ICO News: GRID+ ICO Raises USD 38.5 Mil to Deliver Electricity Via the Blockchain

The Grid+ ICO recently ended its token sale, having raised USD 38.5 million across ether, bitcoin and USD. The startup dubs itself a commercial utility in certain deregulated markets across the United States and is behind a smart energy project on the Ethereum blockchain that is designed to deliver electricity savings. The company said in a blog post that the ICO funds have not yet been spent but that they have raised a sufficient amount to proceed with their roadmap. This is good news for the participants in the Grid+ ICO as it suggests the project will be rolled out and potentially gain scale. 

The Grid+ product is a device that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to determine electricity usage patterns of the user. It then uses this technology to purchase the necessary electricity including solar power from the providers offering the top rates, theoretically slashing the user's energy bill, which can be paid the Bolt tokens that were sold during the Grid+ ICO, in the process. The Bolt token is backed by the USD token. Users simply have to maintain a balance in their digital wallet and the cryptocurrencies will be used to prepay for power. 

Grid+ Plans Soft Roll-Out in Texas

It's a good thing that Grid+ raised as much as it did in the Grid+ ICO, as the permitting and licensing process for power utilities is a lengthy and costly process. Grid+ expects to obtain the necessary licensing in Texas in the coming months. They expect to roll out a "basic version" of their service in Q2 2018, seemingly in the state of Texas and say they're building a wait list for customers in other locations who are interested in the project. 

Grid+ still has unsold tokens remaining from the token sale which it has no intentions of ever selling. The startup also earmarked millions of tokens for marketing and customer acquisition that they plan to "lock up" for a period of two years until they can determine how to use them.