Cape Town-based energy-tech startup Open Access Energy (OAE) has raised $1.8 million (R32 million) in seed funding to expand its AI-driven platform that enables electricity trading and distribution in South Africa’s liberalising energy market.
The round was led by pan-African climate tech investors E3 Capital and Equator, with participation from Factor[e] Ventures, which backs early-stage ventures solving energy access and climate challenges in emerging markets.
Founded in 2020, OAE builds digital infrastructure that supports “energy wheeling” — the process of routing electricity from decentralised renewable producers to consumers through the national grid or municipal networks. Its flagship platform, EnergyPro, automates backend functions like metering, forecasting, and risk management, helping producers and traders navigate a historically complex and centralised energy system.
“Private generation is central to South Africa’s energy transition,” said CEO Gerjo Hoffman in a statement. “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 startup says the funding will accelerate product development and customer acquisition as it prepares to meet growing demand for flexible, decentralised energy infrastructure.
As more private players enter South Africa’s energy market — long dominated by Eskom, the state utility — grid access and intelligent energy management are becoming key enablers of renewable energy integration. OAE positions its platform as a critical layer for enabling real-time matching of energy supply and demand, especially as intermittent sources like solar and wind scale up.
“As distributed renewable energy production continues to grow, it cannot efficiently be matched with consumer demand, leading to an excess of clean energy despite unmet consumer needs,” the company noted.
South Africa has recently taken steps to reform its power sector, with policy shifts that allow private generation and trading, alongside new commitments such as R4.7 billion in grid-scale battery storage projects to improve grid resilience.
OAE chairman James Irons added that the company is actively exploring “further strategic investment options” as it seeks to shape the future of South Africa’s energy economy.