tZERO and EnergyFunders partner to digitize & trade $25 mn of securities in its Yield Fund I

By Pavithra R

tZERO, a leader in blockchain innovation and liquidity for digital assets, has announced entering into an agreement with EnergyFunders, an energy projects funding platform, to digitize approximately $25 mn of equity interest in EnergyFunders’ Yield Fund I, the company’s fund to date that will invest in oil and gas assets throughout the U.S.

The alliance represents EnergyFunders’ first digital security project, with plans to conduct more digital securities offerings in the future. The digital security will use tZERO’s smart contract technology and will be built on the Ethereum Blockchain.

“We are thrilled to partner with EnergyFunders to digitize and trade $25 million of equity interest in its Yield Fund I. Opening access to traditionally illiquid investments like this aligns with our mission, and we look forward to collaborating with EnergyFunders on the digitization and trading of future funds,’ said tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi.

Founded in 2013, EnergyFunders is an online investment marketplace disrupting the energy industry by evolving the way capital investment and energy projects come together to generate more profitable commerce. It is the first-of-its-kind platform providing direct access to cash flow returns at the wellhead of oil and gas projects, successfully launching nearly 40 oil and gas investment funds. The Yield Fund I digital security is expected to become tradeable on the tZERO ATS, subject to legal and regulatory due diligence and securities laws considerations, offering investors secondary liquidity.

“EnergyFunders is democratizing access to energy investments. We strive to compound investor capital at above-market rates, which historically required tying up capital for several years in private market partnerships. tZERO’s revolutionary blockchain-based platform offers a leading regulatory-compliant, continuous, and automated trading environment for private market assets in the U.S. We couldn’t be more pleased about this potential opportunity to provide a secondary market for trading our new EnergyFunders Yield Fund I in the same way that you might trade stocks, bonds or ETFs in a regular brokerage account. This will give our investors access to the potential for liquidity in a regulatory-compliant manner,” said EnergyFunders CEO Laura Pommer Fidler.

tZERO Group and its broker-dealer subsidiaries (tZERO) provide an innovative liquidity platform for private companies and assets. It offers institutional-grade solutions for issuers looking to digitize their capital table through blockchain technology, and trade on a regulated alternative trading system. The firm democratizes access to private assets by providing a simple, automated, and efficient trading venue to broker-dealers, institutions, and investors.