He Co-Founded Apple. Now, a New Venture for 'the Woz'

Steve Wozniak was in his mid-20s when he co-founded Apple in the garage at Steve Jobs' parents' place. He left the company about a decade later, and now, 35 years after that, "the Woz" is feeling the entrepreneurial itch once more. The 70-year-old is launching Efforce, a green tech and blockchain firm that has already been in "stealth mode" for about a year, per CNBC. (Indeed, a handful stories from the summer of 2019 mention the venture, though it didn't get much publicity.) The company will serve as a marketplace for corporate and industrial building owners to acquire funding for their environmental projects. Many small companies "can't afford to switch to LED lighting, streamline production processes, or even insulate to conserve heat, all of which could save them money in the long term." co-founder Jacopo Visetti says in a statement.

"Efforce allows business owners to safely register their energy upgrade project on the web and secure funding from all types of investors around the world," Visetti adds. The firm has its own WOZX cryptocurrency token, made public on the HBTC exchange this week and due to be listed on the Bithumb Global hub next week. In his own Friday statement, Wozniak describes Efforce as "the first decentralized platform that allows everyone to participate and benefit financially from worldwide energy efficiency projects, and create meaningful environmental change." He adds, on a hopeful note: "We can save the environment simply by making more energy improvements." (More Steve Wozniak stories.)