The news:
- Hohm Energy, a South African climate startup helping individuals and businesses transition to solar, announced on Thursday, February 22, 2024, that it has raised $8 million in seed funding to scale the adoption of rooftop solar in the country
- Former backers — E3 Capital and 4DX Ventures — led the round with participation from Breega, E4E Africa, TO.org, Tekton Ventures, Sunu Capital, Musha Ventures, and Climate Capital Ventures.
- According to a statement obtained by Techpoint Africa, the company will use the funding to accelerate work on its "new cutting-edge climate fintech strategy," which will promote technological advancement, product innovation, and solar installer skill development.
The energy platform guarantees that the new development will make rooftop solar more reliable, affordable, and accessible to all, facilitating its widespread adoption across the region and marking a significant milestone for South Africa's tech and solar ecosystem.
Launched in 2021 by Tim Ohlsen and Emir Gluhbegovic, Hohm Energy enables homeowners and businesses in South Africa to opt for solar solutions by providing accredited solar installers, product suppliers, and embedded solar finance.
The startup operates its proprietary software platform and marketplace, which connects every stakeholder in the value chain.
Aside from allowing solar installers to design, manage, finance, and procure solar projects, energy platforms enable customers to digitally assess their properties' solar energy requirements and obtain credit financing for rooftop solar installation.
Recognising that financing impedes solar energy acquisition in the country, Hohm Energy has formed ongoing partnerships with major South African retail finance institutions such as Investec, Nedbank, MFC, FNB, Wesbank, and Capitec to increase access to secured structured financing for its customers.
So far, the climate company claims to have produced more than 17,000 custom solar rooftop designs utilising its solar proposal engine worth $190 million and seeing $90 million in finance applications to its retail financial partners.
With plans to facilitate rooftop solar installations for up to 7.7 million homes in South Africa, Holmes Energy also claims to be on track to reach profitability by the end of 2024.
Commenting on the investment, Tim Ohlsen, CEO of Hohm Energy, stated that South Africa's energy system is broken, and climate technology is critical to repairing it through scalable and sustainable alternatives.
It is worth noting that this investment comes at a time when South Africa is experiencing an escalating energy crisis, with the state-owned Eskom — the electricity utility that supplies approximately 95% of the country's electricity — struggling to provide power.
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This puts Hohm Enery in a unique position to provide alternative energy options to individuals and businesses in South Africa.
Similarly, Teraco recently announced its plan to build a $106 million solar plant to tackle South Africa’s power challenges.
