South Africa’s Open Access Energy Raises $1.8M Seed Funding Round

South Africa’s startup Open Access Energy (OAE) raises $1.8m in a seed funding round, marking a big step forward for the country’s energy sector. This Open Access Energy seed funding round was led by E3 Capital, Equator VC, and Factor E Ventures, and aims to help the company speed up product development and grow its customer base as it works to meet the increasing demand for flexible and decentralized energy solutions.

Open Access Energy, based in Cape Town, was founded in 2021 with a mission to use artificial intelligence (AI) to create digital infrastructure for electricity trading. The company’s main products, Amptera and Energypro, are software platforms that make it easier for independent power producers (IPPs) and municipalities to manage and trade electricity in real time. These platforms help match energy supply and demand more efficiently, automate important processes like metering and forecasting, and allow renewable energy to flow through existing power networks.

The journey to this $1.8 million milestone began last year, when Open Access Energy secured an initial $750,000 investment from Factor E Ventures as part of its seed funding round. The round was originally set to close at $1.5 million, but strong investor interest pushed the total up to $1.8 million, making it oversubscribed.

Open Access Energy raises $1.8m seed funding round

According to Gerjo Hoffman, CEO of Open Access Energy, this new funding is a game-changer for the company and the country. He explained that private generation is at the heart of South Africa’s shift to cleaner energy, and the funding will help OAE scale up the tools that energy producers and traders need to take part in the country’s newly liberalized energy market. Hoffman said, “This funding allows us to scale the tools that independent power producers and energy traders need to participate in and benefit from the liberalised energy market”.

The Open Access Energy seed funding round comes at a crucial time for South Africa, which has long struggled with an unstable electricity grid and frequent power shortages. The country’s heavy reliance on coal-fired power has made it difficult to integrate renewable energy sources like solar and wind. OAE’s technology aims to solve this problem by making it easier for clean energy to reach consumers and be traded transparently and efficiently.

Investors are excited about the potential impact of Open Access Energy’s work. Andrew Darge from E3 Capital said that OAE’s software-led solution is just what Africa’s power sector needs to drive the move to lower-carbon economies. Morgan DeFoort from Equator VC added that South Africa’s energy future will depend on private generation and local distribution of clean power, and that OAE is building the critical infrastructure to make this happen.

With the support from this $1.8 million seed funding round, Open Access Energy is now in a strong position to expand its reach, improve its technology, and play a key role in South Africa’s transition to a more reliable, cleaner, and more flexible energy system.

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