- Daylight Energy secures $75 million to expand its decentralized physical energy network.
- Framework Ventures leads the financing; a16z Crypto and Coinbase Ventures join the round.
- New DayFi protocol links infrastructure energy yields to DeFi investors.
Daylight Energy has raised $75 million in new capital to accelerate the growth of its decentralized energy network, marking a significant milestone as the startup aims to bring blockchain-driven innovation to physical energy infrastructure.
The financing round combines both equity and project finance, reflecting growing investor interest in decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).
Financing structure and investor participation
The $75 million raise consists of $15 million in equity and $60 million in non-recourse project financing that is secured directly by infrastructure assets, according to CEO Jason Badeaux.
This financing structure allows repayment from the project’s own cash flows rather than relying on the company’s balance sheet.
Framework Ventures led the $15 million equity raise, joined by several notable backers including a16z Crypto, Lerer Hippeau, M13, Room40 Ventures, EV3, Crucible Capital, Coinbase Ventures and Not Boring Capital.
The project financing portion was led by Turtle Hill Capital, the company said in a statement.
Daylight plans to use the new capital to strengthen its position within the DePIN ecosystem, with a particular focus on decentralized energy distribution.
The company previously raised $9 million in Series A funding in 2023, also led by a16z Crypto, which remains one of its key supporters.
Expanding the DePIN vision in the energy sector
Founded in 2022, Daylight Energy is building a decentralized protocol that enables users to connect energy devices—such as thermostats, batteries, electric vehicles and solar inverters—to its application.
In return, participants earn rewards for contributing to the network’s distributed infrastructure.
The concept builds on the growing DePIN movement, which seeks to decentralize ownership and control of physical assets—like telecommunications, storage and energy infrastructure—using blockchain technology.
“To build the world’s largest decentralized energy network, you must incentivize behavior change to adopt distributed energy and catalyze vast amounts of capital behind it,” Badeaux said. “Crypto is particularly effective at accomplishing both of those things and creates opportunities to align incentives, lower costs and rebuild this industry on a foundation of transparency, ownership and shared economic potential.”
Daylight’s mission aligns with a broader industry push to democratize access to clean energy production and participation in its value chain.
By merging blockchain incentives with real-world energy systems, the company aims to lower barriers to decentralized adoption.
Introducing DayFi: a bridge between energy and DeFi
Alongside this financing, Daylight unveiled DayFi, a yield protocol designed to open the energy infrastructure market to decentralized finance (DeFi) investors.
The protocol will allow users to earn returns directly tied to the electricity revenue generated by Daylight’s growing portfolio of solar and storage assets.
This move connects renewable energy with DeFi, offering investors blockchain-native exposure to real-world energy production.
Daylight was co-founded by Jason Badeaux, Udit Patel and Evan Caron, each with backgrounds in the traditional energy sector.
The team’s combined experience and the backing of prominent venture firms position Daylight as a leading player exploring how blockchain can reshape physical infrastructure markets.
With the new funding in place, Daylight Energy is poised to expand the footprint of its decentralized network and further integrate energy generation, distribution and financing into a transparent, tokenized ecosystem.