Hohm Energy, the South African Climate Fintech company, has today announced the final close of its $8m Seed round. The funding marks the largest seed round for a tech startup in South Africa totalling $8m, which E3 Capital and 4DX Ventures led.
The round attracted participation from new investors, including Breega, E4E Africa, TO.org, Tekton Ventures, Sunu Capital, Musha Ventures, and Climate Capital Ventures.
Hohm Energy will now accelerate the adoption of rooftop solar in the region by investing in its new cutting-edge climate fintech strategy, additionally bolstering its tech, product innovation and solar installer skills development to make rooftop solar more accessible, trusted and affordable for everyone.
Launched in 2021 by Tim Ohlsen and Emir Gluhbegovic, Hohm Energy has revolutionised the entire end-to-end solar journey, having built its proprietary software platform and marketplace that helps connect everyone in the value chain. The company leverages technology to tackle challenges in South Africa’s $51.4B complex rooftop solar market, streamlining the design, scheduling and procurement process for installers and enhancing accessibility for buyers, mitigating delays, installation flaws, compliance risks and financing obstacles.
Amidst a growing energy crisis, South Africa is in the grip of escalating power shortages, resorting to daily electricity rationing to prevent a nationwide grid collapse. Eskom, the state-run power generator, has acknowledged a staggering power shortfall of over 6,000 megawatts at times. In addressing these challenges, Hohm Energy provides an alternative and sustainable energy source to the 7.7M addressable households, helping to ease the strain on the national grid. Hohm Energy has generated over 17,000 custom solar rooftop designs using its solar proposal engine worth $190M, originating over $90M in finance applications to its retail banking partners.
For solar installers, Hohm Energy provides them with the opportunity to gain trust and also effectively design, manage, finance and procure their solar projects. Hohm Energy customers can have their properties’ solar energy requirements determined digitally and effectively through the platform and they get access to credit financing and an order and fulfilment process that extends to after-sales services including repair and maintenance.
Hohm Energy has struck partnerships with the majority of South Africa’s retail financial institutions, such as Investec, Nedbank, MFC, FNB, Wesbank, and Capitec customers have access to the platform’s finance and credit scoring process to secure structured financing from these institutions. Additionally, Hohm now offers a solar subscription service to South African households, powered by Glint, making solar more accessible than ever before with an all-new and digital solar purchasing experience.
Speaking on the investment, Tim Ohlsen, CEO of Hohm Energy stated ‘The energy system in South Africa is broken. ClimateTech is key to solving the current challenges through the provision of a scalable and sustainable alternative. Our robust software platform and fintech marketplace, which enables us to offer value to all stakeholders, is pivotal in enhancing the efficiency of rooftop solar installations and ultimately mitigating the severity of load-shedding being experienced. We are honoured to be collaborating with renowned global investors who share our passion and vision and are helping us achieve our mission on a larger scale
Significantly, Hohm Energy is poised to attain sustainable profitability in the current year. This achievement underscores the compelling investment potential Hohm Energy offers.
Vladimir Dugin, Senior Partner at E3 Capital added “We are thrilled to announce our inaugural investment in Hohm Energy. With its tech-driven approach, Hohm is at the forefront of South Africa’s green energy revolution. The team is uniquely positioned to create a “one-stop shop” for all green solutions for residential customers and address existing challenges around energy supply.”
Peter Orth, Managing Partner at 4DX added, “We strongly believe in Hohm’s mission to drive rooftop solar adoption across South Africa and beyond, and have seen similar businesses thrive in several markets globally. We believe Hohm is best positioned to bring this solution to South Africa where it is sorely needed given the state of the electric grid, and are thrilled to be backing Tim and his team at this stage of their journey”.
Following the investment, the company will also be launching the Hohm School program, designed to train and empower local solar installers, through the Hohm Energy Standard for Solar Systems Installations (HESSSI), across the country.
