The Power Ledger ICO concluded on Friday, raising more than $34 million AUD for the solar startup’s peer-to-peer (P2P) energy marketplace.
The Perth-based company was the first Australian startup to hold an initial coin offering (ICO), and the team had initially set a conservative fundraising goal of $5 million to $10 million AUD. However, the company quickly soared past that goal, raising more than $17 million from a presale before the public ICO had even started.
By the conclusion of its public ICO on Friday, Power Ledger had raised more than $34 million AUD, worth about $26 million USD. Half of those contributions came in the form of traditional currency, while the remainder were split between ether, bitcoin, and litecoin.
The startup will use these funds to continue developing its blockchain-based P2P energy marketplace, through which property owners can buy and sell surplus solar power. Citing a recently completed trial, Power Ledger predicts the P2P marketplace will save the average household about $475 a year.
“It’s a really solid war chest to build the business, broaden the applications and really make some solid inroads in peer-to-peer trading,” Power Ledger chief executive Dave Martin told the Australian Financial Review.
Power Ledger is currently running a three-month blockchain trial with Origin Energy, the largest retail energy provider in Australia. The goal of this test is to demonstrate the ability of a blockchain-based trading platform to accurately and securely transmit consumer data across a regulated network.
Perhaps due to the success of this inaugural token distribution event, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) recently issued guidelines for domestic businesses considering holding ICOs. Noting that ICOs “have the potential to make an important contribution to the options available to businesses to raise funds and to investments options available to investors,” ASIC has invited startups to contact the agencies Innovation Hub to determine what regulations would apply to their unique situations.