In thousands of households in Illinois and Massachusetts, a blockchain-driven energy revolution is quietly underway. Through solar panels and energy storage devices from the Daylight network, these households not only gain access to cheaper electricity but also earn token rewards by contributing green energy.
In October 2025, this decentralized energy network announced the completion of a total of $75 million in funding, attracting participation from top venture capital firms such as Framework Ventures and a16z crypto.
01 Project Positioning: DePIN Practitioner of Blockchain + Energy
Daylight is a decentralized energy network based on blockchain technology, dedicated to building a "virtual power plant" composed of distributed energy devices such as solar panels, water heaters, and energy storage batteries.
Unlike traditional centralized power plants, Daylight encourages households to install and use distributed energy devices through token incentives.
These devices are integrated into a vast network that can provide stable and efficient power without relying on the traditional power grid.
Daylight’s core positioning is to become a DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network) project in the energy sector, breaking the centralized structure of the traditional energy industry, allowing every household to become both a producer and consumer of energy.
02 Operating Model: Trinity Business Closed Loop
Daylight’s business model consists of three core components, forming a complete business closed-loop.
Device Layer: Daylight provides users with equipment such as solar panels and energy storage batteries. Users can choose to receive these devices for free, but must pay a monthly subscription fee.
Daylight is responsible for all installation, maintenance, and replacement costs.
Network Layer: Users connect their devices to the Daylight network, forming a vast distributed energy system.
When the power demand in certain areas surges or there is a supply shortage, Daylight can intelligently release stored energy to meet the demand.
Revenue Layer: Daylight’s income sources are diversified, including user subscription fees and market compensation obtained by providing electricity to the grid.
These revenues will flow back to the Daylight network, further reducing household electricity costs.
03 Token Economy: A Bridge Connecting Energy and Blockchain
Daylight has designed a sophisticated token economy model to incentivize network participants.
Currently, users participating in the Daylight network can earn "Sun Points" rewards, which can be redeemed for gift cards, merchandise, and more. According to the project plan, these points will be replaced by tokens in the future.
Daylight also plans to launch the DayFi yield protocol in the fourth quarter of 2025, describing it as a "yield protocol that connects DeFi capital with physical energy systems."
Through DayFi, investors can earn power revenue-backed returns from a continuously expanding portfolio of residential solar and energy storage systems.
Although Daylight has not yet disclosed all the details of its token economic model, it is foreseeable that its tokens will serve as a bridge connecting energy production with blockchain finance, creating a completely new model for energy asset on-chain.
04 Financing Situation: Strong Signals from the Capital Market
On October 16, 2025, Daylight announced the completion of a total of $75 million in financing, and this news quickly caused a stir in the cryptocurrency and energy sectors.
This funding consists of two parts: a $15 million equity financing led by Framework Ventures, with participation from a16z crypto, Lerer Hippeau, M13, Room40 Ventures, EV3, Crucible Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and Not Boring Capital.
and $60 million in project development funds, led by Turtle Hill Capital.
It is worth noting that this is a16z crypto’s second investment in Daylight. As early as August 2024, Daylight completed a $9 million Series A funding round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Framework Ventures, Lattice Fund, Escape Velocity, and Lerer Hippeau.
With the $4 million seed round financing reported in late 2022 that was not publicly disclosed, Daylight’s total financing has approached $100 million.
This series of financing achievements demonstrates the high recognition of the capital market for the innovative combination of blockchain + energy.
05 Team Background: The Cross-Border Combination of Energy and Finance
The successful financing of Daylight is inseparable from its strong team background. Daylight was co-founded by four individuals who have extensive experience in the fields of energy, investment, and blockchain.
Jason Badeaux, co-founder and CEO of Lianchuang, graduated from Louisiana State University and previously served as an analyst at Piper Sandler, as well as a senior associate at Bernhard Capital Partners, focusing on investments in the infrastructure and energy sectors.
Udit Patel, the co-founder and CTO, previously served as a senior analyst at the American energy giant Edison Electric Company, possessing a deep understanding of traditional energy systems.
Another co-founder, Evan Caren, is an experienced entrepreneur and investor. In addition to being a co-founder of Daylight, he also serves as a founding partner at the energy storage company HGP Storage and as a strategic advisor for Haven Energy and Amperon.
06 Market Prospects: Web3 Practices of Virtual Power Plants
The concept of "virtual power plants" was first proposed by Dr. Shimon Awerbuch in 1997. In his work "Virtual Public Utilities: Description, Technology, and Competitiveness of Emerging Industries," he defines it as:
A flexible collaboration among independent and market-driven entities that can provide consumers with the efficient power services they need without necessarily owning the corresponding assets.
After nearly thirty years of development, virtual power plants have formed a relatively mature industry in the traditional electricity sector, but concepts like Daylight are rare in the Web3 space and still need to undergo market validation.
The challenges faced by Daylight include: how much electricity can be generated by its solar power equipment, and whether the stored electricity can make up the shortfall in special situations.
In addition, Daylight is more inclined towards the professionalism in the energy sector in terms of technology, and its integration with Web3 is more at the economic level, rather than being a very "Web3 Native" project.
07 Investor Perspective: Opportunities and Risks Coexist
For investors considering investing in Daylight or its future tokens, it is essential to comprehensively assess the potential opportunities and risks.
Investment Highlights:
- Top-tier capital endorsement: a16z bets twice, Framework Ventures leads the round, Coinbase Ventures participates.
- Clarify the business model: There are already two sources of income: subscription fees and market compensation.
- Asset-backed: Unlike many purely digital projects, Daylight is supported by real energy assets.
- Clear market demand: In some regions of the United States, power supply is unstable, providing development space for decentralized power supply.
Potential Risks:
- Regulatory Uncertainty: The energy sector is a highly regulated field and may face policy challenges.
- Technical verification: The efficiency of solar power generation and energy storage capacity still need market validation.
- Expansion speed: Currently operating in only three states in the U.S., the network expansion speed may be slower than expected.
- Tokenomics details are unclear: The DayFi yield protocol has not yet announced detailed information.
For domestic investors, if they want to invest in the project tokens after the token issuance, they may need to pay more attention to the development of the U.S. energy industry and the operation of the project itself.
Future Outlook
Currently, Daylight has obtained relevant licenses in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. With its expansion into the DeFi financing sector in the fourth quarter and the launch of the DayFi protocol, this decentralized energy network is expected to become an important bridge connecting the traditional energy market with the world of crypto finance.
As Daylight CEO Jason Badeaux said: "To build the world’s largest decentralized energy network, we need incentives to drive the adoption of distributed energy, along with a massive influx of capital. Cryptocurrency is the best tool to address these challenges.
