ARMONK,
N.Y. and SOMERVILLE, Mass., March
26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM [NYSE: IBM] and Raise Green, an
impact investment marketplace for clean energy projects, announced
their collaboration to develop Raise Green's software solution
deployed using Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud, intended to empower
any entrepreneur to start their own community solar energy
businesses. Today marks the rollout of the latest Beta version of
the Originator Engine, following the initial launch
announced last year.
To help address the growing urgency of climate change, Raise
Green came to IBM Global Business Services (GBS) with a need that
the parties developed into the Originator Engine – a groundbreaking
digital tool that customers, investors, and ecosystem partners can
leverage to create, finance, build, and run new solar
businesses.
"Everyone has a role to play in tackling climate change in an
equitable way. Countries have committed to act, technologies are
ready, and policies are moving in the right direction, but it's not
happening fast enough," said Franz
Hochstrasser, CEO and co-founder of Raise Green. "Raise
Green is designed to empower communities tired of waiting for
action on climate and social impact. IBM is helping us bring this
innovation to life by designing a smooth user experience that makes
starting a new business straightforward while enabling us to expand
into areas beyond solar like template microgrids, energy
efficiency, electric vehicle charging, urban farms, and affordable
housing."
Raise Green engaged IBM GBS to help build a digital experience
that would empower climate entrepreneurs to start and finance their
businesses and local climate projects by removing obstacles
and equipping them with tools and resources. A team of IBM design
and technology specialists worked with Raise Green to co-create,
develop and deploy a proof-of-concept for the Originator Engine in
just eight weeks through the IBM Garage – IBM's approach to
fast-tracking innovation at scale, to help transform organizations
from the inside out. The Originator Engine uses Red Hat OpenShift
and is deployed on IBM Cloud for all of Raise Green's services. IBM
Cloud is the industry's most open and secure public cloud.
The Originator Engine combines multiple database standards,
allows companies to create filings for the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), and offers investment opportunities through the
Raise Green Investor Marketplace. The Originator Engine is designed
to automate the process of creating and completing legal and
financial documents by taking thousands of pages and
converting them into streamlined and easy to use templates.
"The collaboration between Raise Green and IBM serves as a
meaningful response to the question of how to get involved in the
fight against climate change," said Debbie Vavangas, Global Lead,
IBM Garage. "To address the growing need for an innovative
solution, Raise Green wanted to embrace cloud-based and agile
methodologies which not only can accelerate the creation of a new
digital experience for climate entrepreneurs but also gives Raise
Green the flexibility to evolve digital capabilities for future
growth."
For more information about the Originator Engine, visit
https://www.raisegreen.com/
About Raise Green
Raise Green is the first marketplace in the U.S. for local and
inclusive impact investment with verifiable and demonstrable
environmental benefits. Through the platform, anyone can be an
originator of their own community solar project. On Raise Green's
investor marketplace, anyone (individuals and institutions) can
invest in community-focused climate resilience projects across a
varied range of project scales and minimum investments. Early
investors in Raise Green are veterans of the renewable energy
industry and project financing. Investors can derive value while at
the same time creating quantifiable impacts in local communities,
as well as receiving financial returns if the project is
successful.
About IBM
For further information about IBM Global Business Services,
visit: https://www.ibm.com/services
For further information about IBM Garage
visit: https://www.ibm.com/garage
Media Contacts
Charlotte
Bergmann
IBM External Relations
Charlotte.Bergmann@ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM