Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has launched Efforce, a company that facilitates investments in energy efficiency projects via cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. 

The company aims to be a marketplace to streamline the process of financing and undertaking such projects by enabling them to receive crowd contributions from investors via its token, WOZX, which was listed on Thursday through HBTC. 

Efforce claimed the listing has increased its market value tenfold to $950 million. The token will also be listed next week on South Korea-based crypto exchange Bithumb Global. 

According to Efforce, energy services companies (ESCOs) tend to have limited access to capital since they often are unable to turn to traditional banking channels, as banks lack the technical expertise to properly assess the return on investment.

ESCOs can register energy efficiency projects with Efforce and it will validate the projects, and evaluate their investment needs, calculate returns and create Energy Performance Contracts.  

There will be a smart meter on the company’s blockchain to measure each project’s energy savings and turn them into energy credits that are saved in investors’ profiles for use or sale. 

"We created Efforce to be the first decentralized platform that allows everyone to participate and benefit financially from worldwide energy efficiency projects, and create meaningful environmental change," Wozniak said in a statement.    

The company was co-founded by Wozniak, Jacopo Vanetti, Andrea Castiglione and Jacopo Visetti, who also founded AitherCO2.