How Powerledger used Proshore's programming power to build a digital marketplace
One of their products, TraceX, is a first-of-its-kind digital marketplace that uses blockchain technology for the buying and selling of RECs. Setting the pace in this fast-moving sector, Powerledger needed reliable and cost-effective software development expertise to get TraceX up and running in the US.
The challenge
Powerledger uses blockchain technology to enable people and organizations to securely trade and share energy. Their peer-to-peer platforms facilitate the exchange of energy certificates and other environmental commodities for currency tokens, cryptocurrency, and even products such as beer.
Operational in over 10 US states, one of Powerledger’s product lines is a digital marketplace that enables users to buy and sell RECs. It’s the energy equivalent of an Amazon Marketplace. Alongside these products, Powerledger also has its own cryptocurrency and a suite of related visualization tools.
Unlike carbon credits, which can be traded across borders, with RECs it’s preferable to purchase them locally – so they’re closer to the time and place of consumption. As a scaling company – and one going through rapid expansion in the US – Powerledger had strong demands from the market.
Based out of the relatively small city of Perth, Australia, Powerledger was struggling to recruit the right tech talent locally. At the same time, bringing onboard and micromanaging a team of freelancers was not the right solution. So they began working with an offshore development team in Serbia.
From a business perspective, using a single contractor was a risk. They also found the difference in time zone between Europe and Australia – with such a marginal overlap – impacted communication and development. What they needed was to diversify the risk with a team of ready-to-code developers on a closer timezone, who could give them round-the-clock development coverage, at an affordable price.
That’s when someone recommended Proshore to Powerledger CTO, Dr Vivek Bhandari.
The solution
After connecting with Proshore co-founder, Roshan Bhattarai, Powerledger began working through the procurement process to identify potential Proshore candidates. This included a strict coding test and an interview because code quality was of high importance.
The chosen developers were well-trained and ready to code in Java and React. From the beginning, the relationship was very open with regular communication and feedback, which the Proshore team used to prioritize the work to be done.
The great thing about bringing in a Proshore development team as a service was that Powerledger did not need to micromanage multiple remote developers located in different places. In fact, there was no need to manage the team individually at all, as everything was handled by Proshore.
The partnership, which began with two or three developers, now consists of five developers and a Scrum Master working across two teams on separate products. At both a C-suite level and a developer level, the Proshore team has made a positive impression. For Powerledger, the success is down to the quality of the collaboration.