As Blackouts Worsen, This SA Startup Just Banked USD 27 M To Lead The Solar Race

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As Blackouts Worsen, This SA Startup Just Banked USD 27 M To Lead The Solar Race

South Africa’s power crisis has bred plenty of solar startups, but few have cracked the holy grail of scale. Wetility may just be getting there, with the financial muscle now to prove it.

The fast-growing solar-as-a-service provider, notably backed by Pay-TV giant MultiChoice among others, has secured ZAR 500 M (around USD 27 M) in a structured funding deal with alternative asset manager Jaltech.

It’s Wetility’s largest capital raise yet (the first since a momentous USD 48 M debt and equity round in 2023), and a clear escalation in Jaltech’s long-standing support for the company, from gradual contributor to lead financier.

The deal is structured as a hybrid of senior and equity capital, giving Wetility room to scale without leaning too hard on debt.

The goal? Add more than 16 megawatts of new solar capacity to South Africa’s fragmented energy landscape and extend clean power to thousands of households and SMEs; no upfront costs required.

Founded in 2019 by Vincent Maposa (CEO) and Ikenna Oguguo (CPO), Wetility’s model is built for the middle market: bundled solar and battery systems offered on subscription, targeting customers hit hardest by load shedding but unable or unwilling to fork out for rooftop systems.

It’s the kind of product-market fit that resonates when grid failures become routine, and when financing, not awareness, is the real barrier to clean energy adoption.

Jaltech, which manages over ZAR 2 B (~USD 110 M) in alternative assets, sees this not just as a solar play, but a scalable infrastructure bet.

The firm has funded over 250 commercial solar projects but is now leaning deeper into residential and SME electrification, a segment where predictable payments and high customer churn make traditional lenders nervous.

“This isn’t our first time with Wetility, but it’s the first time we’re going all in,” said Jaltech co-founder Derrick Hyde. The two firms hope the model—repeatable, asset-backed, and consumer-friendly—can unlock future rounds and, eventually, national scale.

With utility reliability eroding and energy prices climbing, South Africa’s grid may be failing, but solar demand isn’t.

Wetility’s next challenge? Turning this financial vote of confidence into operational momentum before competitors plug into the same opportunity.