Open Access Energy Raises $1.8M to Scale Electricity Trading Platform
TLDR
- South African startup Open Access Energy (OAE) has closed a $1.8 million seed round for its AI-powered platforms for electricity trading
- E3 Capital, Equator VC, and existing investor Factor E Ventures backed the oversubscribed round
- With the full $1.8 million now secured, OAE plans to accelerate product development and grow its customer base
South African startup Open Access Energy (OAE) has closed a $1.8 million seed funding round to accelerate the rollout of its AI-powered platforms for electricity trading and energy management. E3 Capital, Equator VC, and existing investor Factor E Ventures backed the oversubscribed round.
Founded in 2021, OAE develops software that enables real-time energy transactions between Independent Power Producers (IPPs), municipalities, and other market players. Its flagship products—Amptera and Energypro—support energy wheeling, embedded generation, and digital settlements, helping facilitate South Africa’s shift toward decentralised, renewable energy infrastructure.
“Private generation is central to South Africa’s energy transition,” said CEO Gerjo Hoffman. “This funding allows us to scale the tools IPPs and traders need to benefit from the liberalised energy market.”
The latest investment builds on a $750,000 initial tranche reported in 2023. With the full $1.8 million now secured, OAE plans to accelerate product development and grow its customer base across southern Africa.
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Key Takeaways
South Africa’s power sector is undergoing a structural shift as the country liberalises its electricity market and opens space for private power generation. Persistent grid instability and load-shedding have prompted municipalities and businesses to seek alternatives to the centralised utility Eskom. Platforms like Open Access Energy are emerging as critical enablers of this transition. By digitising energy trading and management, OAE supports more efficient use of existing infrastructure, allowing clean energy to flow through local grids while ensuring transparent billing and settlement. This approach is essential to unlocking investments in solar, wind, and embedded generation. Unlike physical infrastructure-heavy utilities, OAE offers a software-led model that scales quickly and addresses regulatory, technical, and financial friction in decentralised energy systems. Investors backing the company view this as a high-leverage opportunity to build resilient, low-carbon local power systems, particularly as municipalities seek reliable energy sources outside Eskom’s core grid. As more African countries explore energy market liberalisation, Open Access Energy’s model may be replicated across the continent, positioning it as a first mover in the digitisation of Africa’s emerging clean energy networks.
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