Oct 24, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

LO3 Energy’s Innovation Secures Investments from Braemar Energy Ventures and Centrica Innovations

LO3 Energy (“LO3”), an innovative start-up based in New York specializing in blockchain-based solutions for energy transactions, today announced it has secured investments from Braemar Energy Ventures (“Braemar”), a leading venture capital investor in energy technology companies, as well as Centrica Innovations, the innovations and venture unit of Centrica plc., an international energy and services company. Centrica Innovations identifies new opportunities and technologies to create future value for Centrica’s 27 million home and business customers worldwide. Specific terms were not disclosed.

Building on the momentum of creating the world’s first blockchain-based microgrid and peer to peer energy transactions in Brooklyn, NY, LO3 is now commercializing a new blockchain-based platform to enable peer-to-peer energy marketplaces and accelerate the transition to a distributed energy future. The unique use of blockchain technology enables LO3’s platform to store and validate data that allows consumers to generate, store, buy and sell energy through trackable and tamper-proof transactions that need no external monitoring.

Centrica’s commitment is part of an ongoing collaboration that includes two new projects - one with its subsidiary Direct Energy in the US, and another being explored in the UK. These projects will be used to further develop intellectual property (IP) in the blockchain energy space, expanding on the software and hardware technologies that LO3 has already developed and deployed in the US and Australia.

“The blockchain is the key to unlocking the real potential of distributed generation,” said LO3 Founder and CEO Lawrence Orsini. “Our Brooklyn microgrid has proven that our blockchain-based hardware and software technology is ready to be taken to the next level, allowing consumers to become ‘prosumers’, with the ability to determine how they generate, consume, store and sell their energy to the grid.”

“This opportunity represents the convergence of two macro trends that underpin Braemar’s investment thesis – the transition of global energy markets to more decentralized, distributed systems and the development of platforms that will provide new forms of consumer participation,” said Dr. Jiong Ma, Partner at Braemar Energy Ventures.

“In fact, the transactive nature of LO3’s solution and Centrica’s local energy network fits squarely into our vision of the future,” Ma said. “We believe LO3 has the world’s leading blockchain architecture for power markets that will eventually extend beyond these projects and expand through LO3’s imminent token issuance event.”

Added LO3 Founder and CEO Lawrence Orsini, “This investment not only allows us to scale our platform to demonstrate the power of the blockchain to customers worldwide, but also shows that a strategic player has a similar vision of the future of energy. LO3 has the only real blockchain-based hardware and software technology platform with real IP in the space and we are delighted that Braemar’s consortium of strategic investors has recognized the potential of this opportunity.”

“This is an important investment for Centrica Innovations. It demonstrates our commitment to emerging technologies with the potential to disrupt existing energy markets,” said Christophe Defert, Ventures Director at Centrica Innovations. “We look forward to working with LO3 on blockchain-based projects more broadly across Centrica, and the opportunity to provide our customers with more flexibility and control over how they buy and use their energy.”

About Braemar Energy Ventures
Braemar Energy Ventures is a venture capital fund making early- to mid-stage investments in the energy technology sector. The firm's principals have invested in more than 60 companies in the sector and have more than 100 years of combined technical, operational and financial experience in energy and energy-related industries. Braemar partners with exceptional companies and management teams, in both alternative and traditional energy markets, that can contribute to a more profitable and efficient energy landscape through innovation and marketplace expertise. Additional information is available at BraemarEnergy.com or on Twitter at Twitter.com/BraemarEnergy or @BraemarEnergy.

About Centrica Innovations (CI)
Centrica Innovations is the innovations and venture unit of Centrica plc. CI identifies and invests in technology startups that want to transform the energy and the home services economies, putting consumers and businesses at the center and helping to meet their changing needs. The CI Ventures team is based globally in Tel Aviv, San Francisco, New York, and London. More information is available at: www.centrica.com/innovation.

About LO3 Energy
LO3 Energy, a Brooklyn, NY based company, is building a platform to enable decentralized business models and innovative technologies related to energy, cleantech and utility systems. The LO3 team has deep expertise in design, architecture, development, prototyping and testing of cutting edge distributed energy, computing and peer-to-peer distributed consensus networks. The company builds tools and develops projects to support and accelerate proliferation of the distributed energy, utilities and computation sharing economy of the future. More information at: www.lo3energy.com.