LO3 Energy, a blockchain energy startup, has received an investment from industrial manufacturing giant Siemens, closing its series A. The terms of the investment have not been disclosed.

The companies started collaborating in late 2015 on projects beginning with the Brooklyn Microgrid – a community-powered microgrid in which participants can engage in a sustainable energy network and choose their preferred energy sources, locally. The initial project has attracted more than 60 community members participating in the Brooklyn Microgrid. The companies expect to extend their partnership on further projects across the globe.

According to the official release, LO3 Energy is benefiting from Siemens' development of microgrids such as the one that has been operating in Wildpoldsried, a village in southern Germany, since 2014.

"Over the years, our partnership with Siemens was integral to the success in the Brooklyn Microgrid, and will continue to be for years to come," said Lawrence Orsini, CEO of LO3 Energy. "Siemens commitment to transactive energy on the blockchain is a vote of confidence for our approach to developing microgrid communities and grid-edge services across the globe."

On the other hand, Siemens Energy Management Division is also benefitting from LO3 as the latter’s Exergy platform is based on a decentralized ledger that uses cryptographic technology to save data in a tamper-proof way and enables the automated execution of contracts in a scalable manner.

"Siemens' investment in LO3 represents our acknowledgment of the future potential of blockchain technology as an enabler of local energy market places," says Ralf Christian, CEO Siemens Energy Management. "Siemens will further support LO3 with its experience in grid management, data analytics and complementary technology portfolio facilitating the integration of blockchain into state-of-the-art power grids."