$4M to continue push in energy markets
Stamford-based Skystream Markets Inc., a provider of institutional transaction platforms for the renewable energy and environmental markets since 2009, recently announced a $4 million investment.
The new financing coincides with the arrival of a new board member, Daniel Rappaport, a veteran energy and equities markets executive.
The funds will be used toward Skystream Markets”™ core tech assets, including RECstream, a tech-driven transaction platform for renewable energy certificates designed for trading desks across North America. With 17 employees in New York City and Stamford, the company serves environmental markets trading desks at utilities, energy producers and market makers.
The investor group was led by Connecticut Innovations, the quasi-public finance entity designed to start and grow businesses in the state, and also by regional investors Advantage Capital Connecticut, the Clean Energy Venture Group and LaunchCapital.
Skystream Markets, in its words, “gives institutional renewable energy producers and traders the highest-quality access to REC pricing and liquidity through its electronic transaction platforms.” Skystream also has an active brokerage desk and capital introduction business that conducts business across a number of environmental markets.
“Skystream Markets has been a great addition to Connecticut”™s information technology community and has helped strengthen Stamford”™s role as a hub for the financial services industry,” said Claire Leonardi, CEO of Connecticut Innovations.
Rappaport served as chairman of the board and CEO of the New York Mercantile Exchange from 1993-”™01 and served as a NYMEX board member from 2006 to 2008, during the time of its $12 billion initial public offering and eventual acquisition by Manhattan-based CME Group. Rappaport also served as an independent director on the board of GreenX, an environmental commodities exchange and has executive experience with regulatory oversight.
“I look forward to sharing my experiences and contributing to the future direction and growth of this business,” Rappaport said.
The company was founded in 2009 to serve as a “neutral intermediary in the environmental markets and does not take principal risk.” Its focus is on improving trading protocols and promoting market transparency and cost efficiency.
Said Skystream co-founder Naeem Hukkawala, “This financing enables us to continue to develop market mechanisms that create liquidity for environmental commodities.”