immense demand for reliable, clean, and affordable energy, yet mini-grid energy generators struggle for sustainability.”
Dorsey has called Bitcoin “the open standard for global money transmission” and said that the apex cryptocurrency will allow Block’s “entire business to move faster globally.”