Several years ago, Bryce Smith saw that companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Apple were starting to buy up renewable projects in a major way and he smelled an opportunity. Smith went on to found LevelTen, a Seattle-based startup that allows companies large and small to buy clean energy online. The company just raised $20.5 million to fuel growth of its platform and expand its presence in North America and Europe.
What a clean energy project needs to get built is a guaranteed long-term revenue stream. You can’t build a wind or solar project unless you have that commitment from someone to buy the power.