Gridless designs, builds, and operates bitcoin mining sites alongside small-scale renewable energy producers in rural Africa, acting as an anchor tenant to finance construction and manage data centers where traditional industrial customers are unavailable. The company prioritizes community electrification—powering households and services such as containerized cold storage, battery charging for electric motorcycles, and public WiFi—then uses remaining capacity for bitcoin mining. By purchasing excess generation that would otherwise be discarded, Gridless says it can lower costs for energy producers and end users (a Kenyan pilot cut power from $0.35/kWh to $0.25/kWh). Founded this year by Erik Hersman, Philip Walton, and Janet Maingi, Gridless has contracted five pilot projects in rural Kenya, three of which are operational, and plans to expand across East Africa. The startup plans to use new capital to accelerate rollout of bitcoin mines across African markets and to partner with mini-grid developers to expand electrification. Its model aims to increase rural access to affordable, clean energy while diversifying and securing the global bitcoin mining footprint.

Total raised

$2M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Dec 2022